Manchester City will look to continue their pursuit of Premier League leaders Arsenal as they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Champions League-chasing Chelsea.
Manchester City have bounced back from their Champions League exit in perfect fashion, as they ended Arsenal’s hopes of a quadruple by beating them 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final.
Pep Guardiola’s men then sealed their place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup in emphatic fashion last weekend, as they thrashed Liverpool 4-0 at the Etihad – on an afternoon I landed a 10/3 winner.
However, the Cityzens travel to West London off the back of a pair of disappointing draws against relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest and West Ham United in the Premier League, leaving them nine points adrift of leaders Arsenal – albeit they do have a game in hand over the Gunners.
A side that has joined Manchester City in the semi-finals of the FA Cup is Chelsea, following their 7-0 rout over League One basement dwellers Port Vale at Stamford Bridge last Saturday.
However, Liam Rosenior’s charges were beaten 3-0 at Everton in their last Premier League outing, meaning they have won just one of their previous six Premier League fixtures, losing three of their past four.
That leaves the Blues in sixth position in the table, a point behind fifth-placed Liverpool, but only two clear of West London rivals Brentford in seventh.
How the bookies view it: City favourites
Despite drawing each of their previous two Premier League encounters, Manchester City are favourites to leave West London with all three points, with bet365 pricing an away success at 23/20.
Chelsea are 21/10 to claim just their second Premier League victory from their last seven matches, whilst the draw is 14/5.
Head to head: City revenge
After defeating Manchester City in the Champions League final in 2021, Chelsea have failed to win any of their next 12 meetings against Pep Guardiola’s men, losing nine of them (W0-D3-L9).
However, the Blues scored in stoppage time to draw 1-1 at the Etihad in the reverse fixture at the turn of the year.
Players to watch: Silva to be shown yellow again?
Bernardo Silva did the business for us last weekend by backing up his 15th card of the season against Liverpool (14 yellows & one red), meaning he has now been carded in six of his past 10 appearances for Manchester City in all competitions.
What’s more, the Portuguese international has been booked in three of his previous four Premier League appearances against Chelsea – including in the reverse fixture at the Etihad at the beginning of January – and is an appealing 27/10 at William Hill to be carded at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
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Predicted line-ups:
Chelsea are still without the injured Filip Jorgensen, Levi Colwill, Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah and Jamie Gittens, whilst vice-captain Enzo Fernandez is still suspended by the club.
Manchester City will still be without the injured Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, whilst John Stones is a doubt.
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Tosin, Fofana, Cucurella, Santos, Caicedo, Neto, Palmer, Garnacho, Pedro
Manchester City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly, Rodri, Silva, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland
Anything else catch the eye?
Manchester City backed up their success in the League Cup final over Arsenal by putting four unanswered goals past Liverpool in the FA Cup last weekend, and should possess too much firepower for an injury-hit Chelsea defence.
The Blues have kept a solitary shutout across their previous 15 Premier League encounters and recently shipped eight goals over two legs against PSG in the Champions League, and the 4/5 on offer for City to bag a double appeals to me here.
Erling Haaland bagged a hat trick against Liverpool last weekend and has scored on each of his previous two visits to Stamford Bridge, and is a backable 10/11 at BetVictor to get on the scoresheet again.
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