A week after scoring an injury time winner at Watford to haul keep themselves in the title race, Chelsea are very much alive and kicking now after Saturday's games which saw Chelsea win 1-0 over Tottenham and then United crash 2-1 at Fratton Park to a spirited Portsmouth side.

Jose Mourinho admitted that Chelsea would have been out of the race had they not won at Watford, but was in more buoyant mood yesterday, claiming that United are 'lucky' not to be playing the Blues next weekend as he is convinced that is the game they will slip up.

Mourinho also pointed to previous fixtures of late, where United had often played in the Saturday lunchtime or 3pm kick offs, whereas Chelsea featured in the late game - and advantage to United in that they were always extending their lead instead of trying to maintain it.

And yesterday, having seen Chelsea cut their lead to three points, United came unstuck with a performance perhaps every bit as worrying as the result itself. A previous 'lucky' trait of United's this season (according to Mourinho) is their lack of injuries to key players in comparison to Chelsea, but United were without Neville, Vidic and Saha yesterday which highlighted a lack of quality in key positions with the likes of O'Shea, Fletcher and Smith hardly upto the grade.

At a tough stage of the season, it could also be catching up on a number of players who have been ever present through most of the season, and again yesterday they looked over reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo.

Having lost to Roma in the Champions League last week, they now face a tricky return leg ahead of next weekends FA Cup semi-final against Watford. It could be a welcome distraction for a side that now face a real battle on their hands to maintain their superb run of form this season in the EPL to fend off the current title holders.

The clash between the two sides looks to be a mouth watering one (although there are a few key clashes between now and then) and could it be that Chelsea are peaking at just the right time?

Man Utd's remaining Premiership fixtures:

Tuesday, 17 April
(H) Sheff Utd
Saturday, 21 April
(H) Middlesbrough
Saturday, 28 April
(A) Everton
Saturday, 5 May
(A) Man City
Wednesday, 9 May
(A) Chelsea
Sunday, 13 May
(H) West Ham

Chelsea's remaining Premiership fixtures:

Wednesday, 18 April
(A) West Ham
Sunday, 22 April
(A) Newcastle
Saturday, 28 April
(H) Bolton
Sunday, 6 May
(A) Arsenal
Wednesday, 9 May
(H) Man Utd
Sunday, 13 May
(H) Everton