Premier League leaders Chelsea visit title contenders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday in one of the biggest clashes of the weekend. Last season Manchester City won both league matches, both with the same score line: 3-0. Chelsea did get some sort of revenge in the FA Cup by beating the Citizens 5-1. However, things have changed quite a bit at both clubs since then as both teams have new managers now. Chelsea have not won at the Etihad Stadium since 2014.
Last weekend Manchester City had to work hard to get a 2-1 victory at Burnley, their second consecutive league victory after a rather long spell of ups and downs. Last week they have also booked their place in the Champions League knockout round, even though they recorded a rather lackluster performance to get a 1-1 draw at Borussia Monchengladbach to seal their qualification. Vincent Kompany is still injured, but Fabian Delph and Raheem Sterling might have a chance to recover in time for Saturday's game.
Chelsea are on a very hot streak of seven consecutive league wins, a run which started after a humbling 3-0 defeat at Arsenal back in September. They did suffer a 2-1 League Cup defeat against West Ham since then, but that seems quite unimportant at this stage and might also be a plus because it allows them to focus more on the Premier League. Laast weekend they fought back from 1-0 down to beat Tottenham, a good result against a solid team which further boosts their confidence. John Terry is still injured and will miss out.
Probable line-ups:
Man City: Bravo - Sagna, Stones, Otamendi, Kolarov - Fernandinho, Fernando - Silva, Gundogan, De Bruyne - Aguero
Chelsea: Courtois - Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill - Moses, Matic, Kante, Alonso - Pedro, Costa, Hazard
My prediction: 2-2 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Man City win - 2.10
Draw - 3.50
Chelsea win - 3.30
12/22/16, 11:12:36 PM
