Man City vs Chelsea preview, tickets, team news and predicted score

Manchester City can secure the Premier League title for the fourth time in five years with victory over Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Heading into the 2022/23 campaign, most pundits predicted Man City would be the front-runners to retain the title with last years runners-up, Liverpool, expected to be their closest competition once again. It hasn’t turned out that way, as during a turbulent campaign that’s seen the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham struggle, it was Arsenal who emerged as City’s closest rivals in the league.

The Gunners enjoyed a sensational opening 6 months of the season to be the surprise leaders. At one stage in March, Arsenal held an eight point lead at the top of the table and were installed as favourites to win their first title since 2004. However, City kept within touching distance and embarked upon a stunning winning streak that put immense pressure on the Londoners. Mikel Arteta’s men buckled and endured a nightmare April that saw them win just three points from four matches.

Arsenal were held to three consecutive draws against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton before being hammered 4-1 in the ‘title decider’ against Man City at the Etihad Stadium. With City constantly winning their games, they overhauled Arsenal’s lead to climb to the summit last month and haven’t looked back.

A 3-0 win for Man City over Everton last week was followed by Arsenal suffering a 3-0 defeat to Brighton. This saw the Cityzens open up a four point lead with a game in hand. With Arsenal having just two games left to play and City holding a far superior goal difference, Pep Guardiola’s men need to win just two more points from their remaining three matches to retain the title.

Arsenal could hand the title to City if they fail to beat Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday evening, but Guardiola insists they would prefer to beat Chelsea so they can celebrate in front of their own supporters at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon. So we should expect the Spaniard to put out a strong team and resist the temptation to rest key players ahead of their Champions League final with Inter Milan.

City booked their place in the final with a stunning win over Real Madrid in midweek. The performance was one of the best seen by an English team in the Champions League for some time, and proved once again why City are regarded as the best team on the planet right now. With an FA Cup final against Man Utd also to come in June, Man City have a golden opportunity to emulate their rivals and clinch an historic treble.

But they need to put other competitions to the back of their mind for now and focus on Chelsea. The Blues head to Manchester off the back of a horrendous season that could see them finish in the bottom half of the table for the first time in over 20 years. In-coming manager Mauricio Pochettino has a huge task on his hands to get the club back on track. Interim manager Frank Lampard will be desperate to spoil City’s title party by picking up a positive result this weekend, but Chelsea haven’t shown any signs lately that they are capable of stopping the City juggernaut on Sunday.

Tickets

Understandably, this game is going to be a sell out with City fans expecting a title party on Sunday. The chances are the hosts will clinch the Premier League trophy once again this weekend so the Etihad Stadium will be packed with excited City fans. Official tickets will have been sold out weeks ago so fans can head to a reputable reselling site like Seatsnet to try and get their hands on a ticket for the game.

If you aren’t lucky enough to be attending the match in person, you can still watch the game live on Sky Sports, kick off is 4pm on Sunday May 21st.

Team news

Man City have virtually a fully fit squad to choose from. Nathan Ake is the only concern for Guardiola to worry about. The defender has missed the last three games with a thigh injury and remains a doubt for the visit of Chelsea. With two huge finals on the horizon, Ake is unlikely to be risked this weekend.

White City have almost every player available, Chelsea aren’t in such an enviable situation as they have a number of injury concerns to contend with. Reece James won’t play again this season due to a thigh injury that’s hampered him lately while Ben Chilwell is also out with his own thigh complaint.

Armando Broja remains on the sidelines with a serious knee injury, N’Golo Kante is expected to miss the final two games after picking up a groin injury in training last week while Mason Mount is also carrying a groin problem so isn’t in contention.

To make matters worse, Chelsea will be without Marc Cucurella due to a thigh problem and Benoit Badashille is a doubt with knock so the Blues are low on defensive options. Kalidou Koulibaly will require a late fitness test on a thigh muscle issue while Mateo Kovacic is also a doubt with a knock.

Line-ups

Man City XI: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte; Stones, Rodri; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish; Haaland

Chelsea XI: Kepa; W. Fofana, Silva, Badiashile; Azpilicueta, Kovacic, Fernandez, Gallagher, Hall; Sterling, Havertz

Prediction

Chelsea have been in disarray all season and have nothing left to play for. Lampard will want to prevent City from winning the title with a win over his team, but it’s difficult to see how Chelsea can suddenly turn it on and produce a performance away to the best team on the planet. Especially with the injury issues they have.

Man City have been in formidable form in recent months, winning their last 11 Premier League games on the bounce, and they have the chance to clinch the title with two games to spare on home soil. That would allow Guardiola to rest some players in their final league games ahead of the FA Cup and Champions League finals, so this isn’t an opportunity he’ll want to pass up.

Chelsea still have a good squad packed with quality, and on paper they should give City a good game. However, in reality the Blues have no identity or playing style and are just ghosting their way to the end of the season. They will do well not to concede five this weekend, so we’re predicting a comfortable City win. Man City 3-0 Chelsea