Unbeaten Chelsea take a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League to Newcastle.
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London – Unbeaten Chelsea take a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League to Newcastle while faltering Southampton face Manchester United.
Chelsea will be hoping to continue their unbeaten run this weekend as they take their six-point lead at the top of the Premier League to Newcastle.
With 11 wins and three draws from their 14 games, Jose Mourinho's side have opened up a healthy gap on champions Manchester City.
Seemingly impregnable in defence, robust and classy in midfield and clinical in attack, already this year's title race is being talked of in terms of only two teams.
But for a man who loves to talk, Mourinho is being modest in his assessment of his side and their title chances.
“We are doing well, getting good results in every competition,” he said. “(But) I don't think we should speak too much about it. “We must go game after game, play the best we can and try to get the best results.”
Chelsea coped comfortably without the suspended Diego Costa in midweek as they beat Tottenham 3-0 but the Spain striker will be back for the trip to Newcastle.
The performances of Didier Drogba and Loic Remy may give Mourinho a few things to consider before naming his team.
“If we don't have a player we don't cry about it,” he said. “We give confidence to the other players and they respond in the best way. “Obviously Drogba did very well, Remy the same, but I would prefer to speak about the team. It was an important victory.”
City showed they are coming into form nicely, after an inconsistent start to the season, with their 4-1 win at Sunderland their third straight league victory.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini, whose team host Everton this weekend, praised the performance of Sergio Aguero, who scored two of their four goals.
But Pellegrini also said the team's all-round displays gave him confidence they can catch Chelsea.
“We have players in high performance,” he said. “Yaya (Toure) has played very well in the last few games, Fernandinho is coming back to his normal performance and Samir Nasri is also in high performance.
“All the players are having more trust in what we are doing but we must continue the same way because there is (only) a slight difference between winning and losing.”
Third meets fourth as the two Dutch managers in the Premier League go head to head, with Southampton hosting a Manchester United side who have won four matches in a row.
Louis Van Gaal and Ronald Koeman have a chequered relationship, stemming from their time together at Barcelona and then Ajax, but Koeman will be more concerned with avoiding a third straight defeat.
Van Gaal will monitor the fitness of injured duo Wayne Rooney and Angel Di Maria before finalising his line-up.
At the other end of the table, bottom side Leicester travel to an Aston Villa side who will be fresh from their first win in 10
matches.
Second-bottom Queens Park Rangers play third-bottom Burnley while the two sides just outside the relegation zone, Hull and West Brom, clash at the KC Stadium.
Fifth-placed West Ham host Swansea, looking over their shoulder at sixth-placed Arsenal, who travel to Stoke.
Liverpool take on Sunderland and Tottenham welcome Crystal Palace in the weekend's other matches. – Sapa-dpa
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