Chelsea vs Manchester City: Preview and Prediction

Chelsea host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in a match both teams want a win for different reasons.

The Blues’ unbeaten run in the Premier League came to and after a 1-0 narrow defeat at Swansea on the weekend and are riling at 10th position in the table and must win this to keep their European qualification hopes alive.

Manchester City on the other hand have now racked up 3 wins from their last 4 matches are definitely looking like a better time after struggling for the majority of year 2016.

Chelsea Form Guide:

Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat at Swansea brought an end to their 15 match unbeaten in the league. Their overall form since Jose Mourinho left the club reads 7 wins, 8 draws and 1 loss.

Chelsea can still boast of an 8 unbeaten record at home, but won just 2 out of those as 6 of those were draws. They have scored goals in each of those 8 homes matches, with 6 of those have seen the Blues scoring 2 or more goals.

Manchester City Form Guide:

City have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1 of their last 5 Premier League games and were on a three match losing streak prior to that. The form also indicates that they are very dangerous on their day, but can be also very poor.

Manchester City are particularly poor on the road in the league this season, but this have slightly improved since the last few games. The Citizens have won 3, drawn 2 and lost in 1 of their last 6 away games. They have also kept a clean sheet in 3 of their last 4 away games in the league.

Chelsea: Team News

Diego Costa returns after serving his ban and could slot back straight into the starting line-up.

Eden Hazard, John Terry, Loic Remy and Nemanja Matic are injured, while Gary Cahill and Willian remains a doubt.

Thibaut Courtois is expected to return to the starting line-up after being rested in the trip to Swansea last week.

Chelsea: Expected Starting line-up vs Manchester City

Courtois
Rahman, Miazga, Ivanovic, Azpilicueta
Mikel, Fabregas
Pato, Oscar, Loftus-Cheek
Diego Costa

Manchester City Team News

Raheem Sterling is the only major injury worry for Manuel Pellegrini, while Vincent Kompany may not be risked as he is short on fitness.

It will be interesting to see if Yaya Toure gets a start here after the Ivorian was named in the bench for the mid-week Champions League clash against PSG.

Manchester City: Expected Starting Line-up vs Chelsea

Hart
Clichy, Otamendi, Mangala, Zabaleta
Fernando, Fernandinho
Silva, Navas, De Bruyne
Aguero

Chelsea vs Manchester City: Head-to-Head Stats

Manchester City are unbeaten in the last three Premier League meetings with Chelsea, with a win and 2 draws. Chelsea were victorious in two matches previous to that.

Chelsea are unbeaten in the last 5 home meetings against Manchester City, with 3 wins and 2 draws. Manchester City’s last win at Stamford Bridge was on February 2010.

The reverse fixture in this season ended in 3-0 comfortable win for the Citizens. Chelsea handed a second string Manchester City team a 5-1 humbling when they met in the FA cup fixture in February this year.

Chelsea vs Manchester City: Prediction

Chelsea are missing key players in defense due to injury and this will be a massive blow to their chances in this key fixture. At the same time, the Blues have struggled to win matches at their home, just once in their last seven. The return of Diego Costa will be a boost, but if Willian is not deemed fit on time, the striker is likely to get stranded.

Manchester City are on the peak of their game lately and this is mainly due to the return of Kevin De Bruyne. They have tactically outfoxed a strong PSG in mid-week and they will be desperate to replicate their good performance on Saturday evening.

For me, Man City are heavy favourites here, despite Chelsea’s strong dominance in homes fixtures in recent seasons. I expect to see over 2.5 goals in this match and clearly City to win this by 3-1.