Chelsea hand Arsenal hope of Premier League title boost ahead of key Manchester City clash

Chelsea secured their place in the next round of the FA Cup following their 3-1 win at Aston Villa in surprise fashion. Arsenal watched on as their upcoming opponents responded to a damaging 4-2 home defeat to Wolves last weekend that has upped the pressure on Mauricio Pochettino.

The Gunners have their reasons for wanting something of an upturn in the Blues’ form with their clash with Manchester City just over a week from now. Chelsea will face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park this weekend before they travel to the Etihad Stadium on February 17.

Arsenal meanwhile do not face Chelsea for a month post the City clash on March 16. An upturn in Chelsea's form as they go to Man City will be a benefit to Arsenal as they hope that their London rivals can do them a favour in the title race.

Their win over Liverpool in the league this past weekend was a huge boost to their title hopes but Manchester City were certainly big winners on the day too and their 3-1 win at Brentford on the Monday night solidified this. With a game in hand, City have the advantage in the race at the moment and remain favourites for the title.

Pep Guardiola has instilled a mechanical consistency in his team that during the second half of seasons, very little can be done to put them off their stride. For example, during the previous season, whenArsenal won late at Aston Villa and City dropped points at Nottingham Forest the Spaniard’s side would not drop any more points until they were announced as league winners in May in quite a stunning run toward winning a treble.

With there being such little likelihood of where and when City drop points, it is natural that regular filtering through the fixture list to find potential places of challenge is taken up by many