Many pundits were tipping us to drop points over the festive period- our usual annual blip- but this did not materialise. Not down to particularly good footballing performances, but battling defensive performances.
But what can we expect to see from Steve McClaren's 'Boro? Well, they currently possess one of England's brightest talents in left winger Stewart Downing. The youngster has been terrorising right backs all over the country and whether it is Glen Johnson or Paulo Ferreira who starts, they will be in for a tough time!
Then there's old boys Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Bolo Zenden. Jimmy will always be a legend at the Bridge and he deserves to get a hero's welcome. His goalscoring record with us was amazing in his first two seasons and remained pretty solid for his final two years. He has kept up this form with 'Boro and is comfortably their top scorer. He will have to be marshalled well by JT and co.
Now to Zenden. There's no doubt that he struggled to settle at Chelsea, but he still put in some good performances and was looked upon fondly by the fans. I'm sure he will also be in for a good reception upon his first return to Stamford Bridge- he missed the league game last season due to our rules on loan players not playing against us. Bolo has found his calling at 'Boro in central midfield and he has been one of their better players over the last eighteen months.
Enough of Middlesbrough though, time for the lowdown on Chelsea. Alexey Smertin should return to the squad after missing the Liverpool game with tonislitis- he trained with the rest of the squad on Monday. But Wayne Bridge and Geremi look likely to miss out with flu.
And, as for the past few weeks, Rico Carvalho, Robert Huth and Scott Parker again miss out.
Rich's Predicted Side: Cech; Johnson, Gallas, Terry, Ferreira; Makelele, Lampard, Tiago; Robben, Duff, Gudjohnsen.