Best Bets: Chelsea face tough task against the champions
Despite just one Premier League game this evening, it is arguably the standout tie in this round of fixtures as Manchester City head to Stamford Bridge.
City fell further behind leaders Arsenal last time out as Everton, rather surprisingly, managed to claim a point at the Etihad Stadium, but the Gunners’ 0-0 draw with Newcastle on Tuesday means the defending champions have a chance to move back to within five points of top spot with a win at Chelsea.
The hosts have managed four points from two games since the Premier League returned but they were hardly convincing in a win over Bournemouth and a draw at Nottingham Forest and they look set for a difficult evening on Thursday.
City dropped points last time out as they were uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal, and they can put that right at Stamford Bridge.
Guardiola’s men overcame Chelsea 2-0 in the EFL Cup in November and won both league meetings 1-0 last season. Despite resting a few players, including Erling Haaland, City could perhaps have won th last meeting by a bigger margin and with Chelsea looking out of sorts and away win with a -1 handicap appeals.
The London outfit lost their final three games without scoring before the World Cup and they may struggle to find a way through tonight. They have rediscovered their scoring touch in their last two, but both of those games were against teams in the bottom six and City have a chance to record a clean sheet.
Potter struggling to settle
Graham Potter already finds himself under pressure as Chelsea manager and the visit of the champions comes at a difficult time. The Blues initially improved after he replaced Thomas Tuchel in mid-September, embarking on a nine game unbeaten run, but they have picked up just two wins in seven games since and occasionally look devoid of ideas in attack, while leaking goals at the other end.
City need a result here if they are to close in on Arsenal and as Chelsea have drawn a blank in the last three meetings between these teams a 3-0 win for the visitors stands out. Once again, it is impossible to ignore Haaland as an anytime scorer option as he has four goals in three games since the action resumed after Qatar and if you are planning a bet builder on this game it could be worth backing the Norwegian to score two or more goals or possibly first – as he did against Everton and Liverpool in the EFL Cup – for extra value.
Predictions: Chelsea v Man City best bets and score prediction
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