LONDON, Dec 5 (AFP): With the frantic Christmas fixture schedule looming on the horizon, Chelsea and Manchester City will look to consolidate their positions as Premier League pace-setters in this weekend's matches.
The two teams enjoyed breezy wins in mid-week, Chelsea beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 and City winning 4-1 at Sunderland, and while the London club remain six points clear of the champions, both sides look a class apart.
Chelsea visit Newcastle United Saturday, when they will attempt to set a new club record by extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to 24 matches.
Jose Mourinho's side will welcome back top scorer Diego Costa after he sat out the Tottenham game through suspension, although he was barely missed in Wednesday's match at Stamford Bridge.
"We know that we can score at any time," said French striker Loic Remy, who scored Chelsea's third goal against Spurs after replacing Didier Drogba in the second half.
"The squad is really strong and that makes the difference between us and the other teams. We will keep going to try and keep the distance from our closest opponent."
Newcastle have gone two games without victory, having previously won five matches in a row, but they have been beaten only once at home this season-by City on the opening weekend.
Following a poor run of results, City appear to have rediscovered the form that swept them to last season's title, having won their last four games in all competitions, scoring 12 goals in the process.
The second game of that run was a rousing 3-2 win at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League that gave Manuel Pellegrini's side a fighting chance of reaching the last 16 ahead of next week's showdown with Roma.
Ahead of Saturday's home match with Everton, Stevan Jovetic said that the victory over Bayern could prove a turning point in City's campaign.
"Honestly, in the Champions League we have not played well this season, but the game against Bayern helped us a lot," the Montenegro forward told the club website.
"Now we are in a very good moment, but we must continue like this because we are playing every three days and that can change."
