Allen Hamilton
What: English Premier League
Who: Chelsea (4th; 51 points) vs Manchester City (3rd; 53 points)
When: Sunday 20th March, 2010, at 16:00 UK time
Where: Stamford Bridge, London, England
Finishing as High as Possible
While the rhetoric coming out of Stamford Bridge in recent weeks has been one of fighting for the Premier League title to the last, coach Carlo Ancelotti made a telling comment in the wake of Chelsea’s Champions League Round of 16 victory. The Italian, when questioned, said: "The team is strong enough to win it [the Champions League]. If we play to 100%, we can make the final stages. I see my team fresh and we’re in a good moment. But we can improve a lot." And to stay fresh, Ancelotti must prioritise the Champions League over the Premier League, while still making sure his side finish as high as possible.
Overhauling City will be an objective of sorts for the Blues. With the fourth-placed Premier League side needing to enter what has the potential to be a tricky qualifying round to reach the Champions League group stages proper, finishing third has arguably never been so important to the Stamford Bridge outfit. With FC Copenhagen all but beaten in the first leg, Ancelotti also rested Fernando Torres especially to meet the City threat, in a sign that this game at least, must be won.
For Chelsea and the Italian, a win would end a poor sequence against the visitors, with Ancelotti concerned about defending against City’s quick counter-attacks. "All three games we lost against Man City [while I have been manager] we have lost due to counter-attacks", bemoaned the former AC Milan coach. "Man City will try to do the same on Sunday, they are very dangerous in counter-attack and obviously we want to avoid this. We do this by maintaining a good balance on the pitch because we want to play our football as well."
Bouncing Back from Disappointment
Manchester City might have lost the first leg of their Round of 16 Europa League tie to Dynamo Kyiv 2-0, but Roberto Mancini was still confident his side could overturn the deficit at Eastlands. But in an intriguing game, it proved beyond the Premier League team, with striker Mario Balotelli losing focus and aiming a high tackle at Dynamo’s Goran Popov – the result was City forced to play two thirds of the match with ten men.
It was an incident which Mancini identified as the turning point in the game, with the City boss certain that: "If it stays eleven versus eleven, we would probably have scored two or three goals." As it was, just a single shot from Aleksandar Kolarov found the back of the net, meaning it finished 1-0 to City – not good enough and Mancini’s men were out. The Italian was rightly furious and hinted Balotelli may not be included in the squad to face Chelsea, though an apology from the striker may yet earn him a reprieve.
However, finishing in the top three of the Premier League would, quite rightly, be hailed a success for this season, and even more so if doing so meant Chelsea are kept down in fourth. In their quest to move ever closer to the title, stepping ahead of the defending champions would represent real progress at Eastlands.
Recent form
Chelsea:
Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United (01/03; Premier League)
Blackpool 1-3 Chelsea (07/03; Premier League)
Chelsea 0-0 FC Copenhagen (16/03; Champions League)
Manchester City:
Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 Manchester City (10/03; Europa League)
Manchester City 1-0 Reading (13/03; FA Cup)
Manchester City 1-0 Dynamo Kyiv (17/03; Europa League)
Key absences
Chelsea: Alex (doubt); Yossi Benayoun
Manchester City: Pablo Zabaleta (compassionate leave); Shay Given; Kolo Toure (suspended)
Players to watch
Chelsea – Fernando Torres: With the Spaniard confirmed as having missed the Champions League game against FC Copenhagen in midweek to keep him fresh for this match, the pressure has been piled onto his shoulders. Chelsea will rely on Torres to finally find his groove and begin to pay back some of the £50M lavished on his services in January. There has never been a better time for Torres to put in his first world-class performance in a blue shirt.
Manchester City – Nigel de Jong: The midfield battle here could be crucial as City look to break up Chelsea’s moves and quickly launch counter-attacks of their own. Dutchman De Jong will be key to this and has the ability to boss the middle of the park at Stamford Bridge. Whether he is able to impose himself and stifle Chelsea’s midfield could go a long way to determining who will come out on top here.
Match Prediction
Chelsea disappointed in the 0-0 draw against FC Copenhagen, but as the tie was already virtually won there are excuses. City meanwhile flatter to deceive and the sense remains that the big-money squad may be, behind the scenes, far from united with several individuals who are simply happy to pick up their pay cheque than fight week in week out. If Roberto Mancini sets out to frustrate Chelsea then a draw, or snatched win is possible for City. But the most likely outcome is a low scoring draw, with Mancini’s tactics designed to cancel out the opposition.
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