MANCHESTER, England (AP) - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has spent most of the season downplaying his team’s chances of winning the English Premier League title.
One good result this weekend and he may have to revise his opinion.
With Liverpool inactive and fellow title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City in FA Cup action, Chelsea can extend its lead in the Premier League to seven points by beating Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
City’s focus will be on defeating second-tier club Wigan in the FA Cup quarterfinals in a repeat of last year’s final. The other big last-eight match is Arsenal vs. Everton.
Here are five things to know ahead of this weekend’s Premier League and FA Cup action:
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LITTLE HORSE NO MORE
Mourinho has labeled Chelsea the “little horse” in the title race, perceiving his squad to be full of young talent with little championship-winning experience. Unbeaten in 13 league matches since the start of December, the team is looking more and more like a thoroughbred.
Boasting the league’s tightest defense, the Blues haven’t been hindered by a shortage of goals from their strikers as at least one of their slew of attacking midfielders - be it Eden Hazard, Oscar, Willian or Andre Schuerrle - seems to deliver when it matters.
Defeating Tottenham would put Chelsea nine points clear of Man City - considered by many to be the other title favorite - although City would have three games in hand.
Spurs have a dreadful record at Stamford Bridge - they haven’t won there since 1990, when Gary Lineker was their match-winner - and Mourinho still has never lost a league match at the ground.
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MUST-WIN FOR UNITED
West Bromwich Albion claimed its first league win at Old Trafford in 35 years by beating Manchester United 2-1 in September - one of a string of poor results for the champions this season.
Another defeat to West Brom, this time on Saturday at The Hawthorns, would surely end United’s faint hopes of finishing in the top four and qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
David Moyes’ side heads into the game 12 points behind fourth-place Man City, having played a game more. And its last match was a 2-0 loss to Olympiakos in the Champions League, earning the team widespread criticism.
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RETURN TO WEMBLEY
Seven days after lifting the League Cup trophy at Wembley Stadium, Man City could seal a return to the “Home of Football” by beating Wigan in an FA Cup quarterfinal match on Sunday.
Both the semifinals and final of the famous knockout tournament are played at the country’s national stadium, which has become City’s second home over the last few years.
City won the FA Cup there in 2011 - ending a 35-year trophy drought - then returned to Wembley for the 2013 final, only to lose 1-0 to Wigan in one of the competition’s biggest shocks.
Revenge will be sought this weekend and City again will be heavy favorites, with Wigan currently playing in England’s second tier.
City will be buoyant after winning the season’s first silverware with a 3-1 victory over Sunderland in the League Cup final last weekend.
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ARSENAL’S LAST HOPE?
The FA Cup looks to be Arsenal’s best chance of ending a nine-year wait for silverware.
A 1-0 loss to Stoke last weekend dented the Gunners’ Premier League hopes, leaving them four points behind in-form Chelsea after leading the standings for much of the season.
And Arsenal has an extremely tough task to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Champions League, having lost 2-0 at home to Bayern Munich in the first leg of the last 16.
The FA Cup was the last trophy lifted by Arsenal, in 2005 when it beat Man United on penalties.
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UNDERDOG
There is guaranteed to be at least one non-Premier League team in the semifinals of the FA Cup, with third-tier club Sheffield United hosting second-tier team Charlton in one of the last-eight matches.
Hull hosts Sunderland in the other quarterfinal match.
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