Manchester City vs Chelsea preview

By Ric Turner, Fri 14 August 2015 15:21


Manchester City vs Chelsea previewAguero in line for recall

Manchester City vs Chelsea

Date: 16.00pm, Sunday 16th August 2015

Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester

Referee: Martin Atkinson Assistants: S Child, M Mullarkey Fourth Official: J Moss

Odds: Manchester City 23/20, Draw 28/11, Chelsea 3/1

Tickets: Sold out

TV: Sky Sports 1

Manchester City

Manager: Manuel Pellegrini

Squad (from): Caballero, Hart, Wright, Clichy, Demichelis, Denayer, Kolarov, Kompany, Mangala, Sagna, Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Lopes, Nasri, Navas, Silva, Toure, Aguero, Bony, Iheanacho

Injured: Delph, Fernando

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Form guide: W

Chelsea

Manager: Jose Mourinho

Squad (from): Begovic, Blackman, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Ake, Hazard, Fabregas, Matic, Oscar, Willian, Mikel, Ramires, Cuadrado, Loftus-Cheek, Moses, Traore, Costa, Remy ,Falcao

Injured: None

Doubtful: Oscar

Suspended: Courtois

Form guide: D

Fernando joins Fabian Delph as the only absentees for City's game against title rivals Chelsea. Gael Clichy is expected to have recovered from the ankle injury that kept him out of Modany's win at The Hawthorns. Sergio Aguero, who was given a 30 minute run-out against West Brom, is in line for a start, although Manager Manuel Pellegrini may opt to stick with the same starting XI for the second successive game.

Pellegrini was keen to play down the importance of the fixture, saying: “We are not thinking about the title in our second game but about winning our points at home. 

"We’re playing against the champions, against one of the teams that has chances to win the title, so to try to win the three points at home is very important."

City's last home game against Chelsea ended in a 1-1 draw, with Frank Lampard dramatically equalising for the Blues after Pablo Zabaleta's red card. Overall City have won 50 of the 152 games played against Chelsea, with 39 draws and 63 defeats.

Prediction: City 1 Chelsea 1