The numbers suggest Chelsea are pushovers as they slide down the Premier League table... and club legend GUS POYET says it's time to prove they're up for a fight

Morgan Rogers insisted it was no intentional drive-by. That he did not mean to knee Trai Hume in the head while the Sunderland defender was sitting up after a foul. Just an accident, honest.

The history shared between these two particular players opened the incident to interpretation.

Hume had folded Rogers like a deckchair in a 1-1 draw for Aston Villa last season. The challenge went viral. Sunderland shared it on their social media, glamourising it. Rogers responded at the time by saying: 'Great message to send out. Dangerous tackles getting highlight reels.'

At the Stadium of Light on Sunday, Hume was starting to sit up when Rogers caught him. Chelsea were losing 1-0, and frustrated. Their £117million arrival from Villa apologised immediately, so we will believe him when he says it was an innocent collision rather than retribution.

Nevertheless, Rogers does have an aggressive side to him. He squared up with Declan Rice at Arsenal, and James Tarkowski at Everton, and was signed in the summer partially for that passion.

Rogers has contested more duels than any other Chelsea player this season. He loses more than he wins, but is involved, for better or worse. He is Xabi Alonso's most-fouled footballer, while nobody has committed more fouls than this 6ft 2in England international.

Morgan Rogers (right) showed some fight during Chelsea's loss at Sunderland that appears to be lacking across the whole squad

If Rogers' team-mates showed the same mentality they may have avoided defeat on Sunday

Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso needs his side to develop an aggressive streak

So when we ponder whether Alonso's Chelsea are pushovers, Rogers is arguably an exception. He is a hard nut surrounded by a soft shell, and that was a problem at Sunderland.

It was not only that Brian Brobbey bullied Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana. Regis Le Bris' side were all at it, a team of bouncers ready to rough up the lads planning to party. Cole Palmer and Co ended up getting tossed out of the Stadium of Light on their rears. Chelsea recorded 69 per cent possession - their highest of the Premier League season so far - but were second-best throughout.

Gus Poyet saw that. He played for Chelsea, managed Sunderland, and was an assistant to Dennis Wise at Leeds, who will be the next visitors to Stamford Bridge after this international break.

Daniel Farke's side have won more duels and aerial duels than any other Premier League team this season, which, given what we witnessed on Sunday, should be a concern for Alonso.

Poyet can predict what is coming. Chelsea-Leeds is already a fixture with a narrative attached. It never needs a second invitation to be talked up as 'dirty'. Alonso's side will need to show a willingness to compete if that awaits, more than they managed when travelling to Sunderland.

'Sunderland went to the game with that old-fashioned mentality,' the 58-year-old Uruguayan told Daily Mail Sport. 'Pressure from the fans, noise, tackling, "I'm gonna run over you". Chelsea went on to try to play. There was quite a big difference in that aggression. We see teams that are looking so much for an identity that they forget the process to win games.'

Poyet brought up Chelsea's 2-0 win at Everton last month. We told him how Alonso had admitted it was his favourite performance of the season, describing it as 'solid' and 'serious'.

'There you go,' said Poyet, who thinks before travelling to the Stadium of Light, it would have been worth showing Chelsea's players videos from that victory at the Hill Dickinson. It was a rare showing of seriousness from Alonso's side. Only David Moyes' Everton, with 83, have committed fewer fouls than Chelsea's 95 in the Premier League this season. While giving away free-kicks is hardly a cause for celebration, it is not the worst way of measuring whether you are there to push or be pushed.

Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey (left) bulled Chelsea's Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana (right)

'For me that was a proper old-fashioned game, being able to win like that,' Poyet said about Chelsea's win at Everton. 'Put the video on and say, "Play the same".

'Now I know what the other side are going to say after watching the Sunderland game. Leeds will be saying, 'Let's go'. Leeds are very solid, and very aggressive, so it can be that kind of game.

'More and more, through the years, I think from the pandemic to now, the difference between the teams is mental. Identity, positions, shapes, blah, blah, blah, but when they are right in here (in the head), it's big. Right now, Leeds, as a team, are a little ahead mentally.'

Alonso is a polite manager. Given the chance to have a pop at the refereeing at the Stadium of Light - how Chelsea were not awarded a penalty when Cole Palmer was sandwiched, but Sunderland were when Brobbey dropped down in front of Colwill - he declined. The Blues boss chose instead to decry his team's defending as substandard. Colwill was hooked at half-time, while there were two new summer signings in the back line in Marco Palestra and Pep Chavarria who need to get to grips with the Premier League, sooner rather than later.

Poyet's first appearance after signing for Chelsea in 1997 was in the Charity Shield. Roy Keane welcomed him to English football with a kick to the head - with a little less subtlety than Rogers' knee on Hume. It finished 1-1 before Manchester United won on penalties.

Ex-Chelsea midfielder Gus Poyet has warned them of the threat Leeds pose later this month

Poyet learned a harsh lesson in that match, and not only from Keane's high kick. 'I couldn't get in the pace of the game,' Poyet recalls. 'I was always late. Ruud (Gullit) at half-time told me, "Gus, you're not really in the front, not really at the back". I said, "I'm trying!" The game was too fast.'

In a weird way, an ACL injury suffered by Poyet helped. He used the recovery time to prepare for returning. 'I went to the stadium, I was watching, learning the language, listening to Dennis Wise in the dressing room, getting that mentality,' he said. 'Then when I came back, I knew everything.

'That was my mentality. Some players need time. Some adjust quickly. You need to use all the time. For example, use this game against Sunderland when you play against Leeds. You cannot say, 'We didn't expect it'. Expect it! It's going to be similar.'

Gus Poyet is an ambassador for BetTOM

READ: Xabi Alonso must look at HIMSELF, not the officials, as another questionable line-up sees Chelsea fold at Sunderland - and Cole Palmer wastes his chance to respond to Thomas Tuchel snub, writes KIERAN GILL