Premier League: Chelsea v Manchester City Match Preview

What: English Premier League
Who: Chelsea vs Manchester City
When: Sunday 25th November, 2012, at 16:00 UK Time
Where: Stamford Bridge, London, England

All Change Again at the Bridge

Where to start with Chelsea? One of the most traumatic weeks in the club’s recent history and so much of it self-inflicted. Roberto Di Matteo’s exit was confirmed after a damaging defeat in Turin to Juventus, which leaves the holders’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League knockout round in the balance. In has come Rafael Benitez, against the fans’ wishes, and on Friday the Spaniard was given a welcome back message from his old friend Sir Alex Ferguson, who branded Benitez “lucky” to have the chance to win his second FIFA Club World Cup in just a few weeks’ time. The fundamentally pragmatic former Liverpool and Valencia coach inherits a squad that was being moulded into a fluid attacking unit and it will be interesting to see how he sets his new team up.

On top of that, there has been the damaging fallout of the Mark Clattenburg affair, with Chelsea scoring yet another public relations own goal by refusing to apologise to the referee, cleared of any wrongdoing after being accused by the club of using racial language towards John Obi Mikel. One thing is for sure – if Chelsea’s players work half as hard as their press office have this week then they will have a great chance of getting one over on Manchester City.

One of the main problems Benitez will find is that, amid the fallout from Di Matteo’s sacking, it appears that the squad are as divided as ever. The Spaniard must somehow restore some serenity in the dressing room, whilst instilling defensive discipline to a side whose backline has been particularly vulnerable of late, as well as coaxing the best out of Fernando Torres, who has been a shadow of his former self ever since Benitez left Anfield. Chelsea have not gone three games without a win at Stamford Bridge since December 2008, but they have it all to do if they are to avoid repeating that stat.

Manchester City Clicking Back into Gear Domestically

The less said about the Citizens’ European travails the better as far as Roberto Mancini and Manchester City are concerned. Although once the dust has settled on another early exit from the Champions League, the club can rightfully reflect that they were in a freakishly difficult group.

Back in England, and Manchester City are showing signs of flickering into life. Last weekend’s thrashing of Aston Villa may have been aided in part by a curious refereeing decision, but the Citizens were lethal and in particular David Silva looks the player who took the Premier League by storm at the start of last season. The diminutive Spaniard was integral to the comeback against Tottenham Hotspur, the win against Aston Villa and much of their best play against Real Madrid in midweek.

Mancini’s men have done well to remain unbeaten throughout this season, but will not need reminding that it was a visit to Stamford Bridge in the winter of 2011 which gave them their first defeat of the last campaign. The home team have won the last four league meetings between these sides, but Manchester City will hope their away run continues, having not lost since a trip to Arsenal in April. 
 

Recent form

Chelsea:
Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool (11/11; Premier League)
West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Chelsea (17/11; Premier League)
Juventus 3-0 Chelsea (20/11; Champions League)

Manchester City:
Manchester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (11/11; Premier League)
Manchester City 5-0 Aston Villa (17/11; Premier League)
Manchester City 1-1 Real Madrid (21/11; Champions League)

Key absences

Chelsea: Daniel Sturridge (doubt); John Terry; Frank Lampard

Manchester City: Gael Clichy (doubt); Vincent Kompany (doubt); Micah Richards; Jack Rodwell
 

Players to watch

Chelsea – Eden Hazard: Lost amid the debris of Tuesday night’s defeat in Turin was the fact that Hazard actually played quite well in an unfamiliar role as a centre forward. The Belgian was superb for his side and throughout the first half in particular he was excellent at providing an out ball to help his team move from defence to attack quickly. Hazard’s combination of close control and quick feet bamboozle defenders, and he is so calm and assured for a player of his age that he can hurt any defence. There is a reason Zinedine Zidane tried to convince Real Madrid to sign the former Lille man, and he can inspire Chelsea during their current ‘crisis’. 

Manchester City – Carlos Tevez: Tevez has struck six goals in his last six games against Chelsea and will relish the opportunity to stretch that impressive run further. The Argentine forward has formed a lethal partnership with Sergio Aguero in Manchester City’s attacking trident so far this season and with Silva back to full fitness and looking sharp, the trio will cause Chelsea’s defence headaches. Tevez’ direct running and movement will make life particularly difficult for David Luiz, who has had a tough time of late.

Match Prediction

Predicting how Benitez will set his team up in his first game in charge is a risky game, but it can be reasonably assumed that he will seek to give his team more stability and focus on making them difficult to beat again. There are unlikely to be sweeping changes, but Torres can expect to return. What will be most interesting tactically is which players are on the wings. Juan Mata may start on the left with Hazard in the centre, as the Spaniard is more likely to track back, while Ramires could be on the right as Benitez likes reliable wingers.

Mancini’s side will be set up as usual in their 4-3-3, and against a defence which will have had little time to work with Benitez, Chelsea will be vulnerable to the slick movement and passing of Silva, Aguero and Tevez. With Manchester City’s rampaging full backs and the presence of Yaya Toure, Chelsea could be overloaded defensively. The home side’s attacking strengths should be enough to help them pierce the Citizens’ defence, but expect the visitors to make enough chances to return to Manchester with all three points and compound a miserable week for the Londoners. Chelsea 1-2 Manchester City.

Read our Chelsea v Manchester City betting preview – at Inside-Bet.com!