Good afternoon all. It's been a turbulent week at Chelsea, to say the least. Interim boss Guus Hiddink will watch from the stands as he tries to salvage some pride from Chelsea's season. Chelsea vs Sunderland LIVE text commentary coming up...

Sunderland sub: Johnson on, Coates off. An early change for Sunderland, who will go to a back four now. Coates, for the record, has been unwell this week and may have been feeling unable to continue.

Allardyce appears to be considering an early substitution here. He's sending Adam Johnson off to warm up.

Chelsea in complete control here. A glimpse of the old Chelsea that has been missing this season.

Sunderland have to steady the ship here. They've been on the ropes all game and just need to make sure they don't concede a third before the break.

Ivanovic celebrates the opener.

"Where were you when we were s***?" is the chant from the Chelsea fans as Pedro makes it 2-0. Clear that the chant is being directed at those Chelsea players that the fans feel let the club down under Mourinho.

GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Sunderland: Pedro makes it two and Chelsea are flying! Ivanovic's early cross from the right takes a lucky richochet off Coates and Pedro thrashes it in from 12 yards.

Oscar's one-two with Costa almost allows the Brazilian a shooting opportunity, but Kaboul closes the door.

A dangerous cross by Van Aanholt has Terry scrambling and the England defender nods it back to Courtois - although it's not clear how much the former England captain knew about it with Defoe close by.

Watmore is Sunderland's liveliest attacking player so far, and Oscar gets back to do his defensive work and halt the attack.

Chelsea well on top here, it's been a defiant opening by the champions. Clearly keen to prove a point.

Just before that goal went in there were chants of "Stand up for the Special One" - and every Chelsea fan was on their feet.

GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Sunderland: Ivanovic puts Chelsea ahead with a thumping header from Willian's corner from the right. Just what the Blues needed.

Toivonen catches Pedro late, and that eases some of the pressure on Chelsea.

Watmore shows Zouma a clean pair of heels but the Frenchman gets back to win the ball back on the edge of Chelsea's box.

Bright start by Chelsea, but signs that a few Chelsea players are being jeered. Fabregas being one of them.

KICK OFF. We're underway at Stamford Bridge and there are some interesting banners around the stadium. All in support of the departed Jose, and some scathing attacks on the players.

The players are out at Stamford Bridge and we're ready to go. Tweet me your Chelsea / Mourinho / Hiddink / Abramovich thoughts and I'll publish the best ones in this live commentary.

How do the stats stack up ahead of this one? Well, the Blues have won 18 of their last 21 Premier League matches against Sunderland (D1, L2), scoring over 2.5 goals on average. But before you put a last-minute bet on Chelsea, remember that the Black Cats have won on two of their last five trips to Chelsea.

Letting Mourinho go will not be easy for some Chelsea fans...