Match day two of new English Premier League season brings with it a mouth watering contest between champions Chelsea and the runner ups Manchester City at the Etihad stadium on Sunday. Fresh from a moral boosting victory over West Bromwich Albion, City will be looking to open a five point gap from Chelsea in just the second week of the campaign. Meanwhile Jose Mourinho will be worried at how slow and unprepared his Chelsea team looked during the draw with Swansea on the opening day of the season.
Manchester City thrashed West Bromwich Albion 3-0 and appeared to have returned to their best after a very inconsistent last season. The fans will be even more pleased to see how Yaya Toure played on Monday. The Ivorian was excellent in the middle of the park, scoring two goals, one of which was an excellent curling effort from outside the box.
On the other hand Chelsea were left disappointed after they squandered the lead twice against Swansea. They will go into the match against City without their number one goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who was sent off after bringing down Gomis in the box. Asmir Begovic will keep goal in the absence of Courtois, who will be hoping for another good showing at the Etihad stadium after he helped his former team Stoke City defeat Manchester City 1-0 at the same stadium.
City’s new boy Raheem Sterling had a splendid debut at the Hawthorns. There is a lot of expectations surrounding Sterling after his big money move from Liverpool this summer. During his debut, he was full of energy and was involved in both of Toure’s first half goals. His pace upfront gives City the option to counter very quickly from their own half. Though Wilfried Bony started up front for City against Albion, Pellegrini might be tempted to start Sergio Aguero for this one.
What was quite clear after the Manchester City’s first match was the chemistry that emerged between Sterling and David silva. Both the players combined to great effect on more than one occasion. With Courtois out players like Sterling, Silva and Aguero will be looking to wreck havoc on the pitch.
Mourinho will be aware that his team go into this match as the underdogs but rest assured he will be prepared. He will look to congest the midfield and sit deep, waiting for an opportunity to counter attack City. One player who stood out for Chelsea in their first match was Oscar who also scored the first goal of the match. Before his substitution Oscar was all over the pitch making 27 passes. Mourinho will be expecting the same from him again.
Diego Costa didn’t record a goal in the season opener, but had a team-high 20 goals last season and will be looking to open his account this weekend.
Manchester city vs Chelsea Predicted Starting Line-ups :
Man city: Joe Hart(1), A. Kolarov(11), B. Sagna(3), V. Kompany(4), E. Mangala(20), R Sterling(7), Y. Toure(42), David Silva(21), Fernandinho(25), Jesus Navas(15) and S. Aguaro(10).
Chelsea: Begovic(1), B. Ivanovic(2), J. Terry(26), G Cahill(24), Azpilicueta(28), E. Hazard(10), Fabregas(4), N.Matic(21), Oscar(8), Willian(22) and Diego Costa(19).
Predicted scoreline: Manchester City vs Chelsea : 2-0
Manchester city vs Chelsea Facts:
Manchester City have won only two of their last nine against Chelsea in the Premier League (D3 L4).
Chelsea have not lost any of their last 28 Premier League games in the month of August (W23 D5).
Jose Mourinho has won seven and lost just two of the 12 meetings as a coach with Manuel Pellegrini (D3).
Stats via Premierleague.com
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