Title race hots up with midweek action

BID:Hopeful Man City host Chelsea Playing today Everton     vs  Arsenal Man City vs  Chelsea QPR     vs  Liverpool Tottenham vs Stoke

Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Arsenal were brilliant against Milan, but fell one goal short of a comeback. Net photo.

BID:Hopeful Man City host ChelseaPlaying today Everton     vs  ArsenalMan City vs  ChelseaQPR     vs  LiverpoolTottenham vs StokeLONDON Manchester City will have the chance to revive their faltering bid for the Premier League title as the whole of the English, and indeed global, game continues to wish Fabrice Muamba well.There has been a sense of the sport being "on hold” in England since Bolton midfielder Muamba’s frightening collapse with a cardiac arrest during last weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final away to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.But although the former England Under-21 international remains in an intensive care unit, increasingly encouraging medical bulletins regarding his recovery should lessen the understandably sombre mood in the Premier League.Victory for a City team beaten last time out at Swansea will see then close to within a point of champions and local rivals Manchester United at the top of the table.Italian manager Mancini must now decide whether Wednesday is the right time to bring back temperamental, if talented, forward Carlos Tevez who went into a self-imposed three-month exile at home in Argentina after falling out with the City supremo in a UEFA Champions League clash back in September.City defender Joleon Lescott insisted the squad would have no problems welcoming back Tevez into first team action. "He’s like a new signing. He’s not been injured so he is not going to be struggling too much in terms of sharpness and fitness,” Lescott said. "All the boys are excited and can’t wait for him to get playing again,” the England international added.Roberto Di Matteo takes a fifth-placed Chelsea side to Eastlands in search of a fifth straight win since he succeeded the sacked Andre Villas-Boas.