Tag: Manchester City

Chelsea are back in Premier League action this weekend, as they prepare for a trip to leaders Man City. The English champions are facing the side who are set to dethrone them at the summit, with Pep Guardiola’s side now 16 points clear of second placed Manchester United following a midweek win over Arsenal. The Citizens are a full 22 points clear of Chelsea, who have now slipped out of the top four following a defeat in Manchester last weekend. Can the Blues boost their Champions League hopes with an unlikely victory on Sunday?

Antonio Conte has a tough job to stop this City side, especially given how well they’ve played over the last couple of games. Managing to shut down this City team is something which seems almost impossible on current form, while the hosts can’t stop scoring. While there’s basically nothing but time between the leaders and the league title, the Blues are facing huge opposition for a top four finish in the Premier League. After losing to Man United, falling behind Liverpool and now Tottenham, Chelsea have surrendered so much to their rivals that fighting their way back into fourth is set to be an uphill battle.

Team News: How Will Conte Plan to Stop City?

The big question here isn’t around player selection, but with regard to Conte’s tactics. The Blues boss tried to combat City with a five man midfield at the Bridge, which couldn’t match up to the Citizens’ technical skill. However, a high intensity 3-4-3 did push Barcelona in the Champions League. Will Conte take a risk with that system, especially after it started so well at Old Trafford last weekend? We expect him to start with that usual set-up, without a huge number of changes from the team which lost at Old Trafford last time out.

Man City tend to line up with a 4-3-3, and they’re playing with David Silva in a central midfield role in order to fit an extra name in the front three. They did that in two meetings with Arsenal, but they may choose to change ahead of a likely battle with Chelsea in this clash. The Blues should pose a more physical threat, so City could react to that. The hosts are without Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling, while Gabriel Jesus and Benjamin Mendy remain long-term absentees.

Man City Form

Man City continued their great run with a 3-0 win over Arsenal on Thursday night. That was their second win by that scoreline over the Gunners in the space of days, following a win at Wembley in the EFL Cup final. Having won the first silverware of the season last weekend, they should be in great form going into this clash. They’ll be looking to keep that momentum going in this meeting with the champions, as they look to wrap up the title as soon as possible.

City are impressing at home, having won all but one of their league matches at the Etihad so far. They’ve won 13 matches on the spin there, heading into this meeting with the Blues. Will Antonio Conte’s side be able to break that run, or can City extend that fantastic run of results? Having scored at least twice across all of those wins, the hosts are going to be really difficult to stop.

Man City v Chelsea Head to Head

Chelsea have a mixed record away at the Etihad in recent years, but most of their recent meetings have been at Stamford Bridge. The Blues lost the reverse fixture earlier this term, while they have lost three of their last six trips to City. The 3-1 win which the Blues picked up last season was followed by a home win, but the victory for Pep’s men earlier this term showed how the dynamic has changed between these two.

• Chelsea 0-1 Man City, Sep 2017
• Chelsea 2-1 Man City, Apr 2017
• Man City 1-3 Chelsea, Dec 2016
• Chelsea 0-3 Man City, Apr 2016
• Chelsea 5-1 Man City, Feb 2016

Betting Tips

• Over 2.5 Goals – 7/10 with BetVictor
• Sergio Aguero to score – 21/20 with Ladbrokes

Chelsea are massive outsiders coming into this trip to the Etihad. The Blues are priced at 21/5 with Coral to claim another win at this ground, while City are priced at just 13/20 with Betfred to make this their 14th straight Premier League victory at this stadium. Meanwhile, the draw can be backed at 31/10 with BetVictor. The Blues are looking to follow up their 3-1 win at this ground last season, with a repeat of that scoreline incredibly priced at massive odds of 40/1 with Betfair.

We do expect another high scoring game on Sunday, although it is more likely to go in City’s favour on current form. The Blues did make a strong start at Old Trafford last weekend, but their inexperienced defence couldn’t hold the Red Devils at bay. That doesn’t bode well for this meeting with City, who have been scoring goals for fun at their own ground. The Citizens have seen over 2.5 goals land in their last 13 home matches in the league, while the Blues have averaged close to two goals per game on the road. On the back of that, we should see plenty of goals here, with over 2.5 priced at 7/10 with BetVictor.

One man who is likely to get in on the scoring is Sergio Aguero, with the forward scoring 10 times in 15 clashes with Chelsea. The Argentine has 21 goals in 21 league starts, and we expect him to hit the target against the Blues on Sunday. Despite his impressive form and great track record against Chelsea, Aguero can be backed at 21/20 with Ladbrokes to score any time in this weekend’s big game. With a high scoring game likely, we’re tipping him to get one of the goals at the Etihad.

