Chelsea looking to widen gap on rivals

Tottenham faces long odds in trying to end 24-year jinx at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea has a gilt-edged opportunity to open up a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League this weekend and there is nothing its main title rivals can do about it.

With second-place Liverpool having a week off and Arsenal and Manchester City in FA Cup action, all the chasers can do is hope Tottenham Hotspur can end one of the longest jinx's in English soccer and upset the odds at Stamford Bridge.

Twenty-four years have passed and 15 managers have come and gone at the north London club since Tottenham last won at Chelsea - a miserable sequence that even the most optimistic Spurs fans would struggle to believe will end on Saturday.

Chelsea is gaining momentum in ominous fashion as the home stretch to the title looms, and while Manchester City will have three games in hand after the weekend, a nine-point deficit to Jose Mourinho's side would leave it precious little margin for error.

Perhaps a glimmer of optimism for Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers, Arsenal's Arsene Wenger and City's Manuel Pellegrini is that Tottenham has the best away record in the top flight and is still harboring top-four hopes itself.

Despite not playing fluently, the Spurs sit in fifth spot and victory at Chelsea would leave them just a point behind City and three back of archrival Arsenal.

Tim Sherwood's side has picked up an impressive 29 points on the road this season, winning nine games out of 14.

Chelsea has been strong at home, though, winning 12 and drawing two as Mourinho's incredible statistic of never having lost a league game at Stamford Bridge rolls on.

Champion Manchester United has the chance to edge a little closer to the top four with a Saturday kickoff at West Bromwich Albion, which earlier in the season won at Old Trafford for the time in 35 years.

Albion fans mocked United manager David Moyes that day, suggesting he would be "sacked in the morning" but it was their manager Steve Clarke who was cast aside and West Brom is now hovering just above the relegation zone with new boss Pepe Mel under pressure.

Remote hopes

A loss by United would surely end its remote hopes of finishing in the Champions League places, leaving its best route back into the competition to win it, although with a 2-0 deficit to overturn against Olympiakos in the last 16 that scenario looks equally unlikely.

Midfielder Juan Mata said March could be a make or break month for United.

"We have five Premier League games against important rivals such as Liverpool and Man City," he told United's website.

"We do know it is a crucial month to climb up positions on the league table and we are going to give our best to try to win every single match."

The weekend's other matches all involve teams battling to avoid the drop.

The bottom two clubs clash when Cardiff City hosts Fulham in a match where for once the description "a six-pointer" is not out of place. Defeat for either in the Welsh capital would see the trapdoor open a little wider.

"This Saturday is now the biggest game for us, Fulham at home," Cardiff's Ben Turner told the club's website. "We've been saying for a few games at home that they are 'must win' recently, and this game more than fits that description.

"There are 10 games left and our aim is to try to win at least half of them, and hopefully more."

Crystal Palace, three points above the bottom three in 16th place, hosts Southampton. The latter is probably the only side in the top flight to have little to play for this season, it being well clear of danger and too far adrift of the European spots.

Norwich City, which is just a point better off than Palace, takes on Stoke City, which could move into the relative comfort of 10th place with a victory.