Manchester City vs Chelsea. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

Manchester City FC will host Chelsea FC in the English Premier League 25th round match at the Etihad Stadium. The fixture will take place on Saturday, February 17, beginning at 23:00 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Manchester City News & Current Form: 

Manchester City are aiming for a fourth title in a row: at the moment the Citizens are in 2nd place in the Premier League with 1 game in hand and 2 points behind the leading Liverpool FC.

The Sky Blues have been on a terrific run in recent weeks: after triumphing at the FIFA Club World Cup, City have won their last 6 matches in the EPL, moreover, the hosts have not lost any of their last 22 games at the Etihad in the top division.

In the previous round of the EPL City beat Everton FC (2:0), making an important step towards the top of the standings and at the same time pushing the Toffees into the relegation zone. It should also be noted that the Citizens were among those clubs whose players were not represented at all at either the AFC Asian Cup or the CAF African Cup of Nations. And before that, in the FA Cup, the club knocked out Tottenham Hotspur FC in the 1/16 finals of the tournament (0:1).

In addition, Manchester City won their 11th match in a row this week, having no problems with FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League (3:1). They set a unique achievement: the meeting was the seventh consecutive in the tournament for Pep Guardiola’s men, in which they managed to score three or more goals, which has never been done before.

One of the main heroes of the game was Kevin De Bruyne, he scored a goal and an assist. The Belgian missed almost half of the season due to injury, but returned to the Manchester City squad in great shape. In the last seven meetings in all tournaments, he scored two goals and gave six assists.

In addition, the player was recognized as the best player of the week in the Champions League. Voting of fans choosing the best player of the matches of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League, held this week, ended on the official website of UEFA.

Second place in the voting went to PSG striker Kylian Mbappe, who scored a goal against Real Sociedad (2:0), the third was Real Madrid CF winger Brahim Diaz, who scored the winning goal against RB Leipzig (1:0), and in fourth place was SS Lazio midfielder Matteo Guendouzi, who helped the Romans beat FC Bayern Munich (1:0).

The current situation is reminiscent of last year, when City also slumped in the first part of the season, often losing points, and then accelerated so powerfully that it was unstoppable in the EPL, Champions League or FA Cup.

True, then the Citizens began a winless streak in the championship after a defeat in early February, and a winning streak – after a draw in the middle of the same month, and now the corresponding series are counted from the beginning and middle of December.

Kevin de Bryune of Manchester City has been called a Champions League Player of the Week

It should be noted that during this time in addition, two of the most important players of the team managed to return to the lineup – first De Bruyne, who has not played since August, recovered, and a little later Erling Haaland was able to play after missing a month and a half.

In the match of the last round of the championship of England with Everton (2:0), he made a double. The Norwegian set a record for league performance: he scored more goals than any other player in the first 50 games in the EPL (51 goals).

Joško Gvardiol and center back Mateo Kovacic missed this week’s Champions League match due to injuries, but have already returned to the general group. Kevin De Bruyne is also in top condition (2 goals and 7 assists in the last 7 matches in all competitions) and will appear in the starting lineup, along with the support man Rodri and the reactive Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden (8 goals and 7 assists). During the January transfer window, Kalvin Phillips was loaned out to West Ham United FC.

Notably, most recently, former Chelsea and Italian national team coach Antonio Conte shared his opinion that Pep Guardiola is the world’s best coach in modern football.

Chelsea News & Current Form:

A few years ago Chelsea were one of Manchester City’s main rivals for the EPL title, and now the Blues are content with just 10th place. It is hard to remember such cases of rapid deterioration in such a short period of time. But the inept leadership of the new management, the coaching shuffle and the lack of a clear pattern of play on the pitch have led to the fact that Chelsea for the second season in a row may be left without European cups at all.

Of course, there is still an opportunity to get into the UEFA Europa League through the English Football League Cup, but this does not cancel the fact that in the national championship the team is a complete disaster.

In the last 10 meetings in the English championship Pochettino’s wards have secured only five victories, and all the points they scored in meetings with clubs from the bottom of the league table. The Londoners lost to Manchester United FC (1:2), Everton (0:2), Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (1:2 and 2:4), as well as Liverpool (1:4).

Conor Gallagher scored in the game against Crystal Palace FC, which later ended in triumph for Chelsea FC

However, the last two matches cause reserved optimism. In the 4th round of the FA Cup team of Mauricio Pochettino unexpectedly defeated Aston Villa FC (3:1 away), and then with the same score defeated Crystal Palace FC. By the way, it was already the 14th consecutive victory of the Aristocrats over the Eagles.

The Aristocrats failed to hit a single shot on goal before the break, despite having possession of the ball at Selhurst Park for 80% of the game time. But Chelsea showed a different light in the second half and their efforts were rewarded: Conor Gallagher scored in the second half and Enzo Fernandez sealed the victory at the end of the second half. In general, the Londoners are not too successful: they have scored only 16 points in 12 meetings, scored 21 goals and conceded 22.

