Chelsea face Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon in the toughest of their remaining fixtures, knowing that a positive result will take them a giant step closer to lifting the Premier League title.
The Toffees require victory to truly keep the pressure alive on the sides directly above them, meanwhile, as they look to overhaul Arsenal and Manchester United to finish in the unlikely position of fifth.
Everton
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Momentum is always key heading into the final stretch of the campaign, particularly when you still have a target to aim for, but last weekend's goalless draw away to West Ham United has effectively killed off the Toffees' season.
The pressure was beginning to build on those aforementioned teams in front of Everton following back-to-back wins over Leicester City and Burnley, taking the Merseyside outfit temporarily into fifth spot, only for their hard work to be undone with the flattest of stalemates a week ago.
Their failure to create a single chance at the London Stadium has left Everton seventh in the table, two points off Arsenal and six off fifth-placed Man United, who have two games and one game in hand respectively - surely too big a margin to overcome heading into the final month.
Manager Ronald Koeman has himself confessed that motivation is starting to become tough for his players, with a top-seven finish all but secured when cruising past closest challengers West Bromwich Albion at the start of last month, so now it is essentially a case of building ahead of next season.
No matter what happens over these remaining four fixtures, it has been a positive first campaign at Goodison Park for Koeman, who has transformed his side back into contenders in the higher echelons of the division following successive years of mediocrity under former boss Roberto Martinez.
All signs point to a few new players being brought in during the summer transfer window, albeit with Koeman admitting that he would like to retain a small squad, as the Toffees attempt to challenge for a place in the Champions League come 2017-18.
Finishing in seventh means that Everton will have to reach the Europa League via the drawn-out qualification route, never easy when pre-season has barely begun, but it is not something that you will hear supporters complain about having achieved their goal for the season.
A flat display at West Ham last time out extended Everton's winless run on their travels to six games since beating Crystal Palace in January, while further back it is just two wins from 15 away from home, yet at Goodison Park they are on course for their most successful ever Premier League campaign.
Victory this weekend will take them to a club-record 43 home points for the season, with Watford also still to play there, and their tally of 41 goals scored on Merseyside is the most that they have managed in their previous 26 top-flight campaigns - the one major positive for Koeman to take out of his debut season at the club.
Recent form in Premier League: WLDWWD
Chelsea
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What at one point looked like being a waltz to the title for Chelsea has been made slightly more difficult by the impressive form of Tottenham Hotspur, who have reduced the gap from 13 points to just four in the final run-in.
The Blues are certainly not in the imperious form of October through to January, when winning 13 games on the spin to set a joint-Premier League record, but they remain on track to get over the line for a second Prem triumph in three years and a fourth overall.
While Spurs appear to be up for the task of reducing the margin further, putting together their best run of form in close to 50 years, Chelsea have won back-to-back games in all competitions to offer a response to those who felt that they might just slip up.
The first of those victories came at the perfect time, overcoming Tottenham 4-2 at Wembley Stadium last weekend in an FA Cup semi-final thriller, before returning to winning ways in the top flight courtesy of victory over Southampton at Stamford Bridge in midweek by the same scoreline.
Spurs may have dug deep to see off Crystal Palace the following night, yet it is very much advantage Chelsea after the latest round of fixtures as there are now just five left to play, which in the Blues' case sees them take on two relegation certainties, two mid-table outfits and an Everton side with barely anything left to fight for.
Their recent run of two defeats in the space of four games may have injected some much-needed excitement into the title race from a neutral's perspective, although it is worth remembering that they have lost just three of their last 28 and can technically afford to lose once more in their remaining matches.
That is not to say that it is all done and dusted at the top by any means, as the Blues head to Merseyside on the back of a poor display in their last away outing at Old Trafford, while also failing to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 11 league matches.
Not since 1996 have the West London outfit gone longer without keeping out the opposition, and should they put in another abject away outing on Sunday then all of a sudden Tottenham - who host rivals Arsenal the same day - will be licking their lips.
Recent form in Premier League: WLWWLW
Recent form (all competitions): LWWLWW
Team News
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Leighton Baines is in line to make his 350th appearance for an Everton side with no fresh injury concerns, meaning that Koeman could go with an unchanged starting lineup after a full week's rest.
A rare start was handed to Maarten Stekelenburg last time out, the first time he has featured at all since Christmas, and he is expected to retain his spot in goal ahead of Joel Robles.
There will be plenty of focus on leading marksman Romelu Lukaku, meanwhile, who has failed to score in all five previous league games with former club Chelsea but did score twice in an FA Cup quarter-final win here last year.
It is a similar story for Chelsea who also have no new injury concerns, but Antonio Conte is likely to rotate things slightly to keep his players fresh following a gruelling week.
Cesc Fabregas may drop to his more familiar deeper role to accommodate either Willian or Pedro, while Diego Costa - involved in six goals in his six league outings with Everton - will lead the line.
After surprisingly being left out against Spurs recently, a gamble which ultimately paid off, Eden Hazard is also expected to start as he looks to take his goals tally in the top flight to 16.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Stekelenburg; Holgate, Jagielka, Williams, Baines; Gueye, Schneiderlin, Davies; Barkley, Lukaku, Mirallas
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Alonso; Willian, Costa, Hazard
Head To Head
Chelsea have lost six of their last 10 away matches against Everton in all competitions, including defeats here in league and cup last season.
Everton have beaten the Blues in just five of the last 32 Premier League encounters overall, however, drawing 10 and losing 17 of the games across a 16-year spell.
The last encounter finished 5-0 to Chelsea in one of the most one-sided games of the season thus far, with the Blues racing into a deserved three-goal lead before the interval at Stamford Bridge in November.
We say: Everton 1-2 Chelsea
A draw at Goodison Park will not be disastrous for the visitors, who will still have a one-point advantage at the top if Tottenham overcome Arsenal, but Conte will no doubt go all out for a victory that will leave him on the brink of a fourth domestic title success in succession following his previous triumphs during his time with Juventus.
Daniel Lewis