Chelsea are gearing up for the biggest game of the Premier League season so far on Saturday, with two title contenders going head to head. The Blues are aiming to lay down a marker in their push to retain the title. While the Blues have picked up some impressive results of late, the main focus of the title battle is on Manchester right now, with City starting the season in impressive form. Meanwhile, Manchester United sit level with them on 16 points, and they’ll be looking to take advantage of this huge meeting at the weekend.

Can Chelsea match up to City and their array of technical talents? The visitors are playing some brilliant football, but can they repeat that in their biggest test so far? They may have blown away Liverpool, but City are going to find a much more organised team here, and Pep Guardiola knows that too well. The City boss has a lot of respect and a little bit of fear for Antonio Conte. Can the Italian play on that when these two meet at Stamford Bridge?

Team News: Could Conte go defensive ahead of this challenge?

Chelsea could well go with the 3-5-1-1 they used so well against Tottenham here, as the formation really worked in their clash at Wembley. Packing the midfield like that was an impressive trick, the only issue is that David Luiz can’t step in to that midfield role due to suspension. We could still see the Italian flooding the midfield, while all his talk about Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard forming a partnership could hint that those two will be starting up top together as the champions’ only forwards.

Manchester City’s squad depth means it’s hard to predict their midfield, but Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus are both likely to feature up front. The pair have been in brilliant form together, so they’re likely to link up in attack once again. Benjamin Mendy is set to miss out after picking up an injury in midweek, while the Blues are set to face former player Kevin De Bruyne.

Man City Form

Manchester City’s incredible scoring streak came to an abrupt end in midweek, as they faced Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. While City won 2-0, they wasted plenty of chances in that one and were really made to work for the victory. They didn’t find as many openings as usual, while their forwards weren’t quite at the races.

Of course, before that result City had just scored five goals for the third successive Premier League game. That’s a scary record to have, and it’s something Conte will have to find a way to deal with ahead of this crunch clash. However, City weren’t great in big matches last term, winning just two of 12 meetings with the top seven, so that could leave them vulnerable.

Chelsea v Man City Head to Head

Chelsea’s recent record against Manchester City is a little mixed, but it does include home and away victories last season. The Citizens got the better of the two sides in 2015/16, although an FA Cup win for the Blues over City’s reserves was sandwiched in between those defeats. After getting the better of Guardiola twice last season, can Conte repeat the trick at the Bridge this week?

• Chelsea 2-1 Man City, Apr 2017
• Man City 1-3 Chelsea, Dec 2016
• Chelsea 0-3 Man City, Apr 2016
• Chelsea 5-1 Man City, Feb 2016
• Man City 3-0 Chelsea, Aug 2015

Betting Tips

• Both teams to score – 4/7 with Ladbrokes
• Over 1.5 Chelsea goals – 5/4 with Coral

While Chelsea are at home, Manchester City come to Stamford Bridge as favourites this weekend. The Citizens have been made 6/4 favourites with Betfred, while you can back the hosts at 15/8 with BetVictor. Betfair have priced the draw out at 12/5 this weekend, but surely this will be a close game.

After casting an eye over the markets and prices, it’s very clear that the bookmakers are expecting a high scoring tie this weekend. Given the form they’re both in coming into this match, we can see why. Not only are City playing some breath-taking stuff, Chelsea have the in-form Morata leading the line in this one, with the champions finally starting to click together this term.

The issue for Chelsea here is the fact that they managed just one clean sheet against the top six in 10 meetings last term. Manchester City aren’t exactly great at the back either, they had the same record against the league’s elite. The Blues are likely to concede to a side who have so many options to choose from up front, but this isn’t going to be the walkover some are predicting for City.

The visitors conceded chances to poor sides of late, just making it through because their opponents were unable to finish. Chelsea are in clinical form and they will take opportunities that come their way, so we see the hosts getting a goal. We’re backing both teams to score in this clash, which is priced at 4/7 with Ladbrokes.

While we see both teams scoring, we actually think Chelsea can find the net more than once. The Blues only failed to score two or more in three of their 19 home matches last term. With 12 goals in six Premier League matches this term, the Blues are in excellent scoring form going in to this meeting with City. The visitors were really poor on their travels last term when it came to the top sides, losing at all of their top four rivals, taking just four points from a possible 18 at the top seven. We can see City slipping up at the back to top class opposition once again, with over 1.5 goals for the hosts looking like great value at 5/4 with Coral.

