In a league of their own, and up for the cup

Doing the double requires two things, so let’s start with the English Premier League. Chelsea sit four points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur with five games to play, and Spurs have the tougher opponents remaining, including a north London derby against Arsenal on Monday morning (NZ time).

One more Spurs loss should be enough for Chelsea to breathe easy – their hardest game remaining is against seventh-placed Everton.

The two teams are very close, as the weekend’s FA Cup semifinal proved, but Chelsea have players who are slightly better, almost everywhere across the park, as was on display in that match, where Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic both scored brilliant late goals to settle the tie in their favour.

The Blues’ success resembles Leicester’s shock triumph last season in several ways. One is that they have N’Golo Kante – a summer signing from the champions – sitting in midfield, stopping opposition attacks before they really get started. Another is that they have been fortunate with injuries, able to rely on the same starting XI almost every week, and that continuity – combined with a lack of midweek European matches – has been key.

The other, slightly harder, piece of the puzzle is the FA Cup, where Chelsea will play Arsenal in the final on May 28 (NZ time), looking to win the knockout competition for the first time since 2011-12, and stop their London rivals from winning it for the third time in the past four years.

I say slightly harder, because anything can happen in a one-off match, but this too should be a doddle. Chelsea have been dominant since they settled on their current playing system last October, while Arsenal are having their worst season ever under Arsene Wenger, and are set to miss out on Champions League qualification for the first time under his stewardship.

Arsenal have also retreated into their shells over the past few games, trying to turn those matches into scrappy, ugly affairs, while Chelsea have continued to march on undaunted, playing positive, fearless football, and that should mean they win the final, and win it big.