Chelsea have the look of champions after Saturday's victory over Liverpool, coach Jose Mourinho says, but his depleted squad face another test of their title credentials when they complete their holiday programme at home to Middlesbrough on Tuesday.
Seeking to win England's top division for the first time since 1955, Chelsea hold a five-point lead over champions Arsenal going into the second half of the English Premier League season.
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A late deflected goal from substitute Joe Cole handed Chelsea a lucky victory at Anfield on Saturday and the significance of the win was not lost on Mourinho or his players.
"You have to chase the luck but normally the luck is around champions at the right moment, in the right place," said Mourinho.
"When you score a goal in the last 10 minutes of a game where the draw is the fair result then I think it is the symbol of something."
Playing four games in a nine-day period has taken its toll on a Chelsea squad ravaged by illness.
"NOT WORRIED"
"We have a new player amongst us called virus. It is the flu virus, it is the stomach virus, it is the throat virus. Everybody is full of it -- me, my assistant, John Terry, Wayne Bridge is in bed, (Alexei) Smertin is in bed," added Mourinho.
"Geremi was on the bench but he wasn't ready to play because he had a temperature of almost 40 degrees. For the next game against Middlesbrough, if the virus doesn't wake up strong we have the same 15 players. If he attacks again then I don't know how many."
Arsenal, after their dip in form in November, have bounced back with five wins from their last six. Arsene Wenger's side host Manchester City at Highbury on Tuesday and the Frenchman is only concerned that the champions keep winning.
"We are getting better and better with every game. And we are making the title race more interesting for the public," Wenger said after Arsenal's 3-1 win at Charlton on Saturday.
"I am not worried about Chelsea's results -- if they are still five points ahead with six games to go then I will look at their results."
United, like Chelsea and Arsenal, have won three out of three games over the holiday period to give the Premier League standings a familiar feel at the start of the year.
Free-scoring Tottenham Hotspur, like United in a rich vein of form, are the visitors to Old Trafford on Tuesday.
United, still without the suspended Wayne Rooney who is serving the second of a three-match ban, have fitness worries over Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo who hobbled off late in the 2-0 win at Middlesbrough on New Year's Day.
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