Saturday 25 February 2017 14:49, UK
Chelsea can tighten their grip on the Premier League title with a win over Swansea City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Antonio Conte's men are eight points clear at the top of the table on 60 points and are as short as 1/6 to win a fifth Premier League title.
An eight-point gap at the top of the Premier League after 25 games is the biggest margin at this stage since Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United led the league by nine points on their way to winning the title in 2013.
The only Premier League sides to have had 60 points or more after 25 games and not gone on to win the title were Newcastle in 1996 (60 points) and Arsenal in 2008 (60 points).
Former Chelsea assistant manager Paul Clement has had an immediate impact at Swansea City, winning three of his five Premier League games to lift them four points above the relegation zone.
David Luiz and Marcos Alonso could return to Chelsea's starting line-up for Saturday's Premier League clash after the pair were rested for the FA Cup win at Wolves.
However, John Terry and Cesc Fabregas could find themselves back among the substitutes with the Blues otherwise reporting no injuries to their squad.
Swansea have club captain Leon Britton back from injury for the trip to Stamford Bridge with January signings Luciano Narsingh and Jordan Ayew also pushing to make their first starts.
In terms of absent players, Nathan Dyer (Achilles) is a long-term absentee while Jefferson Montero (hamstring) remains sidelined, as does midfielder Ki Sung-yueng, who has a knee injury.
After winning six of their first eight Premier League meetings with Swansea (D2), Chelsea are winless in their last three against them (D2 L1).
Swansea's 2-2 draw on the opening day of the 2015-16 season was their first Premier League point earned at Stamford Bridge.
The Swans have netted four goals in their last two league visits to Stamford Bridge, the same number they had scored in their previous 10 games there combined.
Diego Costa has scored seven goals in his four Premier League games against Swansea, more than he has against any other side in the competition. This includes a hat-trick in this exact fixture in September 2014.
Costa's rate of 1.75 goals per game against Swansea is the best of any Chelsea against a particular opponent in Premier League history (minimum four games against them).
Gylfi Sigurdsson has scored four Premier League goals against Chelsea, more than he has against any other side (two for Swansea, two for Tottenham).
Sigurdsson has been involved in more Premier League goals than any midfielder this season (16, eight goals and eight assists).
Paul Clement was assistant manager to Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea between 2009 and 2011. While there, Chelsea won 48 of 76 Premier League matches (D13 L15).
This could be Cesc Fabregas' 300th Premier League game, becoming the first Spanish player to reach this milestone.
Swansea have taken 12 points from a possible 18 in 2017 (W4 D0 L2), one more than Chelsea have (11).
After 25 games of the 2015-16 Premier League season, Chelsea (30) were just three points ahead of Swansea City (27). At the same stage this season, the Blues are 36 points ahead of the Swans in the league.
I don't see anything but a Chelsea win here. Swansea have been doing well but it just puts extra pressure on the chasing pack with Chelsea playing on Saturday.
I can see Swansea getting out of the relegation scrap. They will probably try and stay in the game like they did against Manchester City and you never know with a set-play. Whatever happens this weekend, Paul Clement has done a great job.
MERSON PREDICTS: 3-0 (6/1 with Sky Bet)
Chelsea are this weekend's shortest-priced favourites at 1/4 with Sky Bet, with Swansea up against odds of 11/1, while the draw is priced at 19/4. The Blues head into the weekend at even shorter odds to win the Premier League (1/6), while their visitors have drifted out to 100/30 to face relegation following an upturn in form under Clement. Costa heads the first goalscorer betting at 9/4, while Fernando Llorente and Sidurdsson are both 11/1 to net first.
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