• Premier League

City's trip to Chelsea will decide title, says Pellegrini

ESPN staff
January 19, 2015
Hislop: Manchester City looked poor

Manuel Pellegrini believes Manchester City will need to beat league leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to retain their Premier League title.

City visit London on January 31 five points behind Jose Mourinho's team and with the prospect of going eight adrift of Chelsea if they lose to a team with a 100 percent home record this season.

And while City have overcome eight-point deficits in each of their two recent title-winning campaigns, manager Pellegrini is targeting victory at Stamford Bridge.

"We still have to play against Chelsea so it will be a very decisive game," Pellegrini said. "We will try to win that game to close that gap again.

"The game we must play at Stamford Bridge is a very important game. We must close the gap to two points. I hope we are going to recover and play the way we are playing so far."

City had drawn level with Chelsea at the top of the table before dropping five points in their last two games, when they drew 1-1 at Everton and lost 2-0 at home to Arsenal.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
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