Chelsea are going into the new year on top of the table, but Manchester City have closed the gap from 8 points to just 3 in the last month. Would it be fair to say that Chelsea are deservingly top of the table? Yes, absolutely. Chelsea have been heads and shoulders ahead of any other team in England over the first half of the season. They have been decimating all the visitors to the Bridge and seeing off most away opponents comfortably. They have lost only once, away at Newcastle (no points for guessing), and have had two unlucky draws, both in Manchester, and two well fought draws.
While Chelsea should have won the two games in Manchester, denied by a late Lampard goal at the Etihad and by Phil Dowd’s gaffes at Old Trafford, they were given a run for their money by Newcastle and Southampton. Manchester City have slipped under the radar all this while as the media were concentrating on Chelsea and their unbeaten run. They were riding on a high flying Aguero at first and it led to them being labelled a one man team. Then once he got sidelined with injury, other stepped in. Frank Lampard, Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and David Silva, among others have made sure that their winning run continues as they cut the lead at the top by five points.
City have been stealthily moving up in terms of points, and that has now led to a massive outcry from Chelsea fans saying that City’s festive fixture list was very easy as compared to that of Chelsea and that this is unfair. In fairness though, it wasn’t expected at the start of the season that Southampton and West Ham would be flying so high. Taking that into account, the fixtures look somewhat balanced. If you had asked a Chelsea fan how many points would Chelsea drop from the last six games, he would say none, bar three points at St James Park. And asking a Manchester City fan the same, the reply is, worst case scenario, two points dropped against Everton. Let’s take a look at how the last six fixtures actually panned out for either side.
So as it stands, Chelsea are two points for the worse, having drawn at Southampton, but City are on par with the expected results, except that the draw came at Burnley and not Everton. Going into the New Year, Chelsea have already faced most of the Top 7 teams of the last season at their respective homes. Only Arsenal and Tottenham remain, and given the way either side has looked this season, it doesn’t look like a tall order. On the other hand, City have yet to visit the Goodison Park, Stamford Bridge, Anfield, Old Trafford and White Hart Lane. While City have the quality to easily see off all these games, except Chelsea and probably Manchester United, there is still a good chance that they lose a few points on the road to the others as well.
So how are the upcoming six fixtures for the two sides? Well, we do know that there is a tasty clash between the two coming up.
City have a streak of three tricky fixtures in a row coming up after facing Sunderland at home on New Year day. Everton away, Arsenal at home and Chelsea away are as dodgy as they get. Chelsea on the other hand, start off the New Year at the Three Point Lane. Not wanting to sound arrogant, but that is one of the most predictable fixtures in recent history. Apart from the City game, Chelsea have Everton at home which is not as dodgy as Everton away. So Chelsea have a more winnable set of fixtures coming up as compared to City.
In fairness, difficulty of fixtures is dependent on more than just the opposition. For example, City are sure to become better equipped to face anyone when Aguero returns and Chelsea will be winning more of those close draws if they develop a killer touch. However it pans out, this has the makings of the tightest title race in recent times. And to see Jose Mourinho and Manuel Pellegrini go on with their mindgames and tactical warfare is surely going to be a joy to behold!
Author’s Note: The fixture details as well as the form guide has been sourced from PremierLeague.com
