For the second gameweek running, Chelsea will headline the latest round of Premier League fixtures as the Blues welcome treble winners Manchester City to Stamford Bridge for Sunday afternoon’s blockbuster battle.
Mauricio Pochettino‘s return to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday ended in an extraordinary 4-1 win, while the Citizens sealed a last-16 Champions League berth by putting three goals past Young Boys without reply in midweek.
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Prowling the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium touchline nearly four years after being given his P45 by Daniel Levy, Pochettino’s Lilywhites homecoming could have very well turned into a nightmare as Dejan Kulusevski‘s deflected effort broke the deadlock just six minutes in.
However, an unforeseen Spurs implosion saw two red cards to Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie and two injuries to integral players in James Maddison and Micky van de Ven, allowing Chelsea to snap the Premier League’s last remaining unbeaten record as Cole Palmer‘s penalty and Nicolas Jackson‘s hat-trick subjected Spurs to a humiliating night.
Even with two extra players on the field, Pochettino’s team were left to rue wastefulness as Spurs held out, but Postecoglou inadvertently ended up hitting the self-destruct button as he deployed his defensive line high up the field, gifting Jackson three tap-ins as the Blues finally made their runs in behind pay.
After collecting just one point from two October London derbies with Brentford and Arsenal, Chelsea have opened November as they mean to go on with successive beatings of Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham, but the Stamford Bridge faithful are still staring the familiar sight of mid-table mediocrity as their side languish in 10th spot.
Points-wise, Chelsea have a chasm of nine separating them from both the top four and the relegation zone and remain wholly unreliable on home soil – their only Premier League win from their last 13 matches at Stamford Bridge came against new boys Luton Town – and they have failed to score in three of their last four top-flight games on familiar territory.
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Manchester City certainly cannot relate when it comes to profligacy on home turf, as Pep Guardiola‘s men have averaged a goal every 20 minutes in their two most recent Etihad battles with Bournemouth and Young Boys, embarrassing the former 6-1 thanks to a Jeremy Doku masterclass.
The Belgian’s opening goal and record-breaking quartet of assists propelled the champions to their rightful place at the top of the pile – one point clear of Tottenham before the ravaged Lilywhites take on Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday lunchtime – and Guardiola’s charges barely had to break a sweat to progress to the Champions League knockout rounds in midweek.
It was truly men against boys when Man City hosted Young Boys, as a pair of Erling Haaland strikes either side of a sublime Phil Foden finish ensured that Man City would be present in the latter stages of Europe’s premier competition, while also extending the visitors’ winning sequence to five games in all competitions.
Since losing their attacking bite against Arsenal, the treble winners have netted 17 goals across their quintet of consecutive wins, but their only points dropped in the top flight this season have come on the road, where they also have just five Premier League clean sheets to boast in 2023.
However, one of those shut-outs came at Stamford Bridge in January, where a 1-0 win over Chelsea came three days before a 4-0 FA Cup thumping and also preceded a 1-0 Etihad success in May; the latter result condemned the hosts to a sixth successive defeat without a goal against the Citizens, whom they have not conquered since the 2021 Champions League final.
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After falling victim to Romero’s red card-worthy tackle on Monday evening, Enzo Fernandez tried to play through the pain barrier but ultimately had to come off just before the hour mark, and he was not pictured in training on Tuesday or Wednesday.
However, Thursday’s set of practice images showed the Argentine on the Cobham pitches, so he ought to be fine for Sunday, which is more than can be said for Wesley Fofana (knee), Ben Chilwell (thigh), Romeo Lavia (ankle), Christopher Nkunku (knee), Trevoh Chalobah (thigh) and Carney Chukwuemeka (knee).
Armando Broja is in with a chance of shaking off a knee issue to make the bench, though, while Reece James was a notable absentee from the latest England squad following his recent recovery, but it emerged that the right-back – who should be fine to feature against the champions – had rejected a call-up, potentially jeopardising his place in his nation’s Euro 2024 troupe.
Both James and his Citizens counterpart John Stones will not be representing England this month, as the latter came off at half time against Young Boys with a thigh complaint, and Guardiola has conceded that the versatile defender will likely spend a long time on the sidelines.
Stones represents one of three rearguard concerns for Man City, who lost Manuel Akanji to a back problem of unspecified severity during the warm-up in midweek – he has trained since, though – while backup left-back Sergio Gomez sprained his ankle in training earlier this month and is targeting a return after the international break.
Ex-Blues youngster Kevin De Bruyne will miss out on a Stamford Bridge homecoming as he recuperates from his severe thigh issue, but another former Chelsea man in Nathan Ake ought to be recalled to the backline amid Stones and Akanji’s concerns.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; James, Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling; Jackson
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Walker, Rodri, Kovacic, Doku; Silva, Alvarez; Haaland
Had Postecoglou opted to shut up shop rather than stick with his principles on Monday evening, Chelsea may not have walked away with three points in the bag, and their margin of victory would have been far less emphatic had they got over the line in such circumstances.
Pochettino’s men will not carve out opportunities at will against an 11-man Citizens side, even with a couple of fresh defensive concerns for Guardiola to factor in, and we can only envisage the champions handing the Blues a rude awakening with a seventh victory – and clean sheet – on the trot against their capital counterparts.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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