Chelsea face one of their biggest tests this weekend when they square off against Manchester City on Sunday. So what makes this one of our toughest if not the toughest game every season? It’s very simple this is an away fixture against our number 1 title contender and our ability to deny them of valuable points is a crucial step for any team hoping to win or retain the title.
Heading into the fixture Chelsea have suffered 2 big blows; a home draw against Swansea in our opening fixture and not winning a match in 90 minutes since our win over Sunderland at the end of last season. This could seriously hurt the confidence of most teams heading into such a colossal battle but these are the Champions.
Manchester City definitely look a better team than last season after spending big over the summer. They have a wealth of attacking talent at their disposal which makes them very difficult to predict. They possess a striker in Sergio Aguero who is capable of walking into any first team in the world. They also have 6 attacking midfielders capable of causing any Premier League side trouble. That’s their true strength, immense fire power and unpredictability.
Like last season, Chelsea have 2 great goalkeepers. The fact that our first choice is not playing on Sunday shouldn’t have a bearing on the result. Chelsea had the best defence in the league last season but one player who I don’t think will feature in defence this weekend is young French centre back Zouma. Zouma is one of the biggest and quickest centre backs in the league and the best person in my books to neutralise any quick and dangerous attack minded team. Therefore I can see him being deployed alongside Matic in midfield to counter Manchester City’s strong attack. The Frenchman has been deployed in midfield before when we have needed to suppress a threat in our opposition, Fellaini for Manchester United at home in the league last season is an example. The battle on Sunday could be won in midfield.
Hazard and/or Willian will need to work hard for the team on Sunday tracking back a lot and doing whatever is necessary for the team. They are also capable of getting the winner if any off them produces a moment of pure brilliance, something which they are very capable of doing. Chelsea will play to win but they won’t play to entertain and it’s likely we will play on the counter attack like last season. What ever tactics Jose decides to use he will intend to win this game and try to get an early advantage over Manchester City.
Match Details
Sunday, 16th August, 4:00 PM (UK Time) at the Etihad Stadium.
Team News
Chelsea will be without Thibaut Courtois after he was sent off against Swansea last weekend and then yesterday (Tuesday) the appeal against the red card was denied. Therefore Begovic is set to start in goal. Cuadrado is still lacking match fitness after barely featuring in pre-season due to his international commitments in the Copa America. He also didn’t feature in the match day squad for the opening game of the season. Apart from that there is no injury/suspension news or fitness concerns for Chelsea. Diego Costa seems to be back to full fitness after completing 90 minutes last weekend. Zouma or even Mikel might feature in midfield to counter Manchester City’ strong attack. This could see either Oscar or Willian dropped if this is to happen.
Manchester City have fitness concerns with both Zabaleta and Aguero not at 100% fitness after returning from their extended summer break a short time ago. Like Willian, Falcao and Cuadrado they also featured in the Copa America. However Aguero was brought on in the second half against West Brom on Monday night therefore he may feature from the start due to the size of the fixture. The sky blues are currently lacking strikers due to Jovetic and Dzeko both moving to the Serie A on loan. Pellegrini has had to promote some players from their youth academy to fill their role in the short term.
