Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Manchester City's status as Premier League title favourites will pass beneath an unforgiving microscope on Monday when Jose Mourinho's
City moved to the top of the
table after crushing Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 on Wednesday and having already
plundered 115 goals in all competitions this season, they are widely seen as
the country's outstanding team.
With a run of five consecutive league
victories, Chelsea had been keeping pace, but a frustrating 0-0 draw at home to
West Ham United in mid-week saw them fall three points behind their rivals.
Mourinho has lauded City as clear title
favourites in recent weeks, but with Monday's match drawing closer, he has
started to fire off some characteristically pernicious barbs.
The Chelsea manager dismissed Tottenham
manager Tim Sherwood's claim that City were the best team on the planet and
went on to allege that Manuel Pellegrini's side were benefiting from favourable
officiating.
Spurs, Newcastle United and Liverpool
have all had goals disallowed for offside in recent losses to City and Mourinho
said: "They are lucky. The reality is they have many crucial decisions in
their favour.
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero
celebrates with his teammates after scoring during their FA Cup …
"Against Tottenham, (Michael) Dawson's goal, the penalty, the (Danny Rose) red card. They are having everything. I repeat, because I don't want to be misinterpreted -- (it is) just pure coincidence.
"The referees, they try to do their
best and sometimes they make mistakes and normally during the season the
mistakes are split between teams. In their (City's) case, they have everything
in their favour."
While Mourinho has repeatedly drawn a
distinction between his supposedly embryonic team and Pellegrini's
"finished product", Chelsea beat City 2-1 when they met at Stamford
Bridge in October.
City are a vastly different prospect on
home turf, however, having won all 11 of their league matches at the Etihad,
where they score goals at a rate of close to four per game.
Chelsea manager Jose
Mourinho pictured during his side's Premier League match against West Ham
U …
Manchester United, Everton, Tottenham,
Arsenal and Liverpool are among the teams to have been ruthlessly dispatched in
front of City's fans, for an aggregate winning margin of 21-6.
While Mourinho's tactics tend to be more
cautious, Pellegrini refuses to criticise the approach taken by the man who
succeeded him as manager of Real Madrid in 2010.
"I don't know which way Chelsea will
play on Monday," said the Chilean. "They have a style of play. Maybe
it's not the same style that I like, but everyone can play the way they want.
Chelsea's chances of victory appear to
have been enhanced by the news that City's top scorer, Sergio Aguero, will miss
the game after sustaining a hamstring problem during the victory at Spurs.
However, Alvaro Negredo is fit again
after a shoulder injury, while fellow striker Edin Dzeko has scored seven goals
in his last six appearances.
Pellegrini can also now call upon
Montenegro international Stevan Jovetic, who claimed his first Premier League
goal at Spurs after an injury-plagued start to his time in England.
Aguero joins midfielders Samir Nasri and
Javi Garcia on the sidelines, but James Milner could feature after overcoming a
groin problem.
Chelsea, meanwhile, could hand a debut to
21-year-old Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah, who completed an £11 million ($18
million, 13.2 million euros) move from Swiss side Basel last weekend.
"We all know that it's going to be a
difficult game, but we beat them at home, even if that was also a tough
match," said Chelsea midfielder Ramires.
"Despite the fact it will be
difficult, a victory there would be very sweet and we are going to give our
very best."
Yahoo-AFP
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