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Chelsea Attempt To Derail Manchester City

We’re starting to get to that point of the season where every single game matters, and that can only mean great things for the Premier League. By design, it’s the kind of division that creates excitement and causes an awful lot of intrigue across Europe and the world, and we’ve seen them live up to that reputation on multiple occasions. This weekend will be no different as the schedule starts to get a little bit more hectic, and with that comes one of the best possible games we could see in the division – Chelsea vs Manchester City in a huge encounter at Stamford Bridge.

These two teams are considered to be amongst Europe’s elite, with both leading the way in the charge for the title alongside Liverpool. The two clubs have mirrored one another over the years with sporadic periods of success to go alongside the money that they’ve had at their disposal. For that last reason it’ll probably come as no shock to anyone that they’re quite hated amongst the general football sphere, and whether or not that’s warranted is entirely down to your own personal perception. Some people believe their dealings are perfectly fair, whereas others believe they’ve bought the league.

In terms of the two clubs specifically, though, it’ll be interesting to see how Chelsea bounce back from the adversity they’ve faced over the course of the last few weeks. Maurizio Sarri is an interesting manager and seems to be quite open to change, and change is certainly what we’ll need to see if they’re going to stand any chance of getting back into the title picture. Their current striker situation is what needs to be looked at first, at least in the eyes of the masses, and beyond that, it’s all down to the players themselves.

Manchester City, on the other hand, are absolutely flying. Pep Guardiola has his squad firing on all cylinders and that’s no overstatement, with their results doing the talking for them. They’re one of the best Premier League sides we’ve ever seen and it’s very difficult to find flaws in their game, but now, it’s all about living up to the hype. In the second half of the season everyone is going to be coming after them, and they need to be able to treat every single one of their matches like a cup final, because otherwise complacency could easily set in.

We touched on it earlier but it needs to be repeated: Chelsea have some serious problems to overcome in order to pick up the three points here, because their last six games haven’t been particularly convincing. They kicked off this run with a narrow 1-0 win over BATE Borisov followed by a 0-0 draw against Everton, before losing their Premier League unbeaten streak courtesy of a 3-1 defeat to rivals Tottenham Hotspur. A 4-0 win over PAOK and a 2-0 triumph over Fulham helped to restore their reputation slightly, but the 2-1 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers served as the biggest red flag yet for Maurizio Sarri.

City, though, have been playing some tremendous football – although it’s worth noting that they aren’t as invincible at the back as some would have you believe. Their 6-0 demolition of Shakhtar Donetsk was followed up by a comfortable 3-1 win over rivals Manchester United, with a 4-0 success over West Ham United that soon followed. Their 2-2 draw against Lyon reminded us all that they aren’t invincible, however, but 3-1 and 2-1 wins over Bournemouth and Watford respectfully ensured that the majority of fans quickly forgot about any minor slip-ups. Right now, they seem to be on track for a season that most teams couldn’t even dream of.

Despite Manchester City’s rise to the top, the Blues still hold the advantage when it comes to the overall head to head standings with a 66-55 lead and 39 draws between them. Their first meeting came way back in 1907 but, as we all know, the two sides have evolved dramatically since then in their own ways. Their last meeting came in the Community Shield to kick off the season which City won 2-0, with the champions currently riding a three game win streak in this rivalry. It doesn’t sound like much, but in the Premier League, that’s a pretty big indication of where the two teams are at.

Marcos Alonso and Mateo Kovacic are said to be struggling for fitness, although it seems as if both men will still be available for selection at Stamford Bridge. Victor Moses and Ross Barkley are two of the other big doubts with Eden Hazard looking like he’s fully recovered, and right now, it appears as if the Belgian is the key to whether Chelsea’s season succeeds or falters. Whenever he’s on top form the Blues are on fire, and whenever he has an off day, it seems as if that impacts the rest of the team quite dramatically.

Kevin De Bruyne’s knee injury will keep him out of this one, and his presence will be sorely missed in midfield opposite a Chelsea side who are doing pretty well in that area. Sergio Aguero’s muscle injury means that he is also a doubt although there’s an outside chance that he could feature off of the bench. Oleksandr Zinchenko will likely be out with Mendy still being on the shelf for an extended period of time, and yet despite all of that, it’s quite clear to see City are going to be the favourites once again.

Chelsea vs Manchester City Betting Prediction

The Blues are going to have to try and frustrate City in this one, because coming right at them is only going to cause some vicious counter attacks. They’ll need to be physical and they’ll need to try and control the pace of the game in the middle of the park, slowing City down in the process. They need to frustrate them as if they were a world class wrestler attempting to wear down a fast striker in a mixed martial arts fight. That sounds like an odd analogy, but just think about it.

We can see a scenario in which Chelsea do actually manage to restrict City’s output, but in turn, they also end up parking the bus. There’s nothing wrong with that because a defeat could potentially be really damaging for their season, but it’s all about considering what they can handle. Ninety minutes is a long time to go without a mistake against the reigning champions, and they’ll need to play the perfect game in order to get the job done. We’re going to stick to our guns here and predict a 0-0 draw, which will probably be an acceptable result for both sides.