Manchester City clash will ‘define Chelsea’s title ambitions’ - says ex-Blues star

After an enjoyable week for Chelsea which saw them progress to the Carabao Cup final, Thomas Tuchel will now turn his attentions to tomorrow’s trip to the Etihad Stadium.

The Blues sit ten points behind Manchester City but they will be hoping they can extend their lead over Liverpool with a win against the leaders.

A victory over City would potentially even boost their hopes of catching the defending champions in their race for the title.

Ahead of tomorrow’s match, former Chelsea midfielder Gus Poyet has described the clash as Chelsea’s ‘game of the season’.

Speaking to bettingexpert, Poyet said: "This game is really important for Chelsea. It will define whether they will be challenging or not.

“I think losing this game will be terrible for Chelsea so I hope they go there and put a great performance.

"Probably if Chelsea lose against Manchester City, Chelsea could be out of the race. I know that in football everything can happen, but it will become really difficult.

“ We are talking about winning all the rest of the games, like 15 in a row. It can happen like it has happened before. But it's a massive game this weekend."

Thomas Tuchel’s side are unbeaten in their previous eleven games in all competitions and will be confident ahead of their trip to the Etihad Stadium.

Man City came out on top in the reverse fixture as they beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Despite his support for his former team, Poyet said: "I think Manchester City was better than Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They controlled the game completely.

"Chelsea recovered from that result, but then in December, incredibly they (Man City) didn't lose, but Chelsea drew too many games during that time where Manchester City was still winning."

Chelsea’s last league trip to the Etihad Stadium ended in a 2-1 win for the visitors thanks to a last minute winner from Marcos Alonso.

Three points would move Chelsea seven points from City and four points ahead of Liverpool - a much needed gap given the Reds’ game in hand.

If the London club can put an end to City’s eleven game winning streak then they will be in a much better position, though fans will be disappointed given they had spent a large chunk of the season at the top of the table.

On Chelsea’s title chances, Poyet said: "I'm convinced that Chelsea should be competing for the league.

“When Liverpool won the Champions League, the next season they went on to do very well in the Premier league and won it, meaning that they kind of improved.

“And Chelsea after winning the Champions League and spending on Lukaku especially, you will expect them to be close to winning the Premier League. No doubt."

Chelsea travel to the north-west for a 12:30 kick-off tomorrow afternoon.