Chelsea star Kalou eyes title party

Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou has vowed that his side won’t blow their chance to savour a joyous title celebration with their supporters on Sunday.

Carlo Ancelotti’s team will clinch the Premier League title with a win over Wigan in front of a capacity 42,000 crowd at Stamford Bridge and Kalou can’t wait to get the party started.

The Ivory Coast international knows there is plenty of pent-up frustration waiting to be released in west London after Chelsea had to watch Manchester United take the title for the last three years.

Now, having won just the FA Cup since Jose Mourinho’s departure in 2007, the Blues are on the verge of being crowned kings of English football for the first time since 2006.

Kalou believes the prospect of celebrating the title in front of their own supporters will give Chelsea all the incentive they need to blow Wigan away.

“We should go and enjoy the moment because you don’t always get these opportunities,” Kalou said.

“Playing for the title in front of your own supporters, we have to enjoy that and make them enjoy it as well and hopefully in the end we can all celebrate together.”

After a topsy-turvy title race notable for the unusually large number of defeats suffered by both the main contenders, Kalou is convinced Chelsea will be worthy champions because they have coped better than United with their troubles.

“In the whole season you can’t play at the same level and be on top every time,” Kalou said.

“The difference in winning the title is when you are not on top form you have to come back to the basics where you fight for every game, and that is what we do well.”

United, currently a point behind Ancelotti’s men, have beat to Stoke at Old Trafford and hope Wigan can repeat the performance that secured a shock 3-1 win over Chelsea back in September.

It is an unpromising situation for the champions but United defender Rio Ferdinand admits he is still hoping a “weird” season has one last bizarre twist.

“More so-called lesser teams on paper have been taking points off the top four, when in previous seasons it’s been a case of the big teams beating all the others and then dropping points against each other,” Ferdinand said.

“It’s been a weird season. Hopefully that will bode well for Chelsea’s game on Sunday.”

Outside of the destination of the trophy, the only other unresolved issue is whether Arsenal can hold onto third place, which carries the significant prize of direct entry to the Champions League group stage.

Tottenham could overtake the Gunners if they beat Burnley and their north London rivals lose at home to Fulham.

But the odds must be on Arsenal getting the point they need against a Fulham side that will be preoccupied by Wednesday’s Europa League final date with Atletico Madrid in Hamburg.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp admits an Arsenal slip may be one miracle too far in a memorable season for his club.

“We’ll go into the last game and give it our best shot but it’s very, very difficult,” he said.

“It will be difficult for Fulham to get a result at Arsenal. (Fulham coach) Roy (Hodgson) has got a Europa League cup final on Wednesday to consider and he’s got to do what he feels is right for his club.

“We’re pleased to be where we are — if a miracle happens and we can win at Burnley and Fulham pull off a win at Arsenal, that would be even better. But it’s a long shot.”

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger had no problem praising his rivals’ achievement and said: “Spurs are in the Champions League on merit, you are never there by coincidence.

“When you beat Arsenal, you beat Chelsea, you beat Manchester City, you deserve it.”

Fixtures:

Sunday (all 1500GMT)

Arsenal v Fulham, Aston Villa v Blackburn, Bolton v Birmingham, Burnley v Tottenham, Chelsea v Wigan, Everton v Portsmouth, Hull v Liverpool, Manchester United v Stoke, West Ham v Manchester City, Wolves v Sunderland