Chelsea will be unable to avoid the tag of English Premier League favourite if they beat Manchester United on Sunday in the biggest match of the season so far.
The European champions have won seven of their eight league matches to power into a four-point lead, with the manner of their victories just as impressive as the results.
At this stage in the campaign, Roberto di Matteo continues to downplay his unbeaten side’s title chances but adding second-place United to defeats of Arsenal and Tottenham away will make that stance untenable.
With Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney working well in tandem, United have the firepower to worry a Chelsea defence that will be without suspended captain John Terry.
Alex Ferguson’s side have been uncharacteristically sloppy at the back this season, conceding first in eight of their 12 matches.
“I can’t get to the bottom of it I am afraid,” Ferguson said.
“If you analyse the goals we are losing, they have come from throw-ins, crosses, cut-backs, all sorts, and they are finding players free in the box.
“It is difficult to put your finger on it, and it is a concern because it is making it difficult for us.”
Defending champion Manchester City are level on points with United and can put the pressure on the top two by beating Swansea on Saturday for City to maintain their unbeaten start.
Fourth-place Everton host Liverpool in the Merseyside derby on Sunday in the weekend’s other big match, while England midfielder Jack Wilshere could make his long-awaited return to Arsenal’s first team in the home match against last-place Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
Tottenham visit Southampton on Sunday as they look to rebound from a 4-2 home loss to Chelsea last weekend that ended a four-match winning run.
While Chelsea are unbeaten in the league, the team fell to the first loss in their defence of the Champions League title with a 2-1 defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.
Di Matteo’s side were overrun by Shakhtar’s Brazilian-led attacking contingent and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech saw the result as a wake-up call.
“In a way, what happened was a good experience for us because we have to defend better,” Cech said.
“We played well when we had the ball but not when we didn’t have it.
“If you do this against Man United, you are in big danger because they are the same type of team. Hopefully it was a good lesson and we learn for the weekend.”
Given Chelsea’s new-found creativity up-front, led at the moment by the imperious Juan Mata, United’s shaky defence is sure to come under serious pressure at Stamford Bridge.
With Sunday’s match in mind, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra were rested for the 3-2 win over Braga in the Champions League on Tuesday but centre-back and captain Nemanja Vidic is still out with a knee injury.
“We have had some great battles with them down the years, but they have changed quite a lot very quickly,” United defender Jonny Evans said of Chelsea.
“You can see that from the way they have been scoring their goals this season.
“They scored four again at the weekend so it’s going to be a tough game and our record down there has not been great over the last few seasons, so that makes it a bit harder still.”
Terry will be absent as he serves the second match of his four-game domestic ban for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand in a league game last October.
The repercussions of that on-field incident have been vast, including a worsening in relations between Rio Ferdinand, Anton’s older brother, and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole, who gave evidence on behalf of Terry in a criminal court.
In the latest handshake saga in the Premier League, Ferdinand is widely expected to snub Cole in the pre-match protocol.
