CHELSEA

Manchester City vs Chelsea: Match Preview, Team News, and Predicted line-ups

tennis player

Manchester City will be hosting Chelsea on Saturday. The fixture will take place at 6:00 pm IST on 15th January at the Etihad Stadium. Both teams will play their 22nd match of the league. Chelsea has to recover the lost ground on Manchester City and a win at Etihad can help them a lot.

Manchester City currently leads the Premier League table by 10 points. They have dominated each of their opponents this season and look like the favorites to finish at the tops. They will enter this fixture after a late 2-1 Premier League win at Arsenal. City does not want any obstacle in their title march and looks forward to defeating Chelsea.

Manchester City Premier League form: W W W W W

Chelsea have lost ground in the title race having suffered an injury crisis. If they win this game it will be as good as getting six points in one match. They have to reduce the game and put pressure on City for a title charge. The Blues will enter this fixture after their previous Premier League 2-2 draw against Liverpool.

Chelsea Premier League Form: D D W D D

Team News

Manchester City vs Chelsea: The Citizens team news

Manchester City faced a COVID-19 outbreak before their Swindon win. A total of 7 players were isolated before their Swindon win. Therefore, it remains to be seen who is available after the COVID outbreak. Pep Guardiola will confirm the COVID-related news in the press conference before the match.

If Zack Steffen is not among the COVID-affected group, Ederson is likely to secure the goal-post. Moreover, Aymeric Laporte will replace Nathan Ake if Stones is ruled out once more.

Phil Foden and Oleksandr Zinchenko are thought to be affected by COVID. In addition, John Stones is near to returning from a knock, and Riyad Mahrez is still with Algeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Manchester City possible starting lineup

Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo; Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne; Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden

Chelsea vs Manchester City: The Blues team news

The confirmed absentees of Tuchel are Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, and AFCON representative Edouard Mendy. Chilwell is a long-term injury and Tuchel has tried to find solutions to fix that. However, Kepa will have an important job to do as a replacement for Mendy.

Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kante both came off the bench against Spurs after recovering from COVID-19 infections and might start at the Etihad. However, it will be difficult for Kante to replace Mateo Kovacic or Jorginho.

In midweek, Malang Sarr looked comfortable in a left-hand side role, but he might be replaced by Marcos Alonso. Furthermore, Kai Havertz will fight for a place in the forward line over Timo Werner.

Chelsea possible starting lineup

Kepa Arrizabalaga; Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger; Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Marcos Alonso; Mason Mount, Kai Havertz; Romelu Lukaku

Our Predicitions

Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea

Chelsea will be more motivated to recover the points that they have lost before. The Blues can give a tough fight to the Citizens to ensure a win. However, City are in flying form and have won each of their last 5 games. It will be difficult for any team to defeat City with this form and Chelsea are capable of doing so.

Follow us on Twitter for regular football updates.

To Top