London - Jose Mourinho has always held out his hand to Alan Pardew, inviting him to watch Chelsea train after Pardew was sacked by West Ham.

But, on Sunday, as Pardew takes Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge, he is not sure how Mourinho will receive him.

"Last time we met I was at Newcastle," says Pardew. "Jose was pretty upset. We beat them 2-0. He didn´t come for a drink after that one. I hope he´s cheered up a little bit."

That defeat in December, the first of only two Premier League losses for the Blues this season, must seem a world away to Mourinho. All he needs is one win to secure the title and that may not be too difficult with Palace arriving on the back of defeats against West Brom and Hull.

Pardew admits: "It´s a good game for Chelsea because we´ve achieved our objective [avoiding relegation]. Our players have lost a little focus. At this level, two per cent less focus is enough to lose a game. I hope on Sunday we´ll get back the tough edge we had when we played Sunderland and Manchester City. Our victory over City was probably the most satisfying result I can remember as manager.

"We did everything almost perfectly and got a bit of luck. We will need that against Chelsea. I expect Jose to get Chelsea over the line [and win the title] but I don´t want him to do it against me on Sunday."

When Chelsea are crowned champions, Pardew hopes talk of them sending people to sleep will evaporate.

"Chelsea have entertained us. Certainly for the first half of the season, they were the best team by some distance. Nobody said then they were boring.  When you are making sure [of the title] you start not being as flamboyant. You have to admire Jose´s functionality. Any other team in their position might have had a wobble but, when Jose gets into these positions, he gets the job done."

Evidence of that came at Leicester on Wednesday when a stinging half-time team talk shook the Blues into life as they came from behind to win 3-1.

"What really sets him apart from all other managers is the success he delivers," says Pardew. "He won the Champions League at Porto with a team that had no right to do that. Then to do it at Inter Milan where, for a few years, they had no chance of winning it. And he creates tremendous loyalty. You do not find many players who criticise the way he goes about his work regime which means he is taking care of the whole squad."

Saturday:

-Leicester -- Newcastle.

-Aston Villa --

Everton.

-Liverpool -- QPR

-West Ham -- Burnley

-Sunderland -- Southampton.

-Swansea -- Stoke

-Manchester United -- West Brom.

Sunday:

-Chelsea -- Crystal Palace.

-Tottenham -- Manchester City.

Monday:

-Hull City -- Arsenal.

PJ PG PE PP GF GC Pts.

-1.Chelsea 34 24 8 2 65 26 80.

-2.Manchester City 34 20 7 7 70 36 67.

-3.Arsenal 33 20 7 6 63 32 67.

-4.Manchester United 34 19 8 7 59 34 65.

-5.Liverpool 34 17 7 10 47 37 58.

-6.Tottenham Hotspur 34 17 7 10 55 49 58.

-7.Southampton 34 17 6 11 47 26 57.

-8.Swansea City 34 14 8 12 41 44 50.

-9.Stoke City 34 13 8 13 39 42 47.

-10.Everton 34 11 11 12 44 43 44.

-11.West Ham United 34 11 11 12 42 42 44.

-12.Crystal Palace 34 11 9 14 42 47 42.

-13.West Bromwich Albion 34 9 10 15 32 46 37.

-14.Newcastle 34 9 8 17 36 57 35.

-15.Hull City 34 8 10 16 32 45 34.

-16.Aston Villa 34 8 8 18 26 48 32.

-17.Leicester City 34 8 7 19 36 54 31.

-18.Sunderland 33 5 15 13 26 49 30.

-19.Queens Park Rangers 34 7 6 21 38 59 27.

-20.Burnley 34 5 11 18 26 52 26.