Manchester City v Chelsea – Monday 19th March – Etihad Stadium (21:45)
Manchester City v Chelsea
It’s amazing how fortunes can change in such a short space of time and this contest between Manchester City (third last season) and Chelsea (runners-up) re-iterates this point. Last season at around this time the Blues were challenging for the title whilst City were being made to work for a spot in Europe. The roles are completely reversed this time and it’s the men from Manchester (the so-called noisy neighbours) who are challenging their arch-rivals United for supremacy in England. Chelsea, on the other hand are in disarray with an interim manager appointed until the end of the season and are fifth on the log.
City have rose to prominence following the millions splashed out by owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and have acquired undoubtedly the best team in the Premiership. However, they are feeling the heat to hold off a spirited challenge by reigning champions United and they stumbled against Swansea by the odd goal on the road last weekend. Their loss, coupled with the Red Devil’s victory means that they have been knocked off the summit of the Barclays Premiership for the first time since October. The feeling at the Etihad must be one of sombre’ as they are now one point adrift of United. After the disappointment of last weekend, Mancini would have hoped for a less competitive match to boost his player’s confidence. However, the Citizens can take heart from a 100% home record in their fourteen matches this season.
That said, they could find themselves four points adrift of United before kick-off, should the latter beat an out of sorts Wolves team the day before. That’s plenty of pressure coming into this contest and word around the Etihad is that Carlos Tevez could be thrown into the fray sooner rather than later. One thing for certain, City’s players need to produce a much improved performance on Monday evening.
The Blues on the other hand have won their first two games under the care of former player Roberto Di Matteo, but was far from impressive when beating ten-man Stoke 1-0 at Stamford Bridge last weekend. It’s very tough to make a case for Chelsea after such a lacklustre performance but they are much better than that. They have a midweek Champions League second leg tie against Napoli at home and any victory there will boost the player’s confidence. Despite everything that has been said about the Londoners this season they still display the second best defensive away record having conceded just one goal more than the log leaders, United. Their problem though is their failure to create enough chances and finish off the few that come their way.
In a match that is a must-win for both teams and with no draws between the clubs in their last thirteen match-ups, this is a tough one to call. I feel that the outcome of United’s game on Sunday could have a direct bearing on how City approaches this contest. Although, it is hard to fancy an erratic Chelsea, I expect a backlash from The Blues in a game of this magnitude and they can pull this off and blemish the home team’s unbeaten record.
