With just 11 games remaining in the season, Chelsea head into the weekend fixture at Stoke knowing three points will be crucial to ensuring their stay at the top of the table
As each week passes, Chelsea are looking more and more likely to be crowned champions of England for a second time in three years. It’s been looking that way since Antonio Conte’s men leapt into first place back in November, with none of their rivals able to show any sort of consistency to provide a legitimate title challenge. Sitting 10 points clear with 11 games to go, there’s only one team that can stop the Blues taking home the trophy; and that’s themselves.
Heading into the weekend fixture at Stoke, Chelsea are somewhat of a rarity in the Premier League this season. Neither injury concerns nor midweek European fixtures have affected their play this year.
London neighbours Tottenham are sweating over the seriousness of Harry Kane’s ankle injury that he picked up last week while Manchester City are left reeling following their Champions League exit to Monaco on Wednesday night. It’s a luxury Chelsea find themselves in, but that shouldn’t lead to them relaxing on their current lead.
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A win at the bet365 Stadium would leave their closest title challengers feeling dismayed and dejected. It is never an easy place to go to, inspiring the old saying “on a cold Wednesday night in Stoke”, and they currently hold the league’s 11th best home record.
That standing is somewhat flawed when considering the abysmal start they had to the year, picking up just one point in their first six outings. Man City and Tottenham strolled to victories there but since September, Mark Hughes’ side have only suffered 1 defeat from 12 on their own ground.
It’s an intimidating record to face and Conte will be sure that his players are ready for the fierce physical battle ahead. Stoke have changed their reputation of an aggressive tackling side by bringing in players such as Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan Krkic and Marko Arnautovic over the years but the blueprint for success still remains the same.
They thrive on a certain style of physicality, which sometimes can be over the top. However, with the likes of Diego Costa, David Luiz and Nemanja Matic, Chelsea should be well equipped to deal with such a strategy.
The exit of City from Europe wasn’t an ideal scenario for Chelsea. It now means that Pep Guardiola’s side are able to focus on the Premier League at least for the next month, until their FA Cup semi-final clash with Arsenal at the end of April.
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Guardiola’s rotation policy has come under scrutiny in recent weeks and had City been juggling European and domestic ambitions late into the season, it would surely have led to more dropped points for the Manchester side. That isn’t the case and City now have a similar schedule to Conte’s side for the remainder of the campaign.
Giving City or Tottenham a lifeline in the title race would lead to an increase in pressure on the current leaders for the weeks ahead. Chelsea still have to face City at the start of next month at Stamford Bridge and are also due to meet Southampton, Everton, Manchester United and West Brom.
Dropping points this weekend would be disastrous when looking at the remaining fixtures. As mentioned above, Stoke are a good team and they will set up to get a result. But having won tight contests at Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace already this year, Chelsea have shown they have the character to win games like this.
As of now, the Premier League title race consists of just one team. Chelsea would be wise not to give any of their challengers a glimmer of hope by slipping up this weekend. Heading into the international break with a 10 point lead at the top of the table would be an ideal situation for Conte’s side to find themselves in. Neutrals and pundits are crying out for some title race excitement, but three points this weekend will ensure it stays boring at the top.