Hassan Chamas


What: English Premier League
Who: Chelsea (1st; 61 points) vs Manchester City (4th; 46 points)
When: Saturday 27th February, 2010, at 12:45 GMT
Where: Stamford Bridge, London, England



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League leaders Chelsea take on one of the suitors for fourth-place, Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City, in this weekend’s biggest Premier League encounter. The Blues will be fully aware that three points are definitely needed should they want to re-establish the four-point gap between them and Manchester United, who cruised comfortably to a 3-0 win over West Ham in midweek.

Against Inter, the precious away goal was Chelsea’s only positive note from a disappointing night in Italy. However, that was quickly forgotten as Petr Cech was injured against the Beneamata. Henrique Hilario filled in for the Czech number one on that occasion, yet with the prospect of Cech staying on the sidelines for some time, the Portuguese shot stopper will have to play a key role for the team should they want to snatch the title out of United’s clutches.


Cup Crash

Manchester City’s season took a hit after crashing out of the FA Cup against Stoke City, denying them a chance to meet Chelsea – their weekend adversary – in the quarter-finals. The Blues displayed a below-par performance against The Potters, culminating in Emmanuel Adebayor’s sending-off after lashing out at his opponent.

Identically to Chelsea’s case, Roberto Mancini will have to get his team back into league-mode, as they continue to pursue that final Champions League berth. Given the gaps in Chelsea’s defence, and the return of Carlos Tevez from his native Argentina, a win for Europe’s nouveaux-riches wouldn’t be an out of this world possibility, especially since they hold the mental advantage from winning the corresponding fixture earlier this term.

Recent form

Chelsea:
Chelsea 4-1 Cardiff City (FA Cup)
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-2 Chelsea (Premier League)
Internazionale 2-1 Chelsea
(Champions League)

Manchester City:
Stoke City 1-1 Manchester City
(Premier League)
Manchester City 0-0 Liverpool
(Premier League)
Stoke City 3-1 Manchester City (FA Cup)

Key absences

Chelsea: Petr Cech; Yuri Zhirkov (doubt); Deco (doubt); Michael Essien (doubt); Jose Bosingwa (doubt); Ashley Cole

Manchester City: Martin Petrov; Michael Johnson; Patrick Vieira (suspension)

Players to watch

Chelsea – Didier Drogba: Had it not been for a certain Wayne Rooney, Drogba would be leading the goalscoring charts and earning praise with ease. The Ivorian international will certainly be counted on to score after the midweek frustration against Inter.

Manchester City – Wayne Bridge: It will be interesting to see Bridge confronting former team-mate John Terry for the first time since the infamous Veronica Perroncel affair. Now that Bridge has withdrawn from international duty with England, success with Manchester City is his own driving force, and if it is at Terry’s expense then all the better.

Match prediction

Both teams go into the match on the back of defeats. Chelsea will have to quickly overcome their midweek loss and concentrate on enlarging the gap between them and Manchester United, while three points at the Bridge would certainly be priceless for City in their quest for fourth-place. The odds favour Chelsea in this one and so, expect them to revenge the corresponding defeat at Eastlands with a similar 2-1 scoreline.

Fancy a bet on this exciting game? Remember, you can find and compare the prices of all major online bookmakers on tip-ex.com.

 

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