Ahead is another test, but this time the opponents are one of the most powerful teams in the world right now. Even a draw with City will be seen as a great success.

The squad of the capital team is still weakened by personnel losses. Captain Reece James, main goalkeeper Sanchez, long-term injury-prone defender Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella, Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu are all recovering in the infirmary. French center back Benoît Badiashile was absent last round and is also unlikely to play this Saturday.

Young Cole Palmer (10 goals and 6 assists) will face his former club and will want to prove his worth; he will be supported by playmaker Gallagher. Frenchman Christopher Nkunku (2 goals in 6 games) is not yet at optimum condition, but he may well strengthen the game by coming off the bench in the second half.

Manchester City form guide: W-W-W-W-W-W

Chelsea form guide: W-D-L-L-W-W

Manchester City vs Chelsea Head-To-Head Record:

• January 5, 2023: Chelsea 0 – 1 Manchester City (Premier League);
• January 8, 2023: Manchester City 4 – 0 Chelsea (FA Cup);
• May 21, 2023: Manchester City 1 – 0 Chelsea (Premier League);
• November 12, 2023: Chelsea 4 – 4 Manchester City (Premier League).

Manchester City vs Chelsea Predicted XI:

Manchester City’s possible starting lineup (3-4-2-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake; Stones, Rodri; Bernardo, De Bruyne, Alvarez, Foden; Haaland.

Chelsea’s possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Colwill, Chilwell; Fernandez, Caicedo; Palmer, Gallagher, Jackson; Nkunku.

Statistical preview of the match Manchester City vs Chelsea:

• City’s First XI average age is 28.3 years, Chelsea’s First XI average age is 23.6 years.
• The total value of Manchester City’s squad is 1.26 bln euros, while the total of Chelsea comes up to 948 mln euros.
• Andrew Madley has been appointed as the center referee. The referee has already served 18 games this season, showing an average of 4 Yellow Cards and also whistles 24 fouls per game. 
• Manchester City serve an average of 7.5 corners per game, while Chelsea serve 4.95. 
• City collect an average of 1.9 yellow cards per game, while Chelsea collect 3.15. 
• Manchester City have scored at least two goals in each of their previous eight EPL matches.
• Manchester City have never conceded in four previous matches against Chelsea on home soil.
• Chelsea have conceded 17 goals in their last six EPL away games.
• Mancunians have not lost for 8 matches in the Premier League (7 wins and 1 draw).
• On their field, the Citizens have a 22-match unbeaten streak in the EPL (18 wins and 4 draws).
• Three or more goals have been scored in 6 of Chelsea’s previous 7 games in the Premier League.

What has been said before the match:

City gaffer Pep Guardiola on the chase for the English Premier League title:

“We just need to win our games. When we arrive with eight or nine games left we will see how many teams will be involved. All the teams might be there but we cannot see. If we are there we just need to win our games. It doesn’t matter if there are two, three or four, we just need to do our job. The rest doesn’t count.”

“The teams in European competitions have more games than the other ones but we would prefer to be there rather than not play European competitions. We do not complain at all.”

Mauricio Pochettino, main coach of Chelsea, ahead of the clash with the one of the strongest team in the world:

“I think the lesson is that we are going to face a very, very good team. They are one of the best in the world. But at the same time, you need to be brave and try to force them to defend, to run back, and to their own goal. If we go there and wait to see what is going to happen, they are a team that can dominate and make you suffer.”

“The most important thing is we realize the need to attack. After this, we need to be able to run and work together. There are some tactical questions we need to be aware of, but the most important thing is to be brave and challenge them.”

Manchester City vs Chelsea Prediction:

Manchester City are habitually aspiring for the EPL title and a whole bunch of other trophies, and currently enjoying an impressive run of 11 consecutive wins in all competitions, with key players coming out of the infirmary and getting sharp, which benefits the whole squad.

In contrast, Chelsea have been very lacklustre over the last couple of years: they can’t find any stability, they have injuries to players, and the chemistry also leaves much to be desired, hence their anchoring in mid-table. Mauricio Pochettino is constantly forced to rotate the squad, with the current form far from optimal. However, their best matches this season have been against the top clubs involved in the title race – Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal. Yet, the last such a successful match against opponents of this calibre the Blues played in mid-November – a 4:4 home draw with the Citizens. Talking about the most recent, Mauricio Pochettino’s men suffered a painful 1:4 defeat in their recent game at Anfield. 

Pep Guardiola and Co. should have no problem getting three points: the Sky Blue have won six times in their last seven head-to-head meetings. At the same time, the unusual regularity with which Manchester City concede goals (an average of 1 goal per game) gives Chelsea reason to expect at least a goal of prestige, their attack has averaged 1.7 goals per 90 minutes over the course of the 23/24 campaign. That said, the Aristocrats have managed to score against the Citizens in only one of their last 7 matches, and therefore it is more reliable to presume that the match will see at least 2 goals scored.

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Manchester City will not lose and the match total will be over 1.5 – Yes.