Chelsea's last six Premier League defeats have come against managers with names beginning with 'P' - and Pulis and Pardew are up next

Pellegrini, Pochettino, Pulis, Pardew and Poyet have all managed to get the better of Jose Mourinho

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho (Getty Images)

Chelsea could be facing up to the prospect of taking just one point from their opening four Premier League matches if statistical trends are anything to go by. Having suffered a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, the Blues look a shadow of the side that won the title so easily last season.

But things could be about to get worse for Jose Mourinho. The Chelsea manager suffered his first defeat to a top-four club since returning to the Premier League two seasons ago, and came as just his tenth loss during his second spell in charge of the Stamford Bridge outfit.

A coincidental stat though appears to suggest that the reigning champions might be in for a hat-trick of defeats though, as Mourinho’s last six defeats have all come against managers whose surname starts with the letter ‘P’, and you know who’s up next for the Portuguese – Messrs Pulis and Pardew.

The run stretches back to the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on 29 March 2014, where a Tony Pulis-led Eagles side emerged triumphant thanks to a John Terry own goall.

Less than a month later, Chelsea saw their unblemished home record under Mourinho go begging with a 2-1 defeat to Sunderland, when Gus Poyet remained in charge at the Stadium of Light.

The following season, Chelsea’s brilliant start suggested that they may be the side to challenge Arsenal’s stauts as the ‘Invincibles’ of English football, only to come unstuck at Newcastle where Alan Pardew guided the Magpies to a 2-1 victory in December.

Chelsea’s next defeat came on New Year’s Day when Tottenham emerged victorious in a thrilling encounter that ended 5-3 in the north London side’s favour, with Mauricio Pochettino taking the plaudits, and the Blues would suffer just one more defeat that season which came once again at the hands of Pulis, who was now in charge of West Brom where he remains ahead of this weekend’s encounter.

Should Chelsea suffer a loss to the Baggies on Sunday, they’ll see the unwanted ‘P-voodoo’ stretch to seven matches, and Pardew’s Palace side will arrive at Stamford Bridge the following week aiming to do the same and make it a start to forget for the Blues.

However, while faith suggests that Chelsea could be down and out of the title race as early as September, the realisitic scenario is that Mourinho will generate a response out of his talented squad to get their title defence back on track against West Brom and Palace.