Chelsea - Man City, 10:30 p.m. August 18: Bullying The Blues

Pre-match review

Things have not been quiet around Stamford Bridge this summer. Enzo Maresca is the latest manager to try and bring order to Chelsea but he has not done a good job. His team have yet to form a style of play and results in pre-season have been poor.

In the last 6 matches, they have only won 1, the remaining 3 are defeats. And that rare victory only happened against Club America, who are much weaker. Meanwhile, when facing European opponents such as Celtic, Man City and Real Madrid, Chelsea always lost.

Among these was a loss to Man City with half of the squad being reserves. With Wilson, O'Reilly, Bobb, McAtee... Man City can still defeat a team with abundant options on Chelsea's side, so when putting out the strongest squad, that task is completely feasible for Man City.

In contrast to an inconsistent Chelsea, Man City are still entering the new season with a lot of optimism. After a series of 3 consecutive losses, the Manchester club has regained confidence by winning the last 2 matches.

Especially in the Community Shield match, despite being behind until the last minutes, Man City still successfully came back before winning on penalties.

Tonight, will Pep Guardiola and his team beat Chelsea again?

Form, head-to-head history

The squad is stable, the gameplay is in order, now is the time for Pep Guardiola and his team to begin their journey of conquest with the first task being to defeat Chelsea, an opponent who is losing direction.

This is a task completely within reach for Man City, even if they have to play away.

Since beating Pep Guardiola's team 1-0 in the 2020/21 Champions League final, Chelsea have lost almost every time they meet Man City. In 9 matches during this period, they have not won any, lost 7 and failed to score any goals in 7 encounters with Man City.

Manchester City got off to the perfect start by beating Man United. Now they have turned their attention to the Premier League, where they are taking their status to the next level by winning their fifth successive title. And tonight they will show that determination by beating Chelsea to win their opening game of the season for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons.

Force information

Cole Palmer, Chelsea's 2023/24 Player of the Year, will be key in this game. Cole Palmer scored 25 goals in all competitions last season and provided 15 assists. His knowledge of Man City could be an advantage when he returns to his former club.

Meanwhile, Man City will have a headache finding a replacement for Rodri, their number 1 midfielder. Rodri is injured and Kovacic will likely have to take charge of the midfield today.