Manchester City are trying to close the gap between them and Premier League leaders Arsenal; Chelsea are in 10th position and need a major confidence boost
The Premier League continues on Thursday night as Chelsea host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s previous fixture was against Nottingham Forest, a 1-1 draw on New Year’s Day. The poor run of form by the Blues is evident from the fact that they have won just one of their last five league games.
In the summer, Chelsea spent about £300 million on eight new players, including Raheem Sterling, a former City star. Chelsea owner Tedd Boehly is set to boost Graham Potter’s squad heading into the second half of the season.
Chelsea have lost their last three matches against City in all competitions. The latest, a third-round Carabao Cup loss in November. Heading into the fixture Armando Broja along with regular starters Edouard Mendy, N’Golo Kante, and Reece James are sidelined due to injuries.
Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech could start for Chelsea having come off the bench in the Nottingham Forest fixture.
Catch all our latest shows on our YouTube channel at Switch media.
Manchester City will face Chelsea twice in the space of three days with the next fixture on Sunday in the FA Cup Third Round. The Cityzens are looking to defend their title and they beat the Blues 2-0 in November in the Carabao Cup. They definitely have the edge over their rivals.
Pep Guardiola is working on catching up with his apprentice Mikel Arteta. Several of the players who didn’t start last time out, including Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips, Joao Cancello, Illkay Gundogan, and Phil Foden, are likely to start this time around.
Predicted Lineups
Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Koulibaly, Silva, Cucurella; Kovacic, Jorginho, Mount; Sterling, Havertz, Pulisic
Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Ake, Cancelo: De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan, Foden; Haaland, Grealish
Fulltime Score Prediction
Chelsea (1)-(3) Manchester City
