The biggest match of Gameweek 25 of the 2023/24 Premier League season sees Chelsea travel to the Etihad to take on champions Manchester City on Saturday.
Man City are in dominant form, having won their last 11 matches in all competitions, and look in the mood to follow up 2022/23’s treble with more trophies this year following the returns of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne.
Chelsea won their last two outings against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace away from home but their inconsistencies will have Blues fans fearful of a heavy defeat here.
Here’s 90min’s preview of the game at the Etihad on Saturday night.
Man City vs Chelsea H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current Form (all competitions)
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
BBC Radio 5 Live, SKY GO Extra, Sky Ultra HD, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League |
|
United States |
UNIVERSO, Telemundo, Peacock, NBC |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada |
Man City have managed to keep most of their stars fit, aside from Haaland and De Bruyne who missed significant chunks of the season before Christmas. However. with the pair now available again, any other absences pale into insignificance.
Josko Gvardiol is out for a few weeks with a suspected ankle ligament problem, while there are major question marks over the availability of Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva after the pair took knocks in Tuesday’s win over Copenhagen in the Champions League.
Sergio Gomez was left out of the traveling squad in midweek, but Mateo Kovacic is due to return to training before the weekend.
Man City predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake, Akanji; Rodri; Foden, De Bruyne, Alvarez, Doku; Haaland.
As for Chelsea, the injury list has been long all season.
Mauricio Pochettino is likely to be without Thiago Silva, who was forced off in the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace on Monday evening. However, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez could be back on the bench having returned to partial team training.
Wesley Fofana, Lesley Ugochukwu, Marc Cucurella, Reece James, Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile are all unavailable, leaving the visitors with yet another makeshift defence.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Man City (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Colwill, Chilwell; Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Gallagher, Jackson; Nkunku.
The 4-4 draw these two teams served up earlier in the season shows Chelsea have the capabilities of hurting Man City, but expect this game to serve up a more one-sided tale at the Etihad on Saturday night.
Pep Guardiola’s side are in ruthless form right now and with the Blues looking fragile of late, the visitors will have to perform exceptionally to escape with anything less than a comprehensive defeat.
Prediction: Man City 3-0 Chelsea
READ 90MIN’S MATCH PREVIEWS FOR GAMEWEEK 25 OF THE 2023/24 PREMIER LEAGUE
