Chelsea welcome Manchester City to Stamford Bridge in a true heavyweight clash. Join The Roar from 5am AEST Thursday for all the action in this live blog.
It was all pretty much going to plan for Chelsea over the last few months as they kept a sizable lead at the top of the table and seemed all but certain to end up in May as league champions.
However, a weekend loss to Crystal Palace has suddenly led to a few questions being asked of Antonio Conte’s men. Was it a mere blip, or was the defeat possibly a sign of worse to come?
Tottenham Hotspurs’ recent form (23 points from the last 30 available) has seen them keep in touch with the previous runaway leaders.
Chelsea’s advantage over them is now seven points. If results go the way of Mauricio Pochettino’s side midweek, that could conceivably be cut to just four by the end of the night.
However, Conte and indeed Chelsea have been in similar situations before. The Italian manager repeatedly proved with Juventus over the years that he has the mettle to drive his team to titles.
Chelsea, under Jose Mourinho, were champions just two seasons ago after opening up a huge gap over their rivals early on in that campaign.
Therefore, talk of the title race being blown back open may yet prove to be premature. That doesn’t mean that the pressure will not be felt at Stamford Bridge though. It certainly will be for both teams.
The consensus of Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge in Manchester has generally been one of unfulfilled potential and disappointment.
Their blistering start to the season saw them tagged as the early favourites, but they fell away badly during the vital winter months.
Recently though, there has been cause for renewed optimism around the Etihad. Guardiola’s attacking set-up is beginning to gel, while the form from the likes of Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling has been particularly impressive. Unfortunately, deficiencies at the back have continued to be their Achilles heel.
When these two teams last met in December, it was Chelsea who came away with all three points, inflicting Guardiola’s first home defeat of the season in the process. Revenge may be on the cards.
Yet City’s record in the big games this year has left much to be desired. In ten fixtures they’ve currently played against their direct rivals (the sides in the top seven places) they have won just two of those matches. It is not a record that inspires confidence.
On the back of an incredibly difficult recent run though, it has perhaps gone under the radar that City are on an eight game unbeaten sequence.
Draws with both Liverpool and Arsenal have been punctuated by the dreaded international break, and in both of those games they could feasibly claim that they should have won.
City are now five points clear in fourth place, and should be looking to improve their record against their top of the table competitors.
In team news, the home side will be without Victor Moses once again as he continues to struggle with a toe injury which kept him out of the last game to Palace.
Meanwhile, talisman Eden Hazard will be closely monitored after the Belgian missed the international fixtures last week with a calf injury.
For City, all long-term absentees like Gabriel Jesus and IIkay Gundogan remain on the sidelines. They are joined there by right back Bacary Sagna who looks set to miss a number of weeks with an abductor complaint. Otherwise, Guardiola has no fresh injuries to deal with as Pablo Zabaleta looks set for a quick return.
Prediction
Chelsea haven’t lost consecutive home league matches in six years. With the title within their grasp it would be difficult to say that they will do so against City this week. Guardiola’s men are in decent form, but this shapes as a must-not-lose for them, with the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal breathing down their necks for a place in the top four.
