Manuel Pellegrini has said he was not surprised by Chelsea's 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa last weekend that has handed the initiative to his Manchester City side in the title race.

The result left City four points behind Jose Mourinho's team with three matches in hand, meaning victory in all their remaining games would make them champions. Yet with City also having lost at Villa this season, 3-2, Pellegrini said: "For me it was not a surprise; we lost also against Aston Villa and at that moment everyone said it was impossible for Villa to win . . . It's not a coincidence that teams playing in the Champions League lose their game before – it happened with us against Wigan [Athletic, in the FA Cup] and it's happened to Chelsea so it is difficult to be in a competition with those obligations."

Champions
The Chilean believes any of the top four could be champions. "I think it's possible that we can win the title and it's possible that Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool can do it," he said. "In the whole season we are very close – we'll see which team drops less points than the rest. Of course we can win all of our games but we could lose a lot of games. We have three games in hand but we must win those games." He believes: "It's a more competitive league. That's why at this moment the Premier League is the best in the world."

Stevan Jovetic is in the squad for Fulham's visit today, after a month out with a hamstring injury. His fellow striker Sergio Aguero may be able take a full part in training at the end of next week.
Guardian Service