By the time Sunday afternoon comes around, Xabi Alonso will have had over a week to ponder his team selection for Chelsea's trip to Sunderland.

The Blues go into Sunday's clash at the Stadium of Light looking to make it four wins from five Premier League matches. Alonso's side returned to winning ways in the league last weekend, beating Manchester United 2-0, with Estevao Willian playing a big part for the hosts at Stamford Bridge.

Estevao ended the match with six shots - the joint-most from any Chelsea player in a Premier League fixture since the start of the season. The Brazil international was incredibly unfortunate not to find himself on the scoresheet - as the winger saw two goals ruled out for offside on Saturday afternoon.

FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

However, in Sunderland, Chelsea face a much different challenge than the one United posed at the weekend. The Black Cats, while sitting rock bottom of the Premier League table going into the 10th matchday of the campaign, are a much more physical beast to contend with.

Since the start of the season, Alonso has referenced the physicality of the Premier League and English football as a whole as part of the reason Estevao hasn't received the first-team minutes he has craved. The win over Man United, though, might have proved a turning point for the 19-year-old.

That's what the majority of Chelsea supporters are hoping. Or at least the 4319 that answered football.london's survey, with the question, 'Should Estevao Willian start for Chelsea against Sunderland?'. A remarkable 98% voted for 'yes', 1% voted 'no' while the other 1% were 'unsure'.

Alonso might already know the XI he will field on Wearside on Sunday but the Chelsea manager will likely be guarded when pressed in his pre-Sunderland press conference at 1:30pm (UK time) today (Friday). The Spaniard was delighted with the way Estevao shone for the Blues last weekend.

Speaking about the winger post-match, Alonso said: "We spoke after Tottenham and he knew that he was going to be playing today. He has had the best response to show that he deserves more, that he was prepared and that's what you want from a football player, so I'm very happy for him.

"He deserved to enjoy his game, he had a good connection with the crowd. He was really close to scoring that goal. At the end he fought really hard, he was tired and it has been a good day for him."

Cole Palmer also heaped praise on his colleague for his role in the win over Man United and said he was "unlucky" not to find himself amongst the goals. Palmer said: "He needed to be patient for his moment and he got his moment today.

"He was unlucky with the offside. I think it was literally a centimetre. But we know the talent he's got and we all love him. So hopefully he can continue like that."