Premier League: Can Chelsea Dent City’s Title Defence?

Chelsea vs Manchester City

Manchester City could find themselves in a difficult situation if they don’t take care of business against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Despite going undefeated since December across all competitions, the defending Premier League champions are trailing table leaders Arsenal, and they could fall 10 points behind them on Thursday.

Chelsea are currently ninth in the standings, but that’s not indicative of their overall quality. After a poor stretch of Premier League 2022 results prior to the World Cup break, the Blues are now undefeated in their last two matches.

This will be the first of their two back-to-back meetings. After this Premier League encounter, Manchester City are going to host Chelsea for their third round matchup in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Talking Points

Chelsea still don’t have a clean bill of health

Following a four-game losing skid across all competitions, the Blues grabbed important points last week with a 2-0 win against Bournemouth and a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest.

Kai Havertz and Mason Mount got on board in the first half to beat the Cherries, while top scorer Raheem Sterling found the back of the net against Nottingham Forest – only to be cancelled out by Serge Aurier in the second half.

Positive results against these relegation candidates aren’t exactly something to write home about, but Graham Potter and co. will gladly take it, since they’ve been trying to cope with their lengthy injury list, with N’Golo Kante, Ben Chilwell, Armando Broja, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all facing long spells on the sidelines.

On a brighter note, Mateo Kovacic came off the bench against Nottingham Forest, and he could make his first start since their November matchup against Newcastle.

Because their roster has been decimated by injuries, the Blues have been busy in the transfer market. They recently beefed up their backline with the £35-M addition of Benoit Badiashile from AS Monaco, and they’re reportedly keeping tabs on Argentine and Benfica star Enzo Fernandez.

Who will Pep Guardiola start for Manchester City?

With so many games to cover, Pep Guardiola has heavily rotated his squad, which led to some curious decisions – at least, from a fan’s perspective.

Against Everton on New Year’s Eve, Pep Guardiola opted for a 3-4-3 formation and gave 18-year-old Rico Lewis his second consecutive league start, leaving out Joao Cancelo, while he brought on Jack Grealish to replace one of their best players in Phil Foden.

Pep Guardiola hinted that Foden and Cancelo were left out of the starting lineup because of their poor “body language” in training.

This is no longer new to the City boss since he has made this a habit throughout his time in charge at the Etihad. During Christmas, Guardiola expressed his displeasure over Kalvin Phillips when the former Leeds United midfielder came back from the World Cup overweight.

So, expect Guardiola to not make many changes into his starting lineup against Everton on Saturday. Erling Haaland is still the main man for the Sky Blues with 27 goals already this term.

History

Manchester City have won all three of their previous meetings across all competitions – including a league double last term.

Chelsea have lost their last two Premier League home matches against Manchester City. They’ve only lost three consecutive home league matches to Blackburn (1993-94 to 1995-96) and Arsenal (2020-21 and 2022-23) in their history.

Manchester City’s seven victories in their last 10 Premier League games against Chelsea (L3) are as many as they had in their previous 25 meetings (D4, L14).

Moreover, the Sky Blues have won their first Premier League match in each of the last 10 calendar years since a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland in 2012. Their first league match in each of the last two years has come in London, where they defeated Chelsea 3-1 in 2021 and Arsenal 2-1 last year.

Betting Tip

The SBOTOP Premier League 2022 odds are backing the defending champions to come away with the three valuable points, as Manchester City are installed at 1.68 to win, while Chelsea are priced at 4.60 and a draw is at 3.85 in the 1X2 market.

Both sides dropped points in their previous outings, but Chelsea are likely to miss out on more given their seemingly never-ending injury woes. The Sky Blues should have enough to win on the road this Thursday. On the other hand, don’t expect too many goals despite the talent oozing from both sides – making Under 2.50 @ 1.80 another solid betting option.

 

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