Jose Mourinho says that the champagne is not on ice as Chelsea bid to secure the Premier League title in front of their own fans against Crystal Palace on Sunday. The Blues have dominated domestically this season, losing just twice in the league, and another win would confirm the first Premier League title since 2010.
The Blues came from behind to secure a hard-fought victory at Leicester City in midweek left Chelsea on the cusp of a fourth Premier League triumph and a third under Mourinho. Diego Costa may not feature again this season if the Blues win the title on Sunday. Costa's campaign has been punctuated by hamstring problems and the striker will not be risked against the Eagles, with Chelsea needing just three points to be crowned champions. Loic Remy is back from a calf injury, whilst Thibaut Courtois could return in goal after a minor hip problem.
Alan Pardew will continue to monitor Marouane Chamakh's fitness levels after confirming the injured striker still needs more work. Chamakh, out with hamstring trouble, has been back in training as Pardew prepares his squad for their visit to Chelsea on Sunday. Fraizer Campbell has also been out with the same injury as Chamakh, alongside Joel Ward (shin), while January signing Lee Chung-Yong will be hoping for his first Palace start having last week made his debut as a substitute following a foot fracture.
Since taking over at Selhurst Park in January, Pardew has steered Palace to safety but has been left disappointed by back-to-back 2-0 defeats in home matches against West Brom and Hull City as they look to spoil the parade with a shocking victory to their city rivals.
Manager pre-match quotes:
"It's easy. We need two or three points to be champions. Let's say three, to make sure we don't depend on goal difference. We need a victory or we need three points with three draws. Obviously, we want to finish as soon as possible. If we can do it at home, better. If we can do it on Sunday, even better. That's what we have in our mind. Similar to [the games against] Arsenal and Leicester, we go to win but, at this moment, any point that we get is a positive point, so we are calm.'' - manager Jose Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho
"Last weekend was below the group's standard. I didn't even need to tell them, they told me. We didn't reach the levels last week," said the Eagles boss. "We need to respond following our recent defeats, for ourselves and to keep the Premier League title race interesting." - Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew