Chelsea vs Manchester City Preview: How to Watch, Recent Form, Team News, Predictions & More
Two Premier League giants - who know a thing or two about titles - meet at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, as Chelsea take on league leaders Manchester City in the weekend's most glamorous tie.
Chelsea come into this one having suffered a rare loss, in the 2-1 reverse at Wolves in mid-week, and have now suffered two defeats in their last three. Maurizio Sarri's men will hope that they can back to winning ways as they look to re-establish a foothold in the top four.
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Meanwhile, Manchester City will travel back down south to London off the back of yet another victory, as they dispatched Watford on Tuesday. The victory was secured by fresh legs, thanks to Pep Guardiola's shuffle of the deck.
The reigning champions enjoyed a comfortable away win, but gave themselves a bit of work to do in the end when Hornets midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré scored in the last few mins to set up a nervy 1-2 finish.
Check out 90mins' preview below for Saturday's clash of the Premier League titans.
How to Watch
When is Kick Off? | Saturday 8 December |
What Time is Kick Off? | 17:30 (BST) |
Where is it Played? | Stamford Bridge |
TV Channel/Live Stream? | BT Sport 1/BT Sport app |
Referee? | Michael Oliver |
Team News
With no new injury concerns, Chelsea boss Sarri is likely have a full strength matchday squad at his disposal once again, after the Italian made five changes for the defeat against Wolves.
David Luiz is likely to come back in for Andreas Christensen in defence, with Jorginho taking back his place from Cesc Fabregàs. Sarri may find space for Ruben Loftus-Cheek as a reward for his good performances of late.
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Having rotated their squad in the Watford game, City will look to put out their strongest team with returns likely for Sergio Agüero and Raheem Sterling. The back four will likely be restored with Aymeric Laporte coming back in for Vincent Kompany.
Guardiola is unable to call upon first choice left-back Benjamin Mendy (knee), so Fabian Delph is likely to take his place, with young Oleksandr Zinchenko missing due to injury (face). Kevin de Bruyne (knee) remains out and is unable to feature against his former club.
Predicted Lineups
Chelsea: | Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Jorginho, Kante, Kovačić; Pedro, Hazard, Morata |
Manchester City: | Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Delph; Fernandinho, D. Silva, B. Silva; Sané, Sterling, Agüero |
Head-to-Head Record
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The season before last, Chelsea did the double over City en route to winning the title. The first a 3-1 away victory in December, following by a Hazard-inspired, springtime victory in April.
However, Chelsea have lost their last three games against City (including the Community Shield).
Last season, City got revenge with two 1-0 wins for Guardiola's men in the league. Chelsea's home fixture in 2017 saw the Citizens win courtesy of a goal from ex-Chelsea maestro Kevin de Bruyne.
In the past five league meetings between Chelsea and City there have been no draws, with City winning three fixtures to Chelsea's two.
Of the last nine meetings in all competitions between the two giants, City have won four and drawn one.
Recent Form
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The wheels of Chelsea's impressive start to the season have started to wobble. They have suffered their first two defeats in the league in their last two games. The defeat to Wolves came after a damaging 3-1 loss to top four rivals Spurs.
City on the other hand are still unbeaten in the league, winning 13 and drawing two. Their imperious form has seen them top the table for practically the whole season so far.
With Liverpool snapping at their heels, City have won nine of their last ten games, drawing their match at Anfield.
Here's how both teams have performed in their last five fixtures:
Chelsea | Manchester City |
Wolves 2-1 Chelsea (05/12) | Watford 1-2 Manchester City (04/12) |
Chelsea 2-0 Fulham (02/12) | Manchester City 3-1 Bournemouth (01/12) |
Chelsea 4-0 PAOK Salonika (29/11) | Lyon 2-2 Manchester City (27/11) |
Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Chelsea (24/11) | West Ham United 0-4 Manchester City (24/11) |
Chelsea 0-0 Everton (11/11) | Manchester City 3-1 Manchester United (11/11) |
Prediction
Although Chelsea are playing City during a lull in their form, they still have enough quality in their ranks to cause the Citizens a lot of problems. They will be looking at City's less convincing performances in the Champions League for inspiration for this one.
Using danger manEden Hazard and the metronomic passing of Jorginho, Chelsea will be hoping to inflict a first defeat of the Premier League season on Manchester City.
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City come into this as favourites, with Chelsea in all likelihood needing a near-perfect performance to get a win.
So far, Guardiola's team have scored 45 goals in their unbeatean run, conceding just six goals in the process.
Last season, City only suffered defeat in the league twice (to Liverpool and Manchester United). They will be hoping that this season they can win the title utterly unscathed and take advantage of their opponents lack of form.
This one has all the makings of classic, but as things are going, it looks like City might win.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-3 Manchester City
