Chelsea vs. Manchester City: 3 Key Battles
Two teams that were expected to battle for the Premier League crown now face each other in the FA Cup as Chelsea host Manchester City. It hasn’t been a good run of results recently for City as they lost back-to-back home games to Leicester and then to Tottenham to send them down to fourth place in the league.
Chelsea are also recovering from their rather poor start to the season and they know that the FA Cup is a realistic target for silverware under Guus Hiddink. Both teams would be looking to progress into the next round and this testing tie could well help decide who could eventually win the trophy from Arsenal.
With a lot of stars on show, we provide the three key battles for the game that can decide which way the tie goes.
- Diego Costa vs. Nicolas Otamendi
The striker has been on fire ever since Guus Hiddink arrived at the club having banged in more goals than he did for the entirety under Jose Mourinho this season. Costa seems to have the passion back in his game which made him a feared striker last season for Chelsea.
He would be going up against a defender who was brought in for good money but he hasn’t been able to shine all that well due to his missing partner in defence, Vincent Kompany due to injury. Otamendi might not have the pace to beat Costa but he would have to be at his crafty best to keep a lid on the Spanish striker that is getting better after every game under Hiddink.