Big Match Preview: Manchester City v Chelsea

Manchester City v Chelsea 

Manchester City host Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to kick off a packed weekend in the EPL. The Citizens are on a roll at the moment. They are currently on an 11-game winning streak and it will take a lot for Chelsea to stop the Citizens tomorrow.

Thomas Tuchel is a top manager and his Chelsea side will be up for the fight tomorrow. Losing to Manchester City tomorrow will condemn Chelsea’s title ambitions this season. The German tactician will be hoping that his side can enter the game against Manchester City as fresh as possible after their midweek match against Tottenham.

Chelsea booked their spot in the Carabao Cup final this week and that confidence will be needed against Pep Guardiola’s men.

TEAM NEWS

Phil Foden, Zinchenko, and John Stones are doubtful for this clash. Riyad Mahrez remains with Algeria at AFCON.

Chelsea will be without Andreas Christensen due to COVID. Trevoh Chalobah is still out due to injury. Long-term absentees are Reece James and Ben Chilwell.

Kickoff time

1:30 pm WAT

Referee: Craig Pawson

COMPLETED TRANSFERS

Build Up

During his pre-match press conference, Thomas Tuchel agreed that his approach in the first leg against Manchester City was wrong. So that suggests Chelsea will approach the game differently this time. The German claimed he was too passive in the first leg back in September 2021, and his team couldn’t play out. He will look to improve on that as he squares up against Guardiola once again.

Possible Lineup for Manchester City 

Ederson, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo, Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne, Bernado Silva, Jesus, Foden.

Possible Lineup for Chelsea 

Kepa, Silva, Rudiger, Sarr, Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kante, Alonso, Mount, Havertz, Lukaku.

Manchester City will have a refreshed group of players to play against Chelsea, while the blues might look fatigued because of their midweek clash against Tottenham. It will be a tough one for Chelsea.

Manchester City v Chelsea Stats 

This is just the second ever Premier League meeting between Man City and Chelsea as the top two sides in the division. The other came in January 2015, with second-placed City earning a 1-1 draw at leaders Chelsea. 

After beating Liverpool 4-0 in July 2020, and Chelsea 1-0 earlier this season, City are looking to become the fourth English club to win three consecutive meetings with reigning European champions in all competitions, after Notts County (1982), Tottenham Hotspur (1983/84) and Everton (1984/85). 

City’s Kevin De Bruyne has been involved in four goals in his last four Premier League matches against his former club Chelsea (three goals and one assist). Overall, he has scored four PL goals against the Blues, only finding the net more times in the competition against Arsenal (five).

Betting Tip: Home win for Manchester City or Under 3.5 goals.