Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea began the game vs Villa on Wednesday in rampant fashion and were expected to put the Villans to the sword just like they did last season in an 8-0 thrashing. They scored within minutes of the kick-off and were in cruise control, akin to the win over Hull City last weekend.

However, Villa were not ready to throw in the towel quickly, particularly Benteke, who finished with aplomb on the stroke of half-time to level the scores after good work from Agbonlahor. Even though Chelsea won the match in controversial circumstances, Benteke was a constant threat throughout the match, which could not be said of his opposite number Demba Ba.

The Senegal international replaced Fernando Torres for this match, but he was as ineffective as Torres was against Hull City. Even Lukaku got some match time in the second half, but he is still very much a raw talent and needs to develop chemistry with his team-mates to lead the attack.

On the other hand, Benteke has already proved his mettle and, in what may come as a surprise, is the highest scorer in all top five European leagues this calendar year apart from Messi and Ronaldo.

A stark contrast to Chelsea’s forward line, in fact the Blues are more reliant on their star-studded midfield to get the goals for them. Lampard, Oscar, Ivanovic and an own goal have been Chelsea’s scorers so far this season.

Jose Mourinho, obviously, realises the true potential of a new, hungry and prolific striker at the Bridge. He has already confirmed his desire to get a new forward on board, who can be the final piece in the jigsaw.

Wayne Rooney was the man targeted by Mourinho to fill that void but the Blues have already been rebuffed twice by Manchester United. However, according to ESPN, Mourinho has not given up on Rooney and will make a move for the England striker after the two teams collide on Monday night.

He said, “I don’t want Chelsea to do it before we go there [on Monday] and everybody in club and board agree with me. There is time to do things, but we are going to be quiet. What we did before we can do later.”

If the Blues are successful in landing the United striker, they will be favourites to win the title this season. Reports have suggested that Samuel Eto’o will be targeted by Mourinho in case he fails to land Rooney.