Chelsea and Manchester City’s encounter at Stamford Bridge this week suddenly carries something more than bragging rights. A shock defeat for Antonio Conte’s Blues against Crystal Palace has left the door ever so slightly ajar for the Citizens and Spurs to close the gap with nine Premier League matches remaining.

Conte saw his side’s lead cut to seven points and, with an in-form City visiting the Bridge in midweek, they are under pressure once again. Defeat could see Spurs close the gap to a mere four points, which may mean we are treated to the most surprising of title races.

Pep Guardiola will surely have some dastardly tactical plan to unsettle Chelsea, just as he did at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season. City ended up on the end of a couple of Chelsea suckerpunches, but were unfortunate not to take all three points themselves.

Question is, which battles should we watch out for this evening?

Raheem Sterling vs. Marcos Alonso

Marcos Alonso and Gary Cahill had a torrid time down Chelsea’s left at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola targeted their flank with a drastic overload and it left the sluggish pairing of Alonso and Cahill all at sea. Both were left exposed against quick dribbling and, with Raheem Sterling likely to start on that wing, they could be in for a similar horrible time again.

There is little Chelsea can do to stop this without restricting the counter-attacking threat of Eden Hazard, which would be foolish. What Chelsea can hope for, though, is that City are not as studious in tracking Alonso’s runs as they should be – the Spaniard has been a key outlet for the Blues this season and could hurt City down their open right flank.

Diego Costa vs. Nicolas Otamendi

This match-up screams cards. Diego Costa nearly always finds a way to avoid being sent off, but we can be sure to see a physical, snarling competition between this pairing.

Costa has been poor for the majority of the second half of the campaign, but a huge match against City could bring back his best form after he terrorised Guardiola’s side in their first meeting this season. Otamendi cannot afford to make his almost trademark mistake of getting too tight, but we all know he’s as good as guaranteed to do just that.

David Silva vs. N’Golo Kante

It has become a simple fact that N’Golo Kante’s form will define how well Chelsea play (the majority of the time at least). Kante will be required to break up City’s dominant possession regularly and, most importantly, limit the space that David Silva can operate from in the middle third.

Kante is on course to win the Player of the Year award and claim his second successive Premier League title, however, without support from the rest of the Chelsea midfield, even he cannot suppress the genius of Silva and Kevin De Bruyne.