Chelsea face crunch time for title ambitions

Chelsea winger Florent Malouda claims the reigning Premier League champions are rediscovering their best form just in time to retain the title.

Malouda scored twice on Wednesday to help Chelsea beat Birmingham 3-1, which lifted the Blues into second spot in the Premier League and revived hope that they can stage a late-season charge to overhaul Manchester United.

Chelsea lie six points behind United going into today’s home London derby against West Ham, which is followed by a clash with Tottenham and then a potentially decisive trip to Old Trafford to face the leaders.

Victory in all three matches is essential if Chelsea are to catch United and Malouda believes the task is not beyond Carlo Ancelotti’s team.

“The title race is open for the three teams and even though Arsenal drew, we are only second because of the goal difference,” Malouda said.

“We have no choice but to win every game to put pressure on United. They have to play at Arsenal but we have to play our part by winning our games.

“We have to stay humble, we know where we are coming from. We had difficult moments we had to overcome to come back to the second place and now we have to play at our best level.”

Malouda has been deployed as part of a three-man forward line for the past two games, along with Salamon Kalou and Didier Drogba, in a formation which helped them to the Premier League title last term.

The trio’s eye for goal has meant Fernando Torres has played just 15 minutes off the bench in wins over West Brom then Birmingham.

And the struggling Spaniard is likely to remain on the bench for the West Ham game, such is the way the team is performing.

In contrast, Malouda claims he is in his best form of the season, adding: “Mentally and physically I feel strong again. When you score two goals in a game you feel you are back to your best form.”

While Malouda is hopeful Chelsea can close the gap on United, Ancelotti was less effusive over whether his side can defend their Premier League title.

He said: “Everyone knows that to close the gap of six points with five games is not easy. Our aim is to stay focused, after that we can say the season was good or not.”