Manchester City's 2-1 defeat by Liverpool shortly before Chelsea beat Tottenham Hotspur to lift the League Cup at Wembley was a huge bonus for Jose Mourinho's side as they pursue a first league title since 2010.
Five points clear of faltering champions City with a game in hand, they are beginning to look untouchable.
West Ham, after flirting with the top four earlier in the season, have fallen away and Chelsea will be buoyant at Upton Park in a fixture they usually dominate -- losing only one of the last 17 league clashes between the sides.
But Mourinho is not taking anything for granted.
"It's in the hands of everyone," Mourinho said after the League Cup final. "We have lots of difficult matches to play. City have difficult matches.
City will hope to get back on track in a home game against bottom club Leicester City while third-placed Arsenal, who are nine adrift of Chelsea, are at Queens Park Rangers.
Fourth-placed Manchester United travel to Newcastle United.
Mourinho insists United are still in the title race, along with Liverpool, although in reality both those clubs are in the scrap for Champions League qualification along with Arsenal, Tottenham and Southampton.
"It's tighter and tighter at the top of the league," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said after his side responded to the Champions League debacle against AS Monaco by beating Everton on Sunday to strengthen their top-four credentials.
"You can drop points against anybody."
Liverpool are the side in form, unbeaten in the league since early December -- a sequence of results that has moved then to within two points of United.
A home game against Burnley on Wednesday should help them maintain their upward progress.
"The team is very clear on how it's working and is playing at a real good level," Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said.
Tottenham, six points off the top four, must shake off two big setbacks as they host Swansea City.
After tumbling out of the Europa League and losing to Chelsea at Wembley, their season is in danger of fizzling out.
Southampton are also in need of fillip.
After back-to-back league defeats they host Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
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