Chelsea vs Manchester City: Match Preview, Team News, Lineups and Prediction
Chelsea host Treble winners Manchester City at the Stamford Bridge in a blockbuster Premier League game this weekend.
Chelsea broke Tottenham Hotspur’s unbeaten streak in the Premier League after beating them 4-1. Whereas Manchester City secured their qualification in the last 16 after beating Young Boys 3-0 in the Champions League.
Match Preview
Mauricio Pochettino’s side earned a big win against Spurs in the weekend. However, they also got lucky after Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie picked up red cards.
Moreover, James Maddison and Micky van de Ven got injured, and that allowed the Blues to break Tottenham’s unbeaten run in the league.
Cole Palmer’s penalty and Nicolas Jackson’s late hat-trick gave Chelsea all three points. Nevertheless, they still sit 10th in the Premier League, nine points behind the top-four spot.
Manchester City are coming into this game after thrashing Bournemouth 6-1 at the weekend and a 3-0 win against Young Boys in the Champions League this midweek.
Pep Guardiola’s men are flying this season as well. After Tottenham’s defeat to Chelsea, City have reclaimed the top spot by just one point.
Since losing to Arsenal, the treble winners have netted 17 goals across their quintet of consecutive wins. Man City are yet to lose a game against Chelsea since that 1-0 defeat in the Champions League final.
Chelsea team news
Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Romeo Lavia, Trevoh Chalobah and Carney Chukwuemeka are all out for this fixture. Christopher Nkunku will also miss the clash and is expected to be back in December.
Enzo Fernandez was substituted after 60 minutes against Spurs, but is expected to start on Sunday after missing two days of training.
Armando Broja will be on the bench after suffering from a knee injury. Reece James declined a England call-up, but he should be fine and should feature against City.
Manchester City team news
Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Manuel Akanji are all out for this game. Backup left-back Sergio Gomez sprained his ankle in training earlier this month and will aim to return after the international break.
Former Chelsea player Nathan Ake will to start after Stones and Akanji suffered injuries. Erling Haaland, who is back in form, is expected to lead the line.
Julian Alvarez was an unused substitute against Young Boys, so he will be in the starting XI.
Chelsea vs Manchester City: Predicted line-ups
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; James, Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling; Jackson
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Gvardiol, Dias, Ake, Walker; Rodri, Kovacic; Doku, Bernardo Silva, Alvarez; Haaland
Prediction
Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City
Despite winning 4-1 against Tottenham, Chelsea still suffered against Postecoglu’s 9-men. Moreover, Man City are much stronger than Pochettino’s side. Guardiola’s side does have few injury concerns in defence, but they will get past Chelsea on Sunday.
