Chelsea and Manchester City meet at Stamford Bridge tomorrow in the biggest match in the Premier League, with the loser set to relinquish its faint hopes of catching leaders Manchester United and second-place Arsenal in the title race.

With United losing three of their last five league matches and Arsenal’s injury problems slowing their progress, the door is ajar for Chelsea and City to mount a late challenge.

City are seven points off the lead with nine matches left and Chelsea, who have a game in hand, are two points further back.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba said his team’s title chances are “really, really small” after its mid-season slump, but is ruling nothing out.

“We have to focus on third place, because the club has to be in the Champions League,” said Drogba, who could be paired with recent signing Fernando Torres again this weekend.

“Let’s focus on tomorrow - it’s going to be a big game for us. We’ll see what happens three or four games from the end.”

The visitors will hope that playing almost an hour with 10 men in Thursday’s 1-0 win over Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League - which wasn’t enough to send them through to the quarter-finals - doesn’t return to haunt them, with their first-choice team looking jaded by the end of the match.

Italy striker Mario Balotelli, red-carded in that victory for a petulant studs-first lunge in the 36th minute, is set to be dropped by City manager Roberto Mancini.

“I don’t think he’ll be in the squad,” Mancini said. “Mario thinks he could be a fantastic player. When he does something stupid like that, it’s difficult for me.”

Torres is yet to score for Chelsea since his £50 million move from Liverpool but after being a substitute in the 0-0 draw against FC Copenhagen on Wednesday, the Spain striker will be raring to go.

Torres is also keen to make his partnership with Drogba work, although manager Carlo Ancelotti could opt to play Nicolas Anelka instead of the Ivory Coast international.

“I think we are mature enough and clever enough to play together,” Torres said of Drogba. “There’s no question about this.”

United will look to extend their unbeaten record at home this season when they host Bolton today but the leaders are without at least four injured defenders, including the first-choice centre-back pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, who have hamstring injuries.

That gives in-form Bolton, who are in seventh place, a chance of a first win at Old Trafford in nine years.

“As a player, coach or manager, you want to play against the best. And it doesn’t come any better than Manchester United, with the best manager in world football bar none,” Bolton manager Owen Coyle said.

“Sir Alex Ferguson knows the way my teams play, and we’ll have to be at our best to achieve something.”

Arsenal are without a win in their last four away matches in all competitions ahead of their trip to fifth-bottom West Bromwich Albion, who earned a first victory under new manager Roy Hodgson when they beat Birmingham 3-1 last time out.

Fifth-place Tottenham, the other team with an outside chance of catching the top two, is at home today to West Ham, who have been revitalized by the January signing of striker Demba Ba and the return to fitness of Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger.

West Ham are still in the relegation zone but have won their last two league games.

Elsewhere today, Aston Villa host second-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers in a midlands derby, Blackburn are at home to fellow strugglers Blackpool, Newcastle visit Stoke, Birmingham travel to last-place Wigan and resurgent Fulham go to Everton.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish could pair expensive January signings Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll up front together for the first time when the northwest side visits Sunderland.

Sixth-place Liverpool, who are six points behind Tottenham having played a game more, were eliminated from the Europa League on Thursday and need to finish fifth to make it into European competition next season.