Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has admitted that Chelsea deserve "respect" for the manner in which they have stormed clear at the top of the Premier League.
The Blues have shown few signs of slipping up in the title race since climbing to the summit in December, dropping points in just three of their last 21 outings.
Chelsea also remain on course for a domestic double for the second time in seven years, and Carrick admits that it will be a tough task trying to stop their rivals' charge for silverware on two fronts when travelling to Stamford Bridge for Monday's FA Cup quarter-final tie.
"They have had a good season. They have gone on a great run, so you've got to respect what they have done. It's not easy in this league to go on such a run," the Daily Star quotes him as saying. "We've gone on a good run ourselves, but we've just had too many draws at home and that has killed us.
"We feel that we are getting closer to them, but you have got to respect them, they are a good team, they are well drilled, and they have been able to field pretty much the same team all season which I think has helped them.
"They have not had European competition to worry about, but they still had to go out and get the results and they've done that - so you have still got to respect them for that."
Chelsea are unbeaten in 11 games against Man United in all competitions, including a run of five wins in the past six meetings in West London.
No Data Analysis info
Germany
Switzerland
Hungary
Scotland
Spain
Italy
Croatia
Albania
England
Denmark
Slovenia
Serbia
Austria
France
Netherlands
Poland
Romania
Belgium
Slovakia
Ukraine
Portugal
Turkey
Georgia
Czech Republic