Chelsea-Leicester City Preview
by The Associated Press Apr 27, 4:05 PM
It no longer appears to be if Chelsea will win the Premier League, but rather when.
Needing only two more victories to secure Jose Mourinho's third title while in charge at Stamford Bridge, the Blues seek the first of them Wednesday at King Power Stadium versus resurgent Leicester City.
The weekend's results left Chelsea (23-8-2) with a 10-point advantage over closest pursuers Manchester City and Arsenal with five matches remaining. They effectively scuttled Arsenal's chances with a scoreless tie at the Emirates on Sunday as Mourinho continued his mastery of counterpart Arsene Wenger by improving to 7-5-0 against the Frenchman while in charge of Chelsea.
''It's a big step two where we want to go,'' Chelsea captain John Terry said. ''We nullified them, we played very well ... and we came and gave it a go.''
The quick turnaround for this match may require Mourinho to make at least one change since Oscar was removed from the game at halftime due to a possible concussion suffered in the first half. The Brazilian midfielder was hospitalized for further testing, and his availability is in doubt.
That adds to the list of walking wounded for Chelsea, who may again be without strikers Diego Costa and Loic Remy. Mourinho deployed a defence-first lineup versus Arsenal, and Didier Drogba - who appeared as a substitute for Oscar in the second half - may be in the first XI for this match.
The season-long quality Chelsea have put forth has not been lost among the Premier League's players as six Blues were on the team of the season and midfielder Eden Hazard was named Player of the Year by the PFA. Hazard is the second Chelsea player to win the award, joining Terry - who was also on this year's team of the season.
Leicester City (8-7-18) have won four on the bounce to charge out of the relegation spots, climbing to 17th after a crucial 1-0 victory Saturday at Burnley. Jamie Vardy scored on the hour to complete a frantic end-to-end sequence that started with Burnley's Matthew Taylor putting his attempt from the penalty spot off the post.
"It's a huge result. Performances are secondary," Nigel Pearson told the team's official website. "For us to continue a winning run, it's always going to be very important.
"To get four wins on the trot is incredible in the context of where we've been for so long. We've got five games left and it's really important that we stay focused and not get ahead of ourselves."
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