Man City vs Chelsea preview, team news, how to watch, line-ups and prediction

Manchester City will be looking to keep the pressure on at the top of the Premier League table with a win over Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Citizens head into the weekend action sitting second in the table – just two points off Liverpool with a game. Arsenal are also two adrift of the leaders and level on goal difference with City, so things couldn’t be much tighter at the top of the table.

Liverpool will have the opportunity to draw first blood and extend their lead at the summit when they travel to Brentford on Saturday lunchtime. Arsenal then take on Burnley at Turf Moor at 3pm so Man City could find themselves down in third and five points off the leaders by the time they entertain Chelsea on Saturday night.

Pep Guardiola’s men will have to respond if their title rivals both win their respective games, while they’ll be poised to take advantage of any slip-ups from Liverpool or Arsenal, so it promises to be an exciting Saturday in the title race.

Manchester City are currently on one of their trademark winning streaks as they’ve won each of their last 11 matches across all competitions so they’re in formidable form right now. A second half brace from Erling Haaland sealed a 2-0 win over Everton last weekend to extend their unbeaten run in the league to eight games. City will be confident of making it nine with a win over Chelsea tomorrow.

City also put one foot in the quarter finals of the Champions League with a 3-1 first leg win away to Copenhagen on Tuesday night. Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden were all on the score-sheet to put City in control of their last-16 tie ahead of the second leg.

So, things couldn’t be going much better for Manchester City as they try to make history by becoming the first team to ever secure back-to-back trebles. However, the situation at Chelsea isn’t quite so positive as they head to the Etihad following another disappointing campaign that sees them scrapping it out in mid-table for the second consecutive campaign.

Mauricio Pochettino came under intense pressure after Chelsea lost 4-2 at home to Wolves just days after going down 4-1 away to Liverpool. The Argentinean coach has eased that pressure somewhat after booking their place in the 5th round of the FA Cup with an impressive 3-1 win away to Aston Villa before beating Crystal Palace by the same score-line in the league on Monday night.

Despite the win at Selhurst Park, Chelsea are still languishing way down in 10th position in the Premier League table so they desperately need a positive result tomorrow. They’ll take confidence from the fact they played out an entertaining 4-4 draw with Man City in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, so they know they’re capable of causing the champions problems.

How to watch

Manchester City vs Chelsea will be broadcast live on Sky Sports at 5.30pm on Saturday 17th February. Subscribers can watch all the action live on their TV, or via the Sky Go app on mobile of tablet.

Match going supporters can get hold of tickets for the game through official club channels. If the match is sold out, fans can still buy tickets via trusted resellers such as Seatsnet.com.

Team news

Man City will be without defender Josko Gvardiol after he was ruled out for up to three weeks with an ankle injury. Jack Grealish is a doubt with a muscle problem while Bernardo Silva will also need to be assessed due to a minor ankle issue.

Mateo Kovacic remains a doubt for the hosts due to a knee injury that’s hampered him lately and defender Sergio Gomez could also miss out with a knock.

For Chelsea, they continue to have several injury worries to contend with. Thiago Silva is a doubt after limping off during the win over Palace with a groin injury so he needs to be assessed before his availability is known.

Fellow defender Benoit Badiashile is out for around a month due to an on-going groin problem while Wesley Fofana, Robert Sanchez, Marc Cucurella, Reece James, Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu are also missing for Chelsea.

Possible line-ups

Guardiola has plenty of options to rotate with Manuel Akanji pushing for a recall in defence while Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes could come into the midfield if the City boss wants to freshen things up from the win at Copenhagen.

However, Guardiola isn’t expected to make too many changes at the back with Nathan Ake keeping his place at left-back. Jones Stones, Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker should also keep their places.

De Bruyne and Foden should start once again having excelled recently while Haaland will no doubt lead the line up front.  Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez are also hoping for a recall in attack after being on the bench in midweek. Doku could get the nod on the wing if Grealish is ruled out.

As for Chelsea, Cole Palmer will face off against his former side and he’ll be looking to impress following an excellent start to life in West London. Christopher Nkunku could join Nicolas Jackson and Palmer in attack with Noni Madueke the man to make way.

Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo will keep their places in midfield with Conor Gallagher in the more advanced role after scoring twice last timeout. Levi Colwill could join Axel Disasi in the middle of defence if Silva is ruled out.

Possible City XI: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Ake, Rodri, Bernardo, De Bruyne, Doku, Foden; Haaland

Possible Chelsea XI: Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Colwill, Chilwell; Fernandez, Caicedo; Gallagher, Palmer, Jackson; Nkunku

Prediction

Manchester City haven’t lost any of their last 22 Premier League games at the Etihad Stadium and they’ve also won six of their last eight home games against Chelsea, so it’s going to be an extremely tough task for the visitors to take anything away from tomorrow’s game.

Chelsea certainly have the players to cause City problems and they did manage to score four past them in the home game earlier in the season. Palmer will be keen to impress against his former club while Nkunku is slowly getting back to full fitness after his serious injury, so Chelsea shouldn’t be taken too lightly.

However, City are a formidable side and they’d need to have a real off day for Chelsea to stand a chance. With the likes of De Bruyne, Foden and Haaland firing on all cylinders, it should be a routine home win for Man City tomorrow. Man City 3-0 Chelsea