Chelsea’s hopes of winning the Premier League suffered a blow in a 2-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace at the weekend. The Blues were given plenty of time to claw back that disadvantage, but they failed to break through Sam Allardyce’s well organised side. They have a quick opportunity to bounce back, and this time they aren’t up against what would be described as an organised defence. Manchester City, fresh from drawing 2-2 at Arsenal on Sunday, are the visitors to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. Will they make it back to back defeats for Antonio Conte?

These are two sides who aren’t exactly keen on each other, as shown by the scenes towards the end of their first encounter this season. There’s still a chance that Chelsea could meet City in the FA Cup final, so this might not be their final clash of the campaign. However, this match is crucial for Conte and his team, they can’t allow Tottenham to move within four points of top spot. Can the Blues complete a double over City?

Team News: Will Conte ring the changes after Palace shock?

The slip up against Palace has probably raised quite a few questions for Conte ahead of this game. The Italian said he thought his side deserved a draw, but even that wouldn’t be enough to keep the former Juve boss happy. He’ll have demanded answers, and he could make a few changes after keeping a mostly settled side this term. Victor Moses should recover to reclaim his spot at right wing-back. One of N’Golo Kante, Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas should drop out, with the Serbian seriously underperforming against Palace.

Pep Guardiola is making odd team selections a routine these days. His choice of Jesus Navas at right-back must be something Blues fans are desperate to see repeated. Eden Hazard going up against Navas would certainly be entertaining. City lined up with an impressive front four at the Emirates, with David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane in support of Sergio Aguero. That attack would certainly cause problems for the Chelsea back three.

Manchester City Form

Manchester City find themselves fourth in the table, certainly not where they expected to be under Pep Guardiola. They come into this game having won just one of their last five, which was an FA Cup win over Middlesbrough. In that time they crashed out of the Champions League, while the Citizens have slipped up in crucial games against their rivals for a spot in the top four. Will this be another tough game for them against a top side?

City have managed just one victory from their last nine matches against sides in the top seven of the Premier League. While they beat Arsenal at home in December, their five matches since against top sides have seen them claim just three points. That’s hardly the kind of record City would have expected when they splashed out on Guardiola, and when they basically gave him a blank cheque to remodel the squad.

While he has long term ambitions, it’s those kinds of matches which really test his abilities as a manager. Going into this meeting with the best side in the Premier League, there’s little hope for them turning around that rotten run of form any time soon. To make matters worse, this is their penultimate meeting with one of the top sides in England this season in the league.

Chelsea v Manchester City Head to Head

Chelsea struck a huge blow to Pep Guardiola’s side in a fiery 3-1 victory at the Etihad. That was a key moment in the Blues’ brilliant run of form earlier in the season, while City clearly cracked in that loss. They had two players sent off late on in that defeat, just how is that going to affect them ahead of this trip to the Bridge?

• Manchester City 1-3 Chelsea, Dec 2016
• Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City, Apr 2016
• Chelsea 5-1 Manchester City, Feb 2016
• Manchester City 3-0 Chelsea, Aug 2015
• Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City, Jan 2015

Betting Tips

• Diego Costa to score – evens with Coral
• Chelsea to win – 7/5 with BetVictor

Chelsea will surely take confidence from City’s awful record in big games, with Guardiola’s side clearly lacking something to get them over the line. It wasn’t too long ago when people were saying that Conte’s side were unable to claim big results. Their win at City changed all that, and Chelsea will be hoping to see off the Citizens once again and get their season back on track. After all, the Blues have won 86% of their home matches in the league so far.

City are going to be relying on Sergio Aguero here, a man who has suddenly hit form, but the Blues have their own leading man up front. Diego Costa has been in excellent shape all season, and he will be aiming to add to his strike against the Citizens at the Etihad earlier this season. When you look at the problems City have been having at the back, it’s hard to see the Spanish forward not getting a chance to add to his goal tally for the season. Despite that, Costa is priced at evens with Coral to score any time, which seems like great value.

Given City’s poor record in big games, we’re siding with the leaders to bounce back this weekend. Barring last season, Chelsea have always been a team who can bounce back after a shocking defeat like that. It’s a quality which helped them to numerous trophies in the past, and it might just seal the Premier League title if they can see off City. Given their excellent home record, and the fact that City have one point from their last four away to top seven sides, we like the look of a home win at 7/5 with BetVictor.

