Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and their fans – yes, the Gooners as well – will all be cheering on Tottenham on Wednesday, hoping Spurs upset the Chelsea applecart and stop Antonio Conte's men from making it a ridiculous 14 wins out of 14 Premier League matches. Spurs host Chelsea in a crunch Premier League encounter that could very well decide the course of the title race.
Tottenham vs Chelsea team news
If the Blues win, they will open up an eight-point lead over Liverpool and while bigger deficits have been hauled down in the past, the way this season has gone, that lead might just be enough to see Chelsea all the way through to the title, even with almost half the matches remaining.
Tottenham will be as aware of that as any of the other title rivals, so they will be expected to put in a concerted effort for the 90 minutes, not just the 44 they managed when the two sides met in November.
In that game, Spurs bossed Chelsea for much of the first half, before the tide turned when Pedro scored just before halftime. Chelsea went on to win their seventh straight after Victor Moses fired home the winner and that run has now been extended to 13. They can now become the record-holder for consecutive wins in a single top-flight season, while also pretty much ending the hopes of all their title rivals.
Add the fact that Chelsea last played on Saturday and have had four days to recuperate and prepare for this match, all the odds are certainly stacked in the favour of the Blues. While the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool all played two matches in 48 hours, Chelsea were able to sit back and watch as two of their rivals stumbled.
With Tottenham also having a day less to prepare, this really is Chelsea's match and title to lose now – just don't bring up the fixture issue with Antonio Conte.
"I can reply that I didn't do the fixtures," Conte said. "I think that's the simple reply.
"The advantage we have is one more day of rest over Tottenham. That's the advantage if we want to speak about advantage. But for me, the advantages are other things – during a season, different situations can happen when you can have advantages – but for sure, not this.
"I think they [the managers of the title rivals] are angry for our position, not for the fixtures. I'm not disappointed. I think it's normal. This also happens in Italy. I repeat – it's always because you stay (at the top)."
No matter what happens on Wednesday, Chelsea will be top – a win and eight points, though, could just end this season's title race in a hurry, no matter how much Conte might try to play that down.
