Chelsea continue ruthless charge toward title despite tight pursuit by Spurs

For the second season in a row, Spurs have found themselves in a two- horse race for the Premiership title. Whereas last time they were chasing the eventual champions Leicester, they now find themselves trailing Chelsea. Up until over a week ago, it was almost a certainty that Chelsea would gallop to the title, but a shock loss to Crystal Palace made things interesting. Spurs are still hard on their heels, with six straight wins but it might be too little, too late as they only have seven games to make up a deficit of seven points.

Chelsea recovered from the loss to Palace with a hard- fought win over Manchester City before defeating Bournemouth on the weekend. Manager Antonio Conte must be hailed for not only overseeing an impressive campaign but preventing Chelsea from faltering or being complacent. Conte has urged his team to imagine Spurs winning all of their games, which they have indeed been doing.

Spurs’ six- game winning streak is even more impressive when one considers that they were without top scorer Harry Kane for several of those games after he injured his ankle on March 12. Other players like Delle Alli and Son Heung- min have stepped up to contribute, and they are clearly not the same Spurs from before who would falter brilliantly when the going got tough.

Both Chelsea and Spurs have tough league games as well as an FA Cup semifinal against each other.

Having dispatched Manchester City last week, Chelsea have Manchester United coming up this weekend as well as Southampton and Everton in the end of April. Spurs have Arsenal on April 30 and play United in their second- tolast game. Having been walloped 4- 0 by Chelsea back in October, Mourinho and United should be inspired for their rematch. That said, Chelsea should not be expected to lose more than two of their last seven games, so it is hard to see how Spurs can catch up and overtake them.

Meanwhile, below the top two, there is a five- team race for the final two Champions League spots.

City themselves recovered from their loss to Chelsea to beat Hull 3- 1, while fellow top- four contenders Liverpool came back to defeat Stoke 2- 1 on Saturday as well. United crushed Sunderland 3- 0 wile Everton won a wild game 4- 2 against Leicester. But, when it comes to fourth place, one can never rule out Arsenal, despite all their recent drama and dysfunction.