Could Chelsea Bottle Title Race?

With six games left both Chelsea and Tottenham will be battling it out till the very last minute of the season to finish top of the table.

With just over a month left for crowning the new Champions of England, the title race has taken an astounding turn. Jolted by the recent results against Crystal Palace and Manchester United, Blues have put themselves in a stiff position. With six games left for both Chelsea and Tottenham, the London clubs will be battling it out till the very last minute of the season to finish top of the table.

By winning 13 games on the trot, Antonio Conte’s men became one of the favourites to lift the Premier League Trophy before their London rivals Tottenham Hotspurs, halted the Blues’ march by thumping them 2-0 at White Hart Lane on the very first match day of 2017. However, Spurs still seven points behind the league leaders Chelsea at this stage, were contending for a top four finish. Blues then marched on to get eleven points from their next five games beating Leicester City, Hull City, Arsenal and drawing against Liverpool and Burnley pretty much cementing their position by match week 25 with an eight points lead over 2^nd placed Manchester City and a ten points lead over 3^rd placed Tottenham Hotspurs.

‘I’m going to make a prediction – it could go either way.’ – Former England Boss Terry Venables

‘I’m going to make a prediction – it could go either way.’ – Former England boss Terry Venables. The quote pretty much summarizes what has happened in the final couple of months of the season. The league is never over till the final whistle is blown on the last day of the season and the quote stands unequivocally correct with Mauricio Pochettino’s side winning 7 straight games and now suddenly breathing down Chelsea’s neck even without their talisman Harry Kane. Cutting down a ten points lead to just four points, the season is coming to a dramatic finale, and however the football pundits still feel it will take a massive Chelsea collapse, a classic choke and a breath taking run by Tottenham, but the title race has surely been blown wide open.

Comparing the set of fixtures left for the top two contenders for the title, Blues surely have an edge over Spurs who still have a couple of strenuous matches left both at home and away. With Manchester United and Arsenal having trips to White Hart Lane and Spurs going down to King Power Stadium and Selhurst Park on the final day, Spurs might find themselves in a gruelling situation. On the other hand, Chelsea’s trip to Goodison Park will undeniably be the one to watch out for as Ronald Koeman’s men will be looking to avenge the 5-0 pounding they got at Stamford Bridge and West Brom is never easy. Although, with Harry Kane most likely to be fit for the remaining season and Blues facing a couple of injury issues in the form of Thibaut Courtois and Marcus Alonso, Spurs might just be able to pull off a miracle by winning their first title in 56 years. The odds however, are still in Chelsea’s favour even though they have now lost last two of their four premier league matches.

According to football experts, chances of Chelsea screwing up the title race from this position seem to be quite slim. Even though some of the last performances by Spurs seem to be absolutely seamless, winning the remaining six will need some special football from Pochettino’s  men as beating Red Devils and Gunners might just turn out to be a little too much. With Jose’s men who are currently holding the longest unbeaten run of 22 in Europe and Gunners finally finding some rhythm in the last stages of the season, Tottenham will need to bring out their A game to compete for the title. Along with that, likelihood of Chelsea dropping four points appears to be a rather optimistic thought from a Spurs perspective.

Fans will be up to witness a memorable season

No matter what happens in the closing stages of the competition, fans are in for a thrilling ride and whichever team is crowned as the “Champions of England” will surely have to bypass a set of really exigent hurdles set forth them towards the end of a very exhilarating season. One month to go for the war to end, but one can undoubtedly say that the final battle has just begun.