because hes a different player from Amir (Johnson) and [Jonas Valanciunas]. Its

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. 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. Marcos Llorente Real Madrid Jersey .com) - The San Antonio Spurs will try to even their series with the Dallas Mavericks Monday night when the two teams collide at American Airlines Arena for Game 4. Marco Asensio Real Madrid Jersey . Tottenham claimed top spot in Group K by winning 2-0 at Tromso after defender Adnan Causevic scored an own goal before Mousa Dembele put the result beyond doubt. Valencia made sure it will finish first in Group A with a 1-0 win at Swansea thanks to an early goal from Dani Parejo. http://www.realmadridfcprohop.us/Karim-Benzema-Real-Madrid-Jersey/ . Striker Dario Mandzukic scored the opener in the 22nd minute but was given a red card nine minutes later for a reckless tackle and left Croatia with 10 men for the remainder of the match. Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Jersey .com) - Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 12 points in the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats 70-55 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Nacho Real Madrid Jersey . - The infectious smile was missing from Nam Nguyen last week.MINNEAPOLIS - Raptors forward Patrick Patterson is expected to miss at least 7-10 days to rest a ligament injury in his right elbow, the team announced ahead of its game against the Timberwolves Sunday night. It is unclear exactly when Patterson originally sustained the injury, an ulnar collateral sprain to his shooting elbow, but after aggravating it in Fridays win over Sacramento the Raptors medical and coaching staff have decided to shut him down for the time being. "Its never a good time to lose a guy like him because he has been so important to us, offensively and defensively," Dwane Casey said, just over an hour before tip-off at The Target Center. "Its a big [loss] because of how he stretches the floor and the things he brings to the table." Patterson, acquired in a trade from Sacramento on Dec. 9, leads Raptors reserves in scoring, averaging 9.7 points in 39 games with Toronto this season. Playing a minute (per game) less than he was with the Kings prior to the trade, Patterson is averaging nearly three more points, shooting 49 per cent, up from 41 in Sacramento. Hes also grabbing 5.2 rebounds per game and shooting the three-ball at a 44 per cent clip. "Its tough, the way hes been shooting the ball, the way hes been rebounding the ball," said John Salmons. "[He] givees us that dimension coming off the bench.dddddddddddd As a big, [he] kind of changes the opposing teams mindsets when he comes in because hes a different player from Amir (Johnson) and [Jonas Valanciunas]. Its definitely a tough loss for us." The fourth-year forward will be re-evaluated in about a week and the team is hopeful that hell be available to return shortly after that. In the meantime, Tyler Hansbrough figures to absorb most of the 23 minutes Patterson was playing nightly. Bruiser Chuck Hayes and sharpshooter Steve Novak will also be in the mix, depending on match ups. "Everybody stays prepared and guys have done a good job of staying prepared," Casey said, "but [the] next guy up has got to be ready to step in and take up those minutes and produce. "Patricks been a big part of that, that depth at that position," he continued. "For the second unit, the energy he brings to the table, his shooting, his defence, his rebounding, just his overall intensity it really adds a lot to that second unit, which is huge. But again, we still have some other quality guys. Tyler Hansbroughs played a lot of playoff games, Steve Novak is one of our best shooters. So we have different guys that can step in and give us something different. So now is an opportunity." ' ' '