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Sports

Chelsea eyes seven-point lead atop the Premier League

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Chelsea will have the opportunity to open up a seven-point lead atop the Premier League table on Saturday when the club welcomes Tottenham to Stamford Bridge.

With FA Cup action reducing the Premier League slate to just five games this weekend, a home victory for Chelsea would see title contenders Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City slip further behind the Blues.

And Jose Mourinho's men appear to be hitting their top gear in the final stretch of the season as Chelsea is unbeaten in its last 13 league matches. The Blues most recently went to Craven Cottage and cruised to a 3-1 victory as Andre Schurrle bagged three goals in the span of 17 minutes.

Offense has been something of a struggle for Chelsea this season as Eden Hazard's total of 12 Premier League goals is twice as many as the club's next- leading scorer, Samuel Eto'o.

But the Blues have been able to wrangle first place behind their stout defensive play, which has seen them leak a Premier League-low 22 goals in 28 games. In fact, Chelsea has not conceded more than one goal in a league match since Dec. 7, leaving the offense with little to do in order for the Blues to avoid coming away empty-handed.

Tottenham should provide Chelsea with some stiff competition, though. Spurs have improved greatly under the guidance of manager Tim Sherwood, claiming a total of 26 points from their 12 matches under the interim boss.

The North London club earned a 1-0 victory over Cardiff City in its last outing with Roberto Soldado getting his first Premier League goal from open play since Oct. 20. Tottenham will hope he can continue to produce the goods against a staunch Chelsea defense on Saturday.

Manchester United has had just two competitive matches since its scoreless draw at Arsenal on Feb. 12, getting a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace in league play before suffering a very disappointing 2-0 defeat at Olympiakos in Champions League action. The Red Devils will return to action at the Hawthorns on Saturday for a meeting with West Bromwich Albion, which stunned United in a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford back on Sept. 28.

Elsewhere in the English top flight on Saturday, Fulham and Cardiff City will square off in a relegation "six-pointer" in Wales, Southampton looks to avoid a third straight defeat when it heads to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace and Stoke City hopes to pull further away from Norwich City when the two sides meet at Carrow Road.