Chelsea will entertain the league leaders, Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening looking to bounce back from their midweek defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Citizens come into this encounter in a rich vein of form as they earned a 2-1 away win at Watford in midweek. Pep Guardiola is expected to name his strongest XI for this league contest so that his side can come away with all three points from West London which would help them consolidate their position at the top of the Premier League standings.
Sarri will opt for a 4-3-3 formation and match up with Man City’s 4-3-3 set-up, so a lot would rest on individual battles to determine who comes out on top this weekend.
Team News
Chelsea
Victor Moses is a major doubt for this contest but other than that, Maurizio Sarri does not have any fresh injury concerns to cope with at this time. Olivier Giroud might start ahead of Alvaro Morata while Sarri could also choose to opt for either Ross Barkley or Mateo Kovacic to line up in midfield ahead of Ruben Loftus-Cheek as he looks to freshen up his midfield for the visit of the Citizens at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester City
Both Sergio Aguero and Oleksandr Zinchenko are unlikely to be ready for this crucial clash at West London. The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Claudio Bravo and Benjamin Mendy remain long-term casualties for Guardiola’s side.
Predicted Lineups
Chelsea
Kepa Arrizabalaga; César Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, Marcos Alonso; NGolo Kante, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic; Pedro, Olivier Giroud, Eden Hazard
Manchester City
Ederson; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Fabian Delph; Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, David Silva; Riyad Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling
Key Men
Chelsea
The pair of Rudiger and Luiz needs to work well together as they attempt to keep the fluid City attackers at bay. Kante also has to have a good game so that he can neutralise the threat of David Silva in midfield. Chelsea’s goal-scoring hopes will rest on the shoulders of Eden Hazard once again as the Belgian would look to cause some problems for Guardiola’s defenders.
Manchester City
Both David and Bernardo Silva will need to dominate the midfield for Man City so that their front players can get enough ammunition to score the goals which will make the points secure on Saturday. Fabian Delph might be the away team’s weakest member as he operates as a makeshift left-back, so he needs to cope with Pedro’s threat from the wide areas.
Odds
Chelsea win – 14/5
Draw – 14/5
Manchester City win – 19/20
