Entering the festive flurry of fixtures, Chelsea and Manchester City are only separated by three points, but that likely will not be the case after Jan. 1, 2015.
For Chelsea, Monday’s 2-0 victory over Stoke City marked the start of the most grueling stretch of the season as the Blues will play four matches over 11 days. With one win already in the Christmas bag, Chelsea face a trio of tests starting with West Ham United on Boxing Day.
Nearly halfway through the 2014-15 season, Sam Allardyce’s West Ham has been glued to the Premier League’s top four positions. The Hammers are unbeaten in their last five matches, and the most famous ponytail in the Premier League, Andy Carroll, is back in the starting lineup. The towering 25-year-old forward has three goals in his last three matches – all of those tallies came at Upton Park. Friday’s game with Chelsea is at Stamford Bridge.
Back when Allardyce managed Blackburn Rovers in 2010, the tactically astute manager sent out a “B” team against Manchester United at Old Trafford in an attempt to rotate his squad in a match he did not expect to win. Allardyce was surprisingly sacked following a famous 7-1 defeat, but even a 7-1 loss to Chelsea would not threaten Allardyce’s post at West Ham. With the larger goal in mind, Big Sam may be tempted to accept defeat against the Blues and save his first-choice players for home games against Arsenal on Sunday and West Brom on New Year’s Day.
If West Ham does send a full-strength squad, the Hammers offer only one of the potential banana skins laid out for Chelsea in the upcoming set of games.
After West Ham, the Blues play only two days later against Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium. Currently in fifth, the Saints are only two points behind West Ham after losing four of their last five Premier League fixtures. However, a 3-0 victory over Everton on Saturday reenergized Southampton’s Champions League charge.
At Saint Mary’s, manager Ronald Koeman and Southampton have recorded six of their nine Premier League victories this season with a goal differential of plus-15. Only Chelsea (+17) has a better goal differential at home than Southampton, so Chelsea’s journey Southwest promises to pack a punch.
To commemorate 2015, Chelsea will travel to White Hart Lane on New Year’s Day in another testing affair.
Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham Hotspur have won three matches on the bounce, and Spurs are level on points with Arsenal for sixth place. Regardless of form, Tottenham and Chelsea make for a proper London derby, but Spurs are unbeaten in their last five home games. That would suggest Chelsea will have a tough time of it in North London.
Conceivably, the Blues could face a fourth-place team thrice in seven days.
For Chelsea to collect nine points from the upcoming fixture list would be some achievement, especially considering manager Jose Mourinho has rarely rotated his squad this season. Likely, Mourinho will look to Didier Drogba to supplant Diego Costa, and Felipe Luis will come in for Cesar Azpilicueta. Oscar sat on the substitutes’ bench against Stoke City, so the Brazilian should feature in the upcoming stretch of games. However, Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard, Nemanja Matic, John Terry, Gary Cahill and the majority of first-choice squad expect to start all of the crucial matches.
What makes Chelsea’s schedule even more difficult is the relative cakewalk Manchester City faces over the same stretch of games. On Boxing Day, the Citizens are away to West Bromwich Albion, which is only two points above the drop zone. Following that, City plays host to Burnley, a side in the relegation zone, on the weekend and another team that has been at home in the bottom half of the table – Sunderland on New Year’s Day.
Even with an injury crisis at striker, Manchester City would expect to win at The Hawthorns, where West Brom has lost four times in nine matches this term, and collect six more points at the Etihad Stadium. Man City has six wins in eight home matches this season.
Chelsea’s fixtures promise a fantastic festive period in the Premier League, and the title race should be neck-and-neck to start 2015. In a perfect world, Chelsea and Manchester City will be level on points when the Citizens travel to Stamford Bridge on January 31 for a sumptuous affair with dramatic title implications.
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Here are other notable festive fixture lists:
Arsenal: Queens Park Rangers (Boxing Day), at West Ham United (Dec. 28), at Southampton (Jan. 1)
Liverpool: at Burnley (Boxing Day), Swansea (Dec. 29), Leicester (Jan. 1)
Manchester United: Newcastle (Boxing Day), at Tottenham (Dec. 28), at Stoke (Jan. 1)
Tottenham: at Leicester (Boxing Day), Manchester United (Dec 28), Chelsea (Jan. 1)
Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. He has previously written about the 2014 World Cup and 2013 Confederations Cup and regularly provides opinions on the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA
