Man City vs Chelsea Preview & Prediction | 2022-23 English Premier League
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THE FACTS
When is Man City vs Chelsea on and what time does it start? Man City vs Chelsea will take place on Sunday 21st May, 2023 – 16:00 (UK)
Where can I get tickets for Man City vs Chelsea? Visit each club’s official website for the latest ticket information
What TV channel is Man City vs Chelsea on in the UK? Television rights for the Premier League in the UK are shared between Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon Prime so it is worth checking their schedules for Man City vs Chelsea
Where can I stream Man City vs Chelsea in the UK? If Man City vs Chelsea is televised, then it can be streamed on either Sky Go, BT Sport Player or Amazon Prime Video depending on who is broadcasting the match
THE LOWDOWN
MAN CITY
After stringing together a trademark winning run at the business end of the season, and coupled with Arsenal's faltering form of late, Man City are on the verge of winning a fifth Premier League title in the last six years, with a win here seeing them open up an insurmountable lead at the top of the table, although it could already be confirmed if Arsenal fail to defeat Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola's men secured an 11th consecutive Premier League win last week when Ilkay Gundogan inspired them to a 0-3 victory, and they followed that up with a simply outstanding 4-0 victory over Real Madrid on Wednesday which took them into the Champions League final. An historic treble is now very much within their grasp.
CHELSEA
Frank Lampard's second stint at Chelsea has been fairly disastrous but there has at least been some improvement in results of late, and he still has the chance to leave his mark should he have a say in the title race by halting Man City's relentless charge towards silverware.
The Blues looked to be heading towards back-to-back Premier League victories when a Raheem Sterling brace turned the game around against Nottingham Forest last week, but that hope proved to be short-lived as Taiwo Awoniyi levelled swiftly matters. It is now six consecutive Premier League games without a clean sheet for Chelsea, but they are at least starting to find the net with greater regularity.
THE TEAM NEWS
MAN CITY
As usual, predicting Pep Guardiola's starting line-up is a bit of stab in the dark, but we do at least know that Nathan Ake is the only injury doubt for this fixture. Given the fact that City can wrap up the title here, Pep is likely to go with something close to his strongest XI, but much of that will depend on fatigue levels following the midweek Champions League tie. There are of course plenty of options all over the pitch with Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden - both of whom started the last league game - alternatives to Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish.
World Cup winner Julian Alvarez has featured heavily in recent league games, while Aymeric Laporte is an able deputy in defence should Guardiola feel the need to rest some of his personnel. However, a likelier scenario is that he plays the majority of his favoured players here in order to wrap up the title, allowing him to rotate heavily against Brighton midweek.
PREDICTED XI (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte; Stones, Rodri; Mahrez, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE: Ake (Injured)
CHELSEA
Lampard has a fairly lengthy injury list to contend with, as Benoit Badiashile becomes the latest addition to the treatment room. With Kalidou Koulibaly highly unlikely to feature despite a return to training, Wesley Fofana is the obvious candidate to replace him in central defence. In midfield, Mateo Kovacic only managed one half of football against Nottingham Forest and there are some doubts about his fitness given that he was previously carrying a knock, while N'Golo Kante will definitely miss out.
Raheem Sterling's first goals for over two months are likely to keep him in the side, but Lampard does have a plethora of options to choose from in the attacking positions. Edouard Mendy, meanwhile, is likely to retain his place in goal after displacing Kepa Arrizabalaga last time out. The writing was on the wall for Kepa as soon as Lampard returned to the helm, given that he preferred Mendy during his first stint in charge of the club.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Mendy; Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Fofana, Hall; Kovacic, Fernandez, Gallagher; Madueke, Felix, Sterling
UNAVAILABLE: Bettinelli (Injured), Badiashile (Injured), Cucurella (Injured), James (Injured), Chilwell (Injured), Kante (Injured), Mount (Injured), Broja (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Koulibaly (Fitness), Kovacic (Injured)
THE PREDICTION
The treble is in sight for Man City and the first piece of the jigsaw could be confirmed here, and indeed that may already be the case before kick-off depending on how Arsenal fare on Saturday. Regardless, you would expect Pep Guardiola's men to get the job done against a disjointed, albeit slightly improved Chelsea outfit. Guardiola will want his men to wrap things up early here, and on current form they are more than capable of doing just that. A win to nil for the champions-elect looks on the cards.
TIP: MAN CITY TO WIN TO NIL
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