An entertaining draw looks a good bet, with Sergio Aguero getting on the scoresheet – all but two of his six goals against Chelsea have come at Stamford Bridge.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
So, Chelsea will be extremely hard to stop from now. All the action came in an exciting first half where two goals from Eden Hazard gave the Blues the lead twice. Courtois made a dreadful pass which led to Silva picking up the ball and testing the Belgian, before Aguero turned in the rebound. Fernandinho then gave away a sloppy penalty just as City had started to gain momentum in the clash. Caballero guessed right for Hazard's spot kick, but he couldn't keep out the follow up. It was his second of the game after slotting in a delightful strike from inside the box after just ten minutes. Chelsea maintain their lead t the top of the table, and with a relatively kind run-in, they look to be on their way to reclaiming the league title they held two years ago.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
The full time whistle goes and Chelsea have beaten City at home. They remain seven points clear at the top. FT: Chelsea 2-1 City
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
Chances! Nolito puts in a delightful ball behind the back and Aguero just about gets a touch on it. Courtois is brave though and concedes a corner. From that Stones somehow misses the goal from just a few yards out. Terrible miss.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
90: The two goal hero Hazard goes off to be replaced by Loftus Cheek. The job is all but done here for Chelsea, with inly three minutes left to play.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
89: City now leaving plenty of space at the back as they go in search of an equaliser. In truth, they had an encouraging 20 minute spell in this second half, but the longer then game has gone on the more comfortable and threatening Chelsea have become.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
86: Nolito replaces Sane for the final five or so minutes. The Spaniard hasn't seen much football recently, but he has a chance here to try and get his side back into this. His first touch isn't good though, as he gives it away to Pedro who drives through the middle. A corner comes from the attacking venture but Caballero claims. Chelsea 2-1 City
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
83: No love lost here . Kompany dives in on his Belgian team mate Hazard down near the right corner flag and gets a yellow for his troubles. Willian's ball in is flat and cleared easily by Clichy.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
80: First substitution of the game. De Bruyne is brought off and replaced by Raheem Sterling. His pace against the clearly tiring legs of Chelsea's defence could prove useful. It breaks for Aguero in the box, but the angle is against him and he lashes it wide. Conte has the same idea as Pep though as Fabregas is replaced by Willian.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
78: Conte still like a traffic warden on the touchline. "Yes, go!" "Yes, go!" Hazard seems to be listening to the directions the most as he slaloms into the box. A neat bit of exchanges between Fabregas, Pedro and the Belgian eventually sees the main man with a shooting chance just inside the box. On the chance of a hat-trick he smashes it well over the bar. He should have done better there. Meanwhile, Delph is the second man in the book as he chops down Costa. Chelsea all of a sudden are starting to threaten again as we head into the final ten minutes or so.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
73: David Luiz strikes it, but it is straight at the wall. The ball then pings around between both midfields as neither side can assert any sort of authority onto proceedings.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
Cahil does wonderfully to nip the ball off Aguero's toes just as he looked set to pull the trigger from close range. A corner is whipped in, but once again Chelsea deal comfortably with it. Up the other end Kompany clumsily brings down Diego Costa on the edge of the box...
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
70: It has all been City lately as they look the more likely to score so far. Diego Costa gives away a free kick- that's not like him- for a foul on Kompany. The attacking free kick is lofted straight to Courtois though. Disappointing. Chelsea 2-1 City
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
Chance! From an inswing corner Stones leverages a bit of space off Matic and has a free header only a few yards out. He gets power behind it, but there is no direction able to be generated, thankfully, in Courtois' case. De Bruyne then floats in another corner, but this time it is dealt with by Luiz.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
63:Guardiola talking plenty with his hands on the touchline as Chelsea are awarded a contentious free kick. Conte comes over to see what all the fuss is about, but it quickly settles down. Neither side have really gotten going in this second half so far.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
61:Silva goes down clutching his face after tangling with Kante and then Matic. The ref awards the free kick and it is in an inviting position. De Bruyne stands over the ball and slips in an unexpected low pass into Sane's path. The youngster cant control it though and it goes out for a corner which Luiz deals with.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
59: Cagey start to the second half. Conte is yelling instructions like always to his players from the sidelines as they seek to shut down each City attack. Once again they are drifting all around the outside of the box without any real incision. Chelsea 2-1 City
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
55: This fixture hasn’t particularly got a reputation for being feisty, but there has actually been four red cards shown in the last five meetings between the pair. It doesn’t look like it will delve into the type of spiteful clash yet which occurred in December. But then again there’s always time.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
Chance! What a miss from Fernandinho. He is offside as the ball is looped back into the box, but let's not let rules like that get in the way. The flag doesn't go up and he has just the keeper to beat. His volley goes closer towards the corner flag. Clichy then chops down Pedro out on the right wing with a tackle that was only a few minutes late. The Frenchman is the first to go in the book.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
Chance: Kante is lucky to escape a booking after chopping down Silva- sometimes it really is the only way to stop him. From the resulting free kick Kompany escapes his marker at the far post and floats a header towards goal. Azpilicueta is there to head it off the line though.
Mark Molyneux
Roar Guru
It seems recently Guardiola’s men fancy a bit of London on their travels. They have lost just once in the capital in their last six league games played there. However, as the second half commences at the Bridge, they are 2-1 down. Kurt Zouma is replaced by Nemanja Matic. The back three for Chelsea looks like it is being reverted to. Conte perhaps unhappy with City’s dominance through the middle of the park. The returning Delph was particularly impressive as he had more touches of the ball than any other during the first 45.