The Last time when Chelsea had visited Etihad, they were hammered by a confident City side that was firing on all cylinders. A resounding 6-0 victory for Pep’s side. A lot has changed since then. Chelsea sacked Sarri and brought onboard club legend Frank Lampard. He brought with him a new philosophy, a philosophy that no other Chelsea managers could ever implement – trust the youth system. With time on his hands and support from the fans, Lampard’s side is playing a brand of attacking football that is a treat to the eyes. Now, they are sitting third on the table, one point above Manchester City scoring just one goal less than Liverpool, a testimony of the attacking football paying dividends. Manchester City on the other hand are struggling with injuries to their key players Laporte, Mendy, Sane, Ederson. Their recent loss to the league leaders, Liverpool, was a huge blow to their title hopes and their confidence also seems to have taken a hit. The primary area of concern is, the makeshift defense. Their style of play requires a well-oiled system with no weakness, especially at the back since Pep likes his team to play out from the back.

This match is crucial for City if they want to keep their title hopes alive but this time beating Chelsea is not going to be as easy.

Score Prediction

Manchester City has scored 18 goals at home so far this season while Chelsea has scored 17 goals away from home. Clear signs of a high scoring match at Etihad.

Manchester City 3-2 Chelsea

Expected Starting 11: Manchester City

Expected Starting 11: Chelsea

5 Players to watch out for:

Riyad Mahrez

Mahrez has started in just 2 matches for City so far this season but has an impressive tally of 2 goals and 3 assists already to his name. His underlying states are also good with 1.9 shots per game and 2.5 key passes per game. He is by far the biggest differential in this fixture and is most likely to start the match in place of Bernardo Silva who is serving a one match ban.

Sergio Aguero

Historically, Aguero performs better at home and this trend continues this season as well. He has 9 goals and 2 assists so far this season out of which 5 goals and 2 assists have come at home. Last time these two sides met, Aguero scored a hatrick.

Kevin De Bruyne (KDB)

KDB is arguably the most influential player in the City team. He netted 2 goals and created 9 goals thus far, a direct involvement in almost 32% of City’s goals. During this international break, he assisted two goals in Belgium’s 4-1 victory over Russia. Looks like the Belgian is all warmed up for the crucial match against Chelsea.

Tammy Abraham

The Chelsea striker is the second highest goal scorer in the premier league with 10 goals. Surprisingly he performs best away from home. With 7 goals and 2 assists he looks like a real threat to City’s makeshift defence. He is also ever present in the penalty area and has some impressive offensive statistics.

Christian Pulisic

Pulisic has 5 goals and 2 assists to his name but has started only 3 matches for Chelsea. He has been a regular in the team after scoring a hatrick against Burnley and looks to have gained Lampard’s trust. Pulisic is one of the most attacking players in the Chelsea squad with 2.2 dribbles per game, 1.3 key passes per game and 2.1 shots per game.

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