Manchester City Chelsea preview

Manchester City host Chelsea on Sunday for the match of the weekend. It is important for both teams to win this game as City are level on points with Liverpool and Chelsea are in 4th only two points ahead of United. The last time these two teams met each other in the Premier League, Chelsea inflicted City’s first domestic defeat winning 2-0 at Stamford Bridge early in December. The two clubs also face each other in two weeks in the League Cup final so this weekend will give some indication of how the match will turn out.

City played two league matches in the last week against Arsenal and then Everton and won both games without too much troubling them. This game should be more testing for them and Guardiola doesn’t have the best record against Chelsea losing three out of his last five meetings with Chelsea. In the last match they played each other, Sarri tactically got the better of City. This game is slightly more favored towards City though based on the form of the two teams. City did lose to Newcastle two matches ago but that was just a small blip and except for that match have been solid since the turn of the year and should edge this match. They have also been able to overtake Liverpool at the top of the table, although they have a game in hand. Liverpool play on Saturday so it will be added pressure on City, if Liverpool win their game.

Chelsea on the other hand have only won two matches since the new year and both against teams that are fighting relegation. However, their last game they won 5-0 and even though it was against Huddersfield, they should be encouraged that new signing Higuaín scored two goals and Hazard also scored two goals. Another positive for Chelsea is that they have had a week to prepare for this game, whereas City only had three days as they played a mid-week game. With that being said, Chelsea’s last away game was against Bournemouth, which they got crush 4-0 and this will still be fresh in their mind. They need to be cautious not to be so exposed at the back against a team like City.

Predicted result- Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea