What to watch: Struggling Chelsea take on wounded Man City in a double header
The World Cup feels like a chapter in hory even though it hasn’t even been a month since it ended as the leagues around the world dives headfirst into their hectic schedule.
The Premier League, especially, has started at a breakneck speed with matches coming thick and fast since Boxing Day. La Liga is slowly but steadily crawling its way into the collective conscience while Serie A will wake up from its slumber on January 4 with a glut of matches. The big matches of this week, however, come from England as a second-placed Manchester City outfit take on a struggling Chelsea on Thursday night (1.30am , Friday). Then, the two teams will face each other again in three days’ time, in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
In Focus: Manchester City vs Chelsea (Premier League, Friday 1.30 AM; FA Cup Round 3, Sunday 10 PM)
Set for City. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/zBDuQTvrnJ
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 4, 2023
Manchester City inexplicably dropped points against Everton in their last match when Erling Haaland’s first-half strike was cancelled out Demarai Gray. Chelsea, who are without a win in the last 8 matches, too failed to defeat Nottingham Forest even after taking a lead and dominating most of the first half.
Both matches felt like carbon copies of each other in the sense that the traditional big teams (read Manchester City and Chelsea) looked like they had things well under control only for their opponents to change gears in the second half. Both, Everton and Forest players, after going down 1-0 in the first half, came out in the next half like men possessed. They snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat and to be fair, could even have walked away with a victory. They employed differing tactics – Everton absorbed pressure while Forest were keen to go on the offensive.
Manchester City’s Erling Haaland receives treatment after a challenge during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester City this season have been guilty of suddenly loosening their grip on matches after bouts of dominance. It happened against Brentford before the World Cup, resulting in a 2-1 loss and it happened against Everton. Chelsea, meanwhile, are on a poor run of form, winning just once in their last eight games. Before their Boxing Day victory against Bournemouth, the Blues had last won in the Premier League on October 16. Since then, they have lost to Brighton, Arsenal, Newcastle, Aston Villa (reverse fixture) and have played out draws with Brentford, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest. You don’t have to be an expert to see that going into a double header against a wounded City does not bode well for Potter’s men.
One thing that plays to Chelsea’s advantage is that the Premier League tie is at home in Stamford Bridge where they have tied three and lost one in their last outings. On the other hand, City’s away form has been pretty poor their standards. They have drawn two, lost one and won twice in their last five matches on the road.
Chelsea’s season has been badly hampered consent injuries to some of their top players with midfielder N’ Golo Kante, rightback Reece James, leftback James Chilwell, centre back Wesley Fofana, forwards Armando Broja and Ruben Loftus Cheek all sidelined. A slim ray of hope for Chelsea is that Loftus Cheek might be able to return in time for their FA Cup tie against City on Sunday but a EPL return against the Citizens looks highly unlikely. Manchester City, meanwhile, have no major injuries, except defender Ruben Dias.
In order for Chelsea to get something from this match, they need to stop the marauding Haaland from scoring. To do so, they need to shut off all the channels from where he can be fed the ball. Mostly, it’s that pesky Kevin de Bruyne and Halland combo, and crowding out the Belgian in midfield might help but the Blues need to be wary of the other attacking threats roaming in around every corner of the field. Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Jack Grealish all have the talent to find spaces to thread the ball to the Norwegian or score goals on their own. In order to stem the City onslaught, Potter might turn to the double pivot in defensive midfield in Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho while Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly will have to play out of their skin in defence if Chelsea hope to have a whiff of chance of winning.
Ex City man Raheem Sterling will have to break free of his shackles after having a rather underwhelming season so far and this will be the perfect opportunity for him to hit his stride. He knows his old team’s weakness and will be key in Chelsea’s quest to unlock City’s defence. Kai Havertz and Chrian Pulisic will likely start with him, with Pierre Emerick Aubameyang coming in as an impact substitute.
Chelsea have lost their last three games against Manchester City, once this season when they were knocked out of the EFL Cup and twice last season when the Pep Guardiola-managed side completed a league double over them. On current form, it looks unlikely that there will be any change in fortunes.
