Chelsea can officially win the Premier League title should they gain maximum points from their upcoming match against Crystal Palace. The Blues have been sensation this season, spending the majority of the season at the top of the table without facing much opposition.
Arsenal and Man City who trail the leaders by 13 points will have given all hopes of winning the title this season and only a miracle of epic proportions can now allow them to have any shot at the trophy.
Ivory Coast international Didier Drogba has made a big claim after revealing that him and his teammates were sure of a title triumph back in March when they won the League Cup title.
"I think 2004-05 was a bit different because they players were a bit more mature and they had a bit more experience," Drogba told the club's official website.
"Now, this team is getting this experience by winning trophies. 2004-05 was the year where we had to start somewhere and playing against Liverpool was a big thing. To win it against them gave us the confidence to go and win the league.
"This year was important as well but we knew that the league was ... almost there."
In addition to the trophies he has won with the Blues, Drogba has won the league thrice as a Chelsea player and is anxiously waiting to add another trophy under his belt.
"I can't wait for Sunday because I was thinking, I've won three leagues and Sunday could be the fourth one," he said, "and then I start counting the FA Cups, League Cups, Champions League, Community Shields ... and I think it just became a habit.
"But something that you really need as a Chelsea player, at this club, you need trophies. For me to come back and go again in that direction means a lot to me."
Chelsea showed their resilience and produced a champions worthy performance after picking a 3-1 win over Leicester City last time out. The Blues conceded a goal in the dying moments of the first half but responded strongly by scoring thrice after the break.
Crystal Palace on the other hand have done remarkably well under the tutelage of Alan Padrew and are currently 12th in the league table. However the Eagles have suffered defeats in both their last two matches and will be hoping they can postpone Chelsea's title celebrations by at least another week.
Palace will be without their forwards Fraizer Campbell and Marouane Chamakh however Joel Ward is expected to shake off a shin injury. Chelsea on the other hand will continue to be without their top scorer Diego Costa but Loic Remy is expected to return.
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace team sheets
Chelsea's First XI: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Drogba.
Chelsea's bench: Cech, Filipe Luis, Zouma, Mikel, Loftus-Cheek, Cuadrado, Remy.
Crystal Palace's First XI: Speroni; Mariappa, Dann, Delaney (C), Ward; Ledley, McArthur; Puncheon, Mutch, Zaha; Bolasie.
Crystal Palace's bench: Hennessey, Hangeland, Kelly, Lee, Jedinak, Sanogo, Murray.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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