Chelsea, buoyed by FA Cup win, face Saints challenge
Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard believes to win the Premier League title his side need to win five of their remaining six games beginning with Southampton on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Belgian and his teammates will have to refocus after the delight of beating main title rivals Tottenham 4-2 in their FA Cup semifinal on Saturday, perhaps at the same time landing a psychological blow.
However, having seen a commanding 10-point lead eroded to just four, Antonio Conte’s players cannot afford a slip-up at home to Southampton.
Tottenham, though, face a tough challenge on Wednesday when they travel to fellow London club Crystal Palace who have in recent weeks seen off Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Hazard, who came off the bench to score a superb goal for Chelsea on Saturday, said the FA Cup win could be just the boost they needed after a galling defeat in the league against Manchester United the week before.
“This win maybe gives us more confidence for the rest of the season,” Hazard told the club website. “We have six games to play in the league and we need to win five if Tottenham win all of theirs, so we will see.”
The message from Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino was very much shrug off the FA Cup disappointment and move on.
His message was echoed by England international Eric Dier, who said the Palace game was a huge challenge towards their title ambitions.
Their task may be made easier as Palace manager Sam Allardyce said he would have to leave out some of his first choice players to give them a rest after their 2-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday.
“We have to move on, there is nothing we can do about it and we have a massive game on Wednesday,” Dier told the club website. “We’ll put all our attention onto that now. We have to get this out of our heads and carry on -- I’m sure we will.