Remy expects Chelsea to recover after festive stutter

Loic Remy insists Chelsea remain on course to make a clean sweep of all the major prizes despite their spluttering form over the festive period.
Jose Mourinho's side allowed second placed Manchester City to draw level on points with them at the top of the Premier League after a draw at Southampton and a 5-3 defeat at Tottenham. A 3-0 victory over Watford last weekend secured their place in the FA Cup fourth round, but it took second-half substitutes Diego Costa and Willian to ignite a flat performance.
With critics suggesting Chelsea are beginning to lose momentum in their bid to win the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup, French striker Remy hit back ahead of the Blues' home fixture against managerless Newcastle on Saturday.
"The mood is really positive. We are still focused on all the targets. Every team will be in trouble at some time and I hope ours is behind us now with the last two games," Remy told Standard Sport.
"There is no problem inside the camp, the players are still happy at training. We have shown everyone that we can react after two bad results. Was our confidence badly affected by what happened at Tottenham? No. We are still top of the league."
James Milner has challenged City to seize the initiative in the title race when they face struggling Everton. Manuel Pellegrini's side are behind Chelsea only on alphabetical order after a run of 13 games unbeaten in all competitions.
And England midfielder Milner sees no reason why momentum cannot be maintained, starting at Goodison Park. "Hopefully we'll be looking to open up a little gap of our own," Milner said.
"You look at this run (ahead) and people think it is tougher than the games we had over Christmas but - it is an old cliche in the Premier League - there are form teams and out-of-form teams. Every game is difficult. All we can do is concentrate on our games and if we can get the results we want to get, it depends on how Chelsea do."
Pardew back at Palace
On Sunday, Manchester United host Southampton in a vital fixture in the fight to qualify for the UEFA Champions League via a top-four finish. United are currently third, one point ahead of fourth placed Southampton and two ahead of fifth placed Tottenham, who travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
That London derby at Selhurst Park will mark new Palace manager Alan Pardew's first home game since his surprise move from Newcastle. Palace currently sit third from bottom and Pardew will be expected to repeat Tony Pulis's success of last season when the former manager secured Palace's top-flight status in the second half of the season.
Pardew has already overseen last weekend's FA Cup victory over non-league Dover but he knows his main business begins against Mauricio Pochettino's side. "We have got a tough challenge. Our home form is not good so we need to try and turn our home situation into a positive for us," Pardew said.
"In terms of the players, I think they need a lift. But there is a feeling among the players that they can do it and you need that belief to start building."
Elsewhere, Liverpool visit Sunderland with the fall-out continuing after Steven Gerrard's announcement that he will leave Anfield at the end of the season. Gerrard's claims that he would have stayed had he been offered a new deal last year sparked fresh talk of a rift with Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, who had already told the Reds captain he would start fewer games if he remained at the club in the twilight of his illustrious career.
But Rodgers attempted to quash the speculation as he said: "Everything has been said on that situation that needs to be said. There is no doubt Steven is still a top class player and him moving on leaves a void on and off the pitch. But the club has to keep moving forward to bring the best players we can to this wonderful football club."
Source: FIFA.com