Chelsea will give Manchester City a guard of honor at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday after Arsenal lost to Nottingham Forest, sealing their fate as the second placed team this season.
City, who moved to within one game of being champions last weekend when Arsenal lost 3-0 to Brighton at the Emirates Stadium, had already taken a major step towards a third straight league victory after beating Everton 3-0 earlier in the day. Mikel Arteta's team continued their recent collapse, though, meaning that Pep Guardiola could be crowned once more without his side playing.
It is the fifth time that the blue side of Manchester have won the league in the past six years as Guardiola's men surge towards a potential treble. For Chelsea, watching their London rivals slip up is a small boost ahead of the trip up north.
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City would have needed to win the game against Frank Lampard's side in order to win the league officially had Arsenal drawn at the City Ground but their 1-0 defeat was enough to ensure that things were tied up with two games still to play, three for Chelsea.
As is customary at the end of the season, Lampard has already explained that he would be happy to give a guard of honor to the newly made league winners. "When it's done? I haven't but we could do," he said ahead of the match.
"I remember getting that as a player and it was something that was very respectful so I would have no problem with that at all."
Lampard himself won the league three times as a Chelsea player and had to watch on as an opposition when the Blues picked up their fourth title in 2014/15. That season, his own in the sky blue of Manchester City, he even scored a crucial goal against Chelsea, equalising in the last 10 minutes of a crucial title fight against his former team.
There is now nothing tangible to play for in this game with City confirmed winners and preparing for an FA Cup final and Champions League final in the coming weeks. Chelsea, on the other hand, have merely pride at stake with a maximum 10th placed finish possible.
It does mean that Chelsea have a better chance of taking something away from their penultimate away trip of the season. Even with seven players ruled out through injury and a massive selection headache at the back, City's relentless juggernaut enter the game as favourites with a celebratory feeling at hand.
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