After hanging on to top spot last weekend, Chelsea face a huge test of their title credentials on Saturday. They travel to Manchester City on the back of a seven game winning run, can they extend that with a victory at the Etihad? This could be their toughest fixture of the campaign, so they’ll need to continue their fantastic form if they’re going to hang on to top spot. We’ll know a lot more about Antonio Conte’s Chelsea after they come through this fixture.

Manchester City looked to be runaway leaders early on, but their dip in form allowed a host of teams back into the picture. They’ve returned to winning ways, but they’re not quite back to their best. With a huge game just around the corner, can Pep Guardiola get his team back to their peak performance level with a highly significant win over the league leaders? They’ll certainly not have it as easy as they did in this fixture last season.

Team News: Conte to ring the changes for big clash?

John Terry missed out on the bench last weekend, he’s set to miss at least two weeks. He said after the Tottenham game that he’s happy to be on the bench with the team playing well. John Obi Mikel remains out, while Kurt Zouma is unlikely to make his return here. There was a lack of intensity in the early stages of the Spurs match, could that tempt Conte into rotating? It is hard to see who he’d drop, and they do have a week to recover and prepare for this fixture. With the Christmas schedule just round the corner, the Blues’ will need to start changing their personnel soon.

To no one’s surprise, Vincent Kompany is injured ahead of this game. The Belgian defender has barely seen any action for City in recent months, and he’s expected to be out for another six weeks. Fabian Delph is City’s only other injury concern. With no midweek EFL Cup action for the Citizens, and with their Champions League fixture next week now a dead rubber, City can name their strongest possible side for this game. That is unless Guardiola tries some odd, unexplainable rotation. Like when resting Sergio Aguero against Barcelona.

Man City Form

City are unbeaten in four in all competitions, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. They’ve struggled since October; they’ve dropped from the standards they showed at the start of the campaign. They’ve gone from champions elect to third place, while their recent displays have been poor. They’ve claimed back to back 2-1 wins in the league, but they came against some really poor defences. Burnley’s defending last weekend was awful, and Aguero was only too happy to pounce on their mistakes.

City have drawn their last three home league matches. In fact, no team has won a league match in Manchester since September 24th, every single one has finished level. City’s last home league win was a week before that, and since they’ve dropped some crucial points. They’ve drawn 1-1 with Everton, Southampton and Middlesbrough, so this is a great time for Chelsea to visit. Could they take advantage of that poor record, and claim some crucial points to go towards their title push?

Manchester City v Chelsea Head to Head

Recent form between these two has seen some interesting results. City blew away both Jose Mourinho’s and Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea last season. In between those two, City fielded a reserve side at the Bridge in the FA Cup, as they wanted to keep their stars fresh for the Champions League. That allowed the Blues to hit them for five, in one of the highlights of a dismal season. Expect this game to be a lot closer in result to the two meetings from the 2014/15 season, when the Blues won the title. Those were hard-fought games, which the away side probably deserved to win on each occasion.

• Chelsea 0-3 Man City, Apr 2014
• Chelsea 5-1 Man City, Feb 2016
• Man City 3-0 Chelsea, Aug 2015
• Chelsea 1-1 Man City, Jan 15
• Man City 1-1 Chelsea, Sep 14

Betting Tips

• Diego Costa to score any time – 5/4 at Coral
• 1-1 Draw – 13/2 with BetVictor

We expect a very cagey game when these two sides meet. Given that the Blues have conceded just once in their last seven matches, it might be worth backing against this being a high scoring affair. Under 2.5 goals certainly looking appealing at 43/40 with Bet365, we can’t see this being an end to end clash. Conte will set his side up to be hard to break down, and lethal on the counter. This will be a new chance for the front three to operate in a different way, which could bring a lot out of them. Normally they move and look for space, but now they’ll be trying to break into space in a quick counter-attacking move.

This is a shootout between the Premier League’s joint top scorers. Diego Costa failed to find the net against Tottenham, so Sergio Aguero joined him on 10 goals at the top of the scoring charts. However, the Spanish forward doesn’t tend to be goalless for long, and we can see him getting back into the swing of things with a strike against City. He bullied the City back four here two years ago, and now that he’s back to his best we can see a repeat of that. We’re backing the forward to score any time, at 5/4 with Coral.

Given City’s three consecutive 1-1 draws, we can see a similar result on Saturday. These two played out two 1-1 draws back in 2014/15, when they were evenly matched. After last season’s blip, they seem back on the same level. This will be a really tough test for the hosts, and we’re backing these two to walk away with a point each. A 1-1 draw here is priced attractively at 13/2 with BetVictor.