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Manchester City and Chelsea are set to do battle at the Etihad on Monday, a monumental clash that will pit the first-place Citizens against the third-place Blues. Watch Chelsea vs. Manchester City live on TSN2 at 3pm et/Noon pt. City managed to move to the top of the Premier League table by capitalizing on Arsenals 2-2 draw with Southampton on Tuesday, cruising to a 5-1 demolition of Tottenham at White Hart Lane the following day. The Citizens have been in cruise control over the past couple of months, winning its last eight Premier League contests. After suffering defeat at Sunderland on Nov. 10, City has gone on to take a total of 34 points from 12 games. But even in such a rich vein of form, the Citizens only find themselves one point clear of Arsenal at the Premier League summit, and manager Manuel Pellegrini does not think his side deserves to be labeled the title favorites. "I think its too soon to be the favorites - [there are] a lot of matches to play," Pellegrini told the clubs official website after Wednesday defeat of Spurs. "If we continue to play the way we are, we will have chances to win but its early." City boasts an unblemished home record through 11 league matches at the Etihad this term, but Chelsea will be quite motivated to end that spell Monday. Not only did the Blues drop points for the first time in five Premier League outings with a scoreless draw against West Ham on Wednesday, but they can take confidence from their 2-1 win over City at Stamford Bridge in October. Chelsea can lean on its stout defense, which has leaked just three goals in the clubs last eight matches. And with Sergio Aguero, Citys main scoring threat, looking doubtful for Mondays clash, the Blues certainly have a solid opportunity to pick up some valuable road points. Building to Mondays main course is one of Englands fiercest rivalries, taking place at St. James Park in Saturdays early fixture. Newcastle suffered a 2-1 loss at the Stadium of Light earlier in the season, but the Magpies will be hoping to reverse the result when they play host to Sunderland in the latest installment of the Tyne-Wear derby. Manchester United has been rejuvenated by the arrival of Juan Mata, who helped lead the club to a 2-0 defeat of Cardiff City on Tuesday. The Red Devils have taken just two wins from their last four Premier League outings, but the club is hopeful that Mata can bring two successive wins with maximum points at Stoke City on Saturday. Danny Rose, who was harshly sent off in Tottenhams horrific defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday, had his red card rescinded by the English Football Association this week and is available for selection this weekend. Spurs will head to the KC Stadium on Saturday to face a Hull City side that is hoping to snap a four-game slide. Also on Saturday, Fulham will look to avoid a fourth straight defeat when it welcomes Southampton to Craven Cottage, Cardiff City will aim to snap a four- game losing streak when it hosts Norwich City, Aston Villa will attempt to build upon its narrow midweek win with a vital victory over Everton at Goodison Park and West Ham United squares off with Swansea City at Upton Park. On Sunday, Arsenal will look to apply some additional pressure on Chelsea and City by taking three points from its contest with Crystal Palace at the Emirates, and Liverpool heads to the Hawthorns to do battle with West Bromwich Albion. Dave Schultz Flyers Jersey . Now, the hottest team on the ATP are pointing their sights on qualifying for the eight-team season finals in London next November. 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The Canucks figured to be active prior to Wednesdays trade deadline, getting a jump on things the previous day when they dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers for netminder Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias.PITTSBURGH -- Clint Hurdle doesnt want to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates unless Neal Huntington is his boss. Huntington doesnt want to help run the club unless Hurdle is in the dugout. The combination thats returned the franchise to respectability will remain intact for years to come. Hurdle and Huntington agreed to new deals on Saturday that will keep them in Pittsburgh through at least 2017, giving the Pirates the kind of internal stability they havent enjoyed in decades. "Theres no place Id rather be," Hurdle said. Financial terms were not disclosed. The contracts include a club option for 2018. Both Huntington and Hurdle, chosen the 2013 National League Manager of the Year after leading the Pirates to 94 wins and a playoff berth, were in the final year of their current deals. Reaching a new agreement was a mere formality after a thrilling season in which Pittsburgh qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1992 and pushed the St. Louis Cardinals to five games in the NL division series. "I think we have a very solid team in place and they deserve the recognition," owner Bob Nutting said. "I think great organizations are stable organizations. Again, never static and never on autopilot ... (but) Im proud of the culture and the tone that the current team has." Its a tone that Huntington set from the day he took over in September, 2007. Faced with restocking a decimated minor league system and constrained by playing in a small market that makes splurging on high-profile free agents nearly impossible, Huntington has painstakingly rebuilt the Pirates from the inside out while stressing that success at the major league level would be the last step. Those steps coincided with Hurdles arrival in December, 2010 and the emergence of talents like homegrown star Andrew McCutchen, the reigning NL MVP. Pittsburgh has upped its win total in each of Hurdles three seasons, from 70 in 2011 to 79 in 2012 to 94 a year ago.dddddddddddd. Hurdle stressed most of the hard work was done before he was hired to replace Jim Tracy two months after the Pirates lost a whopping 105 games in 2010.. "When I was able to come in, just finding what we had, what had gone on, I felt confident the next move that took place would be here, the renaissance," he said. One the Pirates have no plans on stopping. The 27-year-old McCutchen is signed through 2018 and 25-year-old left fielder Starling Marte signed a new contract last month that could keep him with the team through 2021. Throw in the rapid development of former top pick Gerrit Cole -- who picked up his first win of the season on Friday night -- and the impending arrival of right field prospect Gregor Polanco and the farm system that used to be bereft is now among the most promising in all of baseball. While Hurdle insisted he wasnt concerned about his contract status when the season began, McCutchen called the announcement a relief. "Weve had managers in the past, they were here and they were gone," McCutchen said. "We have someone here thats going to be here and dont have to worry about him leaving or going somewhere else. Thats the change in the team with the success that weve had the past couple years and just doing better on improving." Nutting credited the mutual respect Hurdle and Huntington have for each other as the key to their success. Being able to check their egos at the door helps too. While Hurdle praised Huntingtons vision, Huntington believes the Pirates wouldnt have finished their transformation from laughingstock to contender without Hurdle. "He really was a perfect fit to bring the knowledge the passion the leadership, not just the Xs and Os," Huntington said. "Hes helped us all grow and helped us all get better and hopefully weve returned the favour." ' ' '