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MANCHESTER, England - Chelsea can open up an eight-point lead over Manchester City for the second time this season by beating its Premier League title rival on Saturday in the most pivotal match of the campaign so far. Authentic Cheap Jerseys . Having worked so hard in December to get back on level terms with Chelsea, City has allowed Jose Mourinhos team to pull clear again after drawing at Everton and losing at home to Arsenal in its last two league games. For City manager Manuel Pellegrini, nothing less than a victory will do at Stamford Bridge. We must close the gap to two points, Pellegrini said. Throw in a home loss to second-tier Middlesbrough in the FA Cup last weekend and Citys form has plummeted — despite star striker Sergio Aguero being back in the side after injury. Chelsea was also humbled in the FA Cup on Saturday — by third-tier Bradford — but recovered quickly by beating Liverpool on Tuesday to reach the League Cup final. That win was marred, however, by Chelsea striker Diego Costa stamping on an opponents leg, leaving the Spain international facing a three-game ban that would rule him out of the City fixture. With question marks also hanging over the fitness of key centre midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who came off with a hamstring injury against Liverpool, Chelsea could be without arguably its two best players this season. Another sub-plot is the return of City midfielder Frank Lampard to Chelsea, for whom he played for 13 years and where he is the clubs record scorer with 211 goals. Lampard came off the bench to score Citys equalizer against his former club in a 1-1 draw in September, and didnt celebrate his goal. Here are some other things to know about the 23rd round of matches in the Premier League: ___ NO IVORIANS FOR CITY Ivory Coasts progress to the knockout stage of the African Cup of Nations on Wednesday was bad news for City. It dashed any faint hopes the champions had of having star midfielder Yaya Toure and new signing Wilfried Bony available for the game against Chelsea. City hasnt won since Toure, the teams driving force in midfield and a regular source of goals, left for international duty. With Aguero searching for full fitness after more than a month out injured, goals have suddenly become a problem for City, which has scored only once in three games. ___ FORMATION FORMULA Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal must decide whether to stick to his preferred 3-5-2 formation or go with a 4-4-2 set-up demanded by the clubs increasingly frustrated fans when the 20-time champions host Leicester on Saturday. Van Gaal says he finds it uncomfortable to watch United when it plays four at the back, but results show the team is more effective when it lines up in that formation. He changed to a 4-4-2 midway through Uniteds last league game when the score was 0-0 against Queens Park Rangers — and the move paid off in a 2-0 win. United has won only two of its last six games in all competitions, and is reeling from being held 0-0 by fourth-tier Cambridge in the FA Cup on Friday. ___ ARSENALS ATTACKING RICHES A torrent of injuries has deprived Arsenal of so many of its best players this season. Now, though, manager Arsene Wenger has a very different kind of selection dilemma. With Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey back after long-term problems and playmaker Tomas Rosicky in brilliant form, Wenger has a wealth of attacking riches at his disposal as his fifth-place team looks to climb back into the Champions League positions. Arsenal — with four straight wins in all competitions — is one point behind United going into the weekend, when it hosts struggling Aston Villa on Sunday. ___ THE PULIS EFFECT Want a sure way of avoiding relegation from the Premier League? Hire Tony Pulis. West Bromwich Albion had slumped to within a point and a place of the relegation zone and was on a run of just one win in 10 matches when it appointed Pulis as a replacement for Alan Irvine at the start of January. Pulis has never been relegated in his 23 years as a manager, and kept Crystal Palace up last season after taking over a team bottom of the Premier League. And he is already working wonders at The Hawthorns, with West Brom winning three and drawing the other in his four games in charge, conceding one goal. On Saturday, West Brom hosts Tottenham, which is fresh off reaching the League Cup final. Cheap NFL Jerseys Shop .Y. - Peyton Manning made his fifth MVP award a family affair. Cheap NFL jerseys China .C. -- Eric Staal kept his focus after his apparent breakaway goal was waived off early in the third period. http://www.wholesalechinajerseys.net/ . The Padres made the moves before Fridays game at Washington. They promoted infielder Jace Peterson from Double-A San Antonio and right-hander Kevin Quackenbush from Triple-A El Paso.DENVER - Kawhi Leonard returned to the San Antonio Spurs lineup just in time to help make up for the absence of injured Tony Parker.Leonard, sidelined the previous two games because of a bruised right hand, scored 18 points and spearheaded San Antonios defensive effort with a career-high six blocks, leading the Spurs past the banged-up Denver Nuggets 99-91 on Sunday night.He did a good job at both ends of the floor, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. He scored for us. Defensively, he got his hands on a lot of balls. He created a lot of situations that helped us.Leonard only got the go-ahead to play after testing his hand during pre-game warmups.It didnt feel 100 per cent but I felt I could fight through it, said Leonard, who also had five steals and four assists. Early in the game, Leonard said he fell on his still healing right hand but got back up and kept playing by not thinking about it.Im just out there playing, trying to make a play. I was just trying to do it all tonight, Leonard said.Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili added 15 points apiece for the Spurs, who bounced back from Fridays loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.Arron Afflalo had a season-high 31 points to lead the Nuggets, who have lost six of their last seven games amid an accumulating toll of injuries.Our guys are pressing, Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. I know they are tired and banged up. We are shorthanded but I dont want to use that as an excuse. We have to find a way to get it done.J.J. Hickson started in place of injured Kenneth Faried, and Ty Lawson left the game with 3:02 remaining in the second quarter after a collision with Ginobili opened a cut above his left eye. The cut was bandaged and he retturned early in the third quarter. Cheap NBA Jerseys China. Down by 10 points heading into the fourth quarter, the Nuggets pulled to 79-74 on a baseline jumper by Afflalo with 5:42 remaining.The teams were trading baskets until Ginobili hit a 3-pointer and Cory Joseph drove in for a reverse layup off a Nuggets turnover as San Antonio went in front 94-84 with 2 minutes to play and Denver couldnt get back within striking distance.Ahead by four points midway through the second quarter, Josephs fastbreak started an 8-0 run that carried San Antonio to a 41-29 advantage. The Nuggets pulled to 41-34 on a 3-pointer by Wilson Chandler but the Spurs scored the final four points of the quarter, including a 3-pointer by Joseph to go in front 45-34 at the half.___TIP INSSpurs: Assistant coach Becky Hammon, a former Colorado State star who has become the first full-time female assistant in NBA history, was back in Colorado for the first time since being hired last summer by coach Gregg Popovich. ... Tony Parker was held out with a mild left hamstring strain, the fourth in the last five games that hes missed.Nuggets: Center JaVale McGee, who has missed nine games this season with lingering soreness in his surgically repaired lower left leg, is expected to miss substantial additional time, coach Brian Shaw said. McGee missed all but five games last season because of the stress fracture in his left tibia. Also sitting out were Faried (right ankle strain) and Danilo Gallinari (right knee contusion). ... Nate Robinson was back in action after missing four games with a back injury.UP NEXTSpurs: play at Portland on Monday night.Nuggets: host the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. ' ' '