Chelsea will look to get their title charge back on track when they host top-four hopefuls Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
The Blues were stunned at home by Crystal Palace on Saturday but still enjoy a seven-point lead at the top of the table, while City are bidding to strengthen their hold on a Champions League place.
Chelsea
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Suddenly things do not seem quite as straightforward for Chelsea. Most had been declaring them champions-elect with 10 games still remaining of the season before Saturday's visit of Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge, and for good reason too.
The Blues had won 18 and drawn two of their 20 matches against teams outside the top six and had imperiously stormed into a 10-point lead at the top of the table courtesy of a relentless run of form since Antonio Conte's change of formation in September.
It looked as though it would be another routine victory when Cesc Fabregas opened the scoring inside five minutes too, but Palace fought back ferociously and were ahead just six minutes later - a lead they managed to hold on to despite Chelsea throwing everything they had at their London rivals.
Coupled with Tottenham Hotspur's win over Burnley, that cut Chelsea's lead to seven points, but Conte may see a way to turn their defeat into a positive lesson going forward.
Chelsea have shown very few signs of complacency this season, and that was not what cost them against Palace either, but Saturday's match was evidence that switching off even for 90 seconds - during which time the Eagles scored their two goals - can prove fatal in the Premier League.
Of course, it is far from being time to ring any alarm bells at Chelsea - they still boast a commanding lead at the top of the table and there will not be many occasions where teams are able to withstand the sort of onslaught that Palace did.
However, the visit of Man City is one of the more testing ones of the season and should Conte's side fall to another defeat then the gap could stand at four points when Chelsea make the trip to in-form Bournemouth at the weekend - a much more achievable goal to chase down than the 10-point gap facing Spurs just a few days ago.
Seven of Chelsea's remaining nine games come against teams either in the top half or only outside of it on goal difference too, so the Blues do not have the easiest of run-ins as they look to secure a second title in the last three years.
The most important thing for Conte and his players now is to ensure that the Palace defeat proves to be a minor wobble rather than anything more damaging and, while City may have the talent to match anyone on their day, Chelsea have still won 16 of their 18 home games across all competitions this season.
The Blues have not lost back-to-back Premier League home games since November 2011 either, while Conte himself has not suffered that fate as a manager since November 2009 during his time in charge of Atalanta.
The Italian must now deal with the first real semblances of doubt regarding their title credentials, though, and how they cope with that test on Wednesday will be fascinating to see.
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Recent form (all competitions): WWWWWL
Man City
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Before the season began there were plenty who expected Pep Guardiola to be in the exulted position that his Chelsea counterpart currently finds himself in - top of the league and on course to mark his debut season in English football with the Premier League title.
That belief only grew with a perfect start of 10 wins from 10 across all competitions, but City have failed to win 19 of their 36 outings since then and find themselves battling for a place in the top four rather than the title.
Chelsea's slip-up against Palace threatened to resurrect any slim hopes City had of an unlikely recovery, but Sunday's 2-2 draw against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium means that Guardiola's side are still 11 points off the pace.
On the face of it, a point from the Emirates is a decent enough result - particularly considering that Manchester United and Everton also dropped points over the weekend - but to have squandered a lead on two occasions will have been frustrating for City.
The result did extend their unbeaten run to eight league games - Guardiola's longest since his arrival in England - but the last three of those have all ended as draws and City have now slipped below Liverpool into fourth place as a result.
Crucially for the Citizens they still have a five-point lead over fifth-placed Manchester United and a seven-point advantage over the Gunners, although both teams do have a game in hand over Guardiola's side.
City will also make the trip to Stamford Bridge having taken 10 points from the last 12 on offer away from home and only Wednesday's opponents can boast a better record on the road in the Premier League this season, with City having won a joint league-high 10 of their 15 away games and scoring an unparalleled 32 goals on their travels too.
Of course, Stamford Bridge is one of the most difficult places to visit in the league, but Guardiola has never before lost both league games against a single opponent in a season and will know that victory on Wednesday would very much keep his side's fate in their own hands.
Indeed, it could even keep fans dreaming of a repeat of 2012 when City overturned an eight-point gap in the final six games to win the title with the last kick of the season. Should they beat Chelsea then the deficit would be eight points with eight games left - never say never...
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Recent form (all competitions): WDWLDD
Team News
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Chelsea will give Victor Moses every opportunity to prove his fitness ahead of this match after the wing-back was forced to sit out of the defeat to Palace with a foot injury.
Should the Nigerian miss out then Conte could name an unchanged side, with the Italian likely to plump for the insurance of having both Nemanja Matic and N'Golo Kante protecting his back four rather than recalling Willian.
Diego Costa is still searching for his 50th Premier League goal as he bids to become the seventh player to reach that landmark for Chelsea and the sixth-fastest overall.
Should Costa get that goal on Wednesday then he would have taken one game more than Sergio Aguero to reach the half-century, and the Argentine is expected to lead the City line again having scored six times against Chelsea in the Premier League - four of which have come at Stamford Bridge.
That includes three in this fixture last season when he became only the third player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick away at Stamford Bridge after Nwankwo Kanu and Robin van Persie.
Aguero could still face competition from Gabriel Jesus before the season is out, with the Brazilian having returned to training following a broken metatarsal.
However, Jesus will play no part in this fixture as he continues on the sidelines along with Ilkay Gundogan and Bacary Sagna.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Pedro, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Fabregas, Costa, Hazard
Man City possible starting lineup:
Caballero; Zabaleta, Stones, Otamendi, Kolarov; Toure, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Silva, Sane; Aguero
Head To Head
Manchester City have had the upper hand in this fixture in recent years, winning seven of their last 15 league meetings (D3 L5) after losing their previous eight in a row.
The corresponding fixture last season saw Aguero net a hat-trick in a 3-0 Man City win, although that is one of only two victories from their last 19 visits to Stamford Bridge (D5 L12).
Aguero was one of two City players sent off in a feisty reverse fixture between these two sides in December, with Chelsea coming from behind to win 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium courtesy of goals from Costa, Willian and Eden Hazard.
We say: Chelsea 2-1 Man City
Chelsea have not lost back-to-back home games in the league for more than five years, while City have not gone four without a win in the league yet under Guardiola - something has to give between these two heavyweights. Chelsea have so far shown the type of resolve which makes it hard to see their season unravelling because of one defeat, so we are backing them to return to winning ways.
Barney Corkhill
