Chelsea Vs Man City preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

Manchester City will begin their Premier League title defence with a trip to East London to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. 

The Cityzens achieved a record-breaking four-peat when they won they were crowned the Premier League champions in May.

They rallied from third place to second place, before mounting an incredible nine-match winning streak to overtake Arsenal and create a two-point lead which eventually secured the title for the fourth time in a row.

Their goalscoring form was yet again on a high with their 96 goals marking the third season in a row where Pep Guardiola’s side have scored 90 plus goals in the Premier League — after scoring 99 in 2021-22 and 94 in 2022-23. It was also the fifth time in Guardiola’s seven-year reign that the club has scored at least 90 goals in a season including a record-setting 106 goals in the 2017-18 season.

They’ll be aiming for another season where their accumulative goals and points will be above ninety.

For the fourth consecutive season, City will begin their Premier League title defence away from home. They have become accustomed to this, having not started a Premier League season at the Etihad since 2016/17. Of City’s last three opening away games, they’ve only recorded one loss to Nuno Espirito Santo’s led Tottenham Hotspur in 2021, while recording victories against West Ham United in 2022, and Burnley in 2023.

In the recently concluded preseason in the United States, City did not have the best of campaigns, winning only one of their three preseason encounters. They lost to Scottish champions, Celtic and Italian giants, AC Milan before recording a victory against their Saturday’s opponents, Chelsea.

The reoccurring theme in those clashes which might worry some City fans is conceding possession and total number of passes to their opponents in preseason bar Barcelona. This is in contrast to an archetypical City team that dominates their opponents from start to finish.

However, they made up for this when they faced last season’s FA Cup champions, Manchester United in the community shield last Saturday.

Despite having one shot on goal, City showed more dominance on the ball and were able to carve out chances where they failed to finish.

Following a 1-1 draw, where late goals were scored by Alejandro Garnacho and Bernardo Silva, Manuel Akanji emerged as the decisive hero in the shoot-out that ended 7-6 in favour of City.

They now gear up for the League opener against a Chelsea side that is beginning a new era under one of Pep Guardiola’s protégés, Enzo Maresca.

For Chelsea, this marks the beginning of yet another new chapter. Shortly after securing a return to European competition, Mauricio Pochettino departed from the club, with the decision officially announced as being by mutual consent. Despite achieving a sixth-place finish in the Premier League, there were numerous issues that the Blues were dissatisfied with, which they will aim to address this season.

Now leading the team is Maresca, who successfully guided Leicester City back to the Premier League in his first season. This was Maresca’s first complete season as a manager, following a brief stint with Parma in 2021. In between those roles, Maresca served as Guardiola’s assistant at City, after having previously managed the club’s U23 team during the 2020/21 season.

Ending Chelsea’s nine-match winless run against the Premier League champions will be high on his agenda on Saturday and most importantly, avoiding another run of a streak of defeat against Guardiola who has a knack for getting the upper hand against his protégés.

Chelsea’s preseason wasn’t particularly remarkable. They managed just one victory against Club America, suffered defeats to Celtic, City, and Real Madrid, and concluded with a 1-1 draw against Inter Milan in their final preseason match at Stamford Bridge.

On a positive note, aside from the defeat to Celtic, the Blues displayed promising glimpses of an attractive brand of football, which is expected to become more prominent as they adapt to Maresca’s style of play.

Chelsea Vs Man City match details

• Date: Sunday, August 18, 2024.
• Location: London, England
• Venue: Stamford Bridge
• Kick-off time 04:30 PM BST, 03:30 PM UTC
• Referee: Anthony Taylor
• Assistant referees: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn
• Fourth official: Darren England
• VAR: Michael Salisbury
• Assistant VAR: Dan Cook
• Tickets: Fans can buy Chelsea vs Manchester City tickets through the official club channels or via a reputable reseller such as Seatsnet.com.

Match stats and head-to-head

• Chelsea are winless in their last nine Premier League matches against City, ending a run of six consecutive losses with two draws last season. Their last victory coming in 2021 where they emerged 2-1 winners at the Etihad.

• Since their UEFA Champions League final loss to Chelsea in May 2021, City are unbeaten in nine matches against Chelsea in all competitions (W7 D2), matching their longest streak without defeat against the Blues (nine games from 1936 to 1949).

• The Blues have earned more points from opening Premier League matches (67) than any other team, with only Manchester United having more wins (21 vs. Chelsea’s 20).

• Erling Haaland has scored 63 goals in 66 Premier League appearances, winning the Golden Boot in both of his seasons. He’s also scored a brace in both of his opening weekend appearances, a feat no player has achieved in three different seasons.

• Cole Palmer contributed to 33 goals last season in the Premier League (22 goals, 11 assists), leading the competition in home goals with 16, tying Didier Drogba (2006-07) and Frank Lampard (2009-10) for the most in a single season at Stamford Bridge.

• Chelsea are starting a top-flight campaign against the reigning champions for the first time since 1971-72, when they lost 3-0 to Arsenal at Highbury.

• City have won their opening Premier League match in 12 of the last 13 seasons, with the only exception being a 1-0 loss to Tottenham in 2021-22.

• Last season, the East London side lost just one of their last 15 Premier League matches, winning nine and recording five draws. They also won their last five matches in a row, their longest winning streak since a six-game run in 2019 under Frank Lampard.

Team news

Chelsea will be missing their skipper, Reece James, who is out until the international break in September with a hamstring injury. The 24-year-old is also on a four-match suspension following his red card against Brighton and Hove Albion late last season.

Nicolas Jackson, who was sidelined during the team’s United States tour due to an ankle injury, made his return as a substitute in the 1-1 draw with Inter at Stamford Bridge. Axel Disasi, after undergoing hernia surgery, was also listed among the substitutes. Omari Kellyman and Djordje Petrovic have been contending with injuries as well.

New signings, Pedro Neto, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Tosin Adarabioyo, Filip Jorgensen, and Marc Guiu are all aiming to feature in their first competitive match for Chelsea, while Conor Gallagher is awaiting the finalization of his transfer to Atletico Madrid.

For City, Jack Grealish is uncertain for the first match due to an injury sustained in training, which kept him out of the Community Shield final last Saturday.

Brazilian winger Savinho is in contention to make his Premier League debut after impressing during his cameo against United at Wembley.

City’s international contingent including, Rodri, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, and John Stones have resumed training after extended rest periods following their participation in the Euro 2024 final.

Prediction

These two sides will hope to light off fireworks again after producing arguably the most entertaining match last season in the first leg that ended 4-4.

However, in the second leg, it was Chelsea who found themselves on the back foot, having to endure relentless onslaught from Manchester City — who recorded 46 shots across the two legs.

Considering Chelsea’s vulnerable backline and City’s rampaging attack, it is expected that the Premier League champions will triumph in this fixture.

Chelsea are expected to showcase some good spells of brilliant football under Maresca, but their inability to finish off chances might hunt them again.

We’re predicting a 3-1 win for Man City.