Chelsea face tough test at City

LONDON (AP):

English Premier League leaders Chelsea should be given their toughest test yet this season, when they visit big-spending Manchester City tomorrow, three days after both teams were knocked out of the League Cup.

The reigning champions have won their opening five games, scoring 21 goals in the process, to take an early four-point lead over Arsenal and Manchester United.

City, which spent more than 120 million pounds ($187 million) in the latest transfer window, are fourth - three points further back - and will want to show Chelsea they are realistic title contenders this season by beating the Blues at Eastlands, in the day's early kickoff.

Neither team will be too concerned about being eliminated from England's second-tier cup competition at the third-round stage - both played largely reserve sides and are more concerned with progress in the Premier League, FA Cup and Europe.

"We couldn't take any risks," said City manager Roberto Mancini. "When you play like us and Chelsea, on Saturday at 12.45 (local time), the time to recover is very short. They would need minimum three days."

City lost 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea were beaten 4-3 at home to Newcastle in two all-Premier-League-teams matches.

No regrets

Like Mancini, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said he had no regrets about resting the majority of his first-team regulars for the League Cup, preferring to keep them fresh for a match that could end with the Blues being 10 points ahead of City after just six games.

"This cup is not our priority - we have a very important game on the weekend and I wanted to rest some players," said Ancelotti, who saw three players - Gael Kakuta, Yossi Benayoun and Salomon Kalou - sustain injuries against Newcastle.

City, who showed their credentials by thrashing Liverpool 3-0 at home in their first home match of the campaign, did the double over Chelsea last season, winning 2-1 at Eastlands and 4-2 at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have so far played teams expected to finish in the bottom half of the table but face a tough run of matches, with Arsenal at home and Aston Villa away, to come after City.

Second-place Arsenal will have one eye on the City-Chelsea match as they prepare for their home game against West Brom later tomorrow.

Recovery

Arsene Wenger's side recovered from the disappointment of conceding a late goal in the 1-1 draw at Sunderland last weekend by beating fierce north London rival Tottenham 4-1 in the League Cup on Tuesday.

Arsenal will be without captain Cesc Fabregas, who has been ruled out for the next two weeks with a hamstring injury sustained against Sunderland.

Third-place United visit Bolton on Sunday, buoyed by a 3-2 victory over rivals Liverpool last Sunday and a 5-2 midweek cup win over Scunthorpe.

At the other end of the table, fifth-bottom Liverpool's season went from bad to worse when they were upset at home by fourth-tier Northampton in the League Cup, piling more pressure on manager Roy Hodgson.

The 18-time champions have had a tough set of matches to open up the league season and will be hoping for some respite.