LONDON: Chelsea’s renaissance under Antonio Conte comes under renewed scrutiny when the Premier League leaders visit Manchester City this weekend on the back of a seven-match winning streak.

Only one point separates the two sides with Chelsea on 31 and City on 30 but Conte’s impact at Stamford Bridge appears greater than his City counterpart Pep Guardiola’s at the Etihad.

That is largely due to the contrast from last season.

Chelsea are 17 points better off than they were at this stage last season in the final days of Jose Mourinho, while City have four more than after 13 games under Manuel Pellegrini.

There was no hiding Guardiola’s appreciation of Conte when the City manager was asked who his major coaching rivals might be in his first season in English football.

“Conte is a master tactician,” Guardiola said at his presentation news conference in July. “A great signing for Chelsea.”

It should be an intriguing battle between two of the most respected tacticians in football.

Three points in Manchester would take Chelsea to eight consecutive league victories for the first time since 2010, but City have lost just one of their last 15 league games and have a point to prove about the rivals’ differing schedules.

While third-placed City have had the pressure of trying to qualify from a tough Champions League group, Chelsea have enjoyed the luxury of extra rest due to their failure to quality for European competition.

“We’ll have played eight more games — terrible games — in the Champions League than Chelsea and Liverpool and we are there,” Guardiola said.

“That’s why the first part of the season is so satisfying. To still be with Liverpool and Chelsea when they don’t play in Europe is good for us.”

A draw at Eastlands would give second placed Liverpool (30) the chance to go top if they win at Bournemouth on Sunday.

GOOD MOMENT

Jurgen Klopp’s side are unbeaten in their last 11 league matches and the German said: “It’s a good moment, but it’s difficult too because there’s a lot of work to do and a lot of games to play.

“We go now to Bournemouth, a small stadium, but very intense with a good team.”

Arsene Wenger is confident fourth placed Arsenal (28) will get back on track after their surprise League Cup exit when they face West Ham United.

Wenger’s side were beaten 2-0 at home by Southampton in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, while West Ham also crashed out of the competition with a 4-1 thrashing at Manchester United.

Looking for a quick recovery, Wenger is confident Arsenal will banish the memory of the Cup disappointment, which ended their 19-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

“I don’t think I can moan about the momentum in the Premier League,” he said. “I knew that in the League Cup that could happen, but it was more disappointing to lose the game than the run we have. We want to keep the run in the Premier League going now.”

Tottenham Hotspur have slipped off the pace after their season-long unbeaten run was ended by Chelsea last weekend but will hope to get back to winning ways at home to struggling Swansea City.

Sixth-placed Manchester United are at Everton with United captain Wayne Rooney missing the game against his former club because of suspension after collecting his fifth booking of the season in the 4-1 win over West Ham in the League Cup on Wednesday.

Fixtures (1500 GMT unless stated):

Saturday: Crystal Palace v Southampton, Manchester City v Chelsea (1230 GMT), Stoke City v Burnley, Sunderland v Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur v Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion v Watford, West Ham United v Arsenal (1730 GMT).

Sunday: Bournemouth v Liverpool (1330 GMT), Everton v Manchester United (1600 GMT).

Monday: Middlesbrough v Hull City (2000 GMT).

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2016