Chelsea close to clinching Premier League title

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND — By mixing attacking verve with defensive resilience, Chelsea has been a class apart in the Premier League and can win the title Sunday with three games to spare.

A victory over Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge will seal the title for Chelsea, which has lost only two games and is on course to register the second-highest point total in the 23-year history of the Premier League.

A 13-point lead demonstrates Chelsea’s supremacy this season.

“I think we are what every team would like to be,” said manager Jose Mourinho, who is on the brink of winning his third English league title with Chelsea — but his first since returning for a second spell at the club in 2013.

Chelsea has also won the League Cup this season.

Mourinho has moulded an almost complete lineup, with the off-season additions of striker Diego Costa and central midfielder Cesc Fabregas filling the most vulnerable areas of the team.

Chelsea blew opponents away with its attacking brilliance in the first half of the season.

They are unbeaten since Jan. 1.