There is one more match left in the Premier League before the break for the FA Cup and it comes on Thursday evening where Chelsea play host to Manchester City in a game with plenty of history and which is huge for both teams.
The top four is looking like a pipedream for Chelsea at the minute and they need to start to turn their fortunes around quickly. Arsenal now sit eight points clear of City at the top of the table so the visitors need something from this game.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels with the extended build-up beginning at 6.30pm and the kick off at Stamford Bridge coming at 8pm.
Chelsea
I think it is fairly obvious that this hasn’t been the season that Chelsea would have wanted so far. They begin the night just under the top half and some 10 points adrift of the top four. Usually by now Chelsea will have sacked the manager so it will be interesting to see how much time there is for Graham Potter after the Blues moved pretty swiftly to get rid of Thomas Tuchel when things weren’t going right earlier in the season.
Chelsea have won less than half of their Premier League matches this term including just one in their last seven so a visit of the champions isn’t exactly what they need. This is a team who are transitioning to the Potter style of play, which as we’ve seen at his other clubs does take time, and it will be interesting to see whether January speeds up the process. You sense there is a number of players in this large Chelsea squad who don’t really fit the style.
Manchester City
I guess given the huge quality they have provided and relentless results in the last five seasons, this isn’t the best campaign for Manchester City either. That is being extremely harsh because they have still picked up 36 points from the 48 available but the fact Arsenal are going so well has probably made the City campaign look average. They head to the capital with just one win in their last three in the Premier League and while Arsenal keep winning the pressure mounts on each game City play.
One issue for City this season has been their defence. There is no doubting that they are more susceptible to conceding and are actually averaging one goal against per game which is unlike them. They do have something special up top but a couple of times this season they have found breaking down stubborn defences more difficult. Statistically they haven’t looked as good and just with the eye it hasn’t been quite as convincing this term either.
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Team News
Chelsea are going to be without goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Reece James and N’Golo Kante for this match while Armando Broja is a long-term injury victim. Raheem Sterling could face his former club though.
Manchester City remain without Ruben Dias for this match and his fellow defensive partner Aymeric Laporte will be assessed ahead of the game. Julian Alvarez is now back from the World Cup and could be involved from the beginning.
Betting
This is a huge match for both teams and it will be interesting to see if the pressure of the situation gets to the two teams or whether they are able to play the way they are capable of and treat us to what should be a decent game between two great sides. Sometimes when matches like this come along it is bigger for one club than the other but that isn’t really the case here so both should go at it here and maybe even lay a marker down for when they meet again in the FA Cup on Sunday.
The onus is on Chelsea to have a go here because they are at home but it will be interesting to see how they go about that. You sense under Graham Potter that Chelsea are a work in progress but this City defence can be breached. They have only kept one clean sheet in their last seven. It is hard to see the weight of pressure City will put on the Chelsea defence not cracking it at some point. It is a Chelsea defence which has only kept one clean sheet in its last six. Both these sides are better going forward than defending right now and both need the result so I like both teams to score in this one.
Tips
Back Both teams to score for a 3/10 stake at 1.75 with Betway
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