Manchester City travel to Chelsea nine points behind Arsenal in the Premier League (with a game in hand)… and as big a disadvantage as this may seem, Pep Guardiola’s men will be looking to put together the kind of business-end run they’ve become well known for and put pressure on the leaders. That mission now starts at the home of beleaguered Chelsea side.
With a series of losses recently, Liam Rosenior is under extreme pressure as he looks to make his case for the permanent gig in the summer, while they are just a point behind fifth placed Liverpool and that final UEFA Champions League place. A win here and that could be a big boost to get a spot in next year’s Champions League.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Sunday’s big game:
How to watch:
The match will be shown on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD, Sky GO and NOW TV in the UK, USA Network in the U.S., JioHotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Sunday Apr 12 at 4.30 p.m. BST (11.30 a.m. ET; 10.00 p.m. IST, Sunday and 2.30 a.m. AEST).
Venue: Stamford Bridge, London
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
VAR: Paul Howard
Injury and Team News:
Chelsea
Enzo Fernández, M: OUT, suspended by the club
Mykhaylo Mudryk, F: OUT suspended
Filip Jorgensen, GK, OUT, groin
Levi Colwill, D: OUT, knee
Reece James, D: OUT, hamstring
Trevoh Chalobah, D: OUT, ankle
Jamie Gittens, F: OUT, hamstring
Man City
John Stones, D: DOUBT, calf
Josko Gvardiol, D: OUT, broken leg
Rúben Dias, D: OUT, hamstring
Talking Points:
Two big wins set City up for strong finish
We’ve now entered the now traditional ‘Man City stretch’ — just look at the stats: City have won 28 of their last 31 Premier League games in the month of April (D2 L1) and have a 2.50 points-per-game in the competition in April (P38 W30 D5 L3), the highest rate of any team to play 15+ matches in a specific month under a manager. The team in second place? Also, Guardiola’s Man City side in May (2.47).
And they do this on the back of two superb wins. The first came in the EFL Cup against the current Prem leaders Arsenal, a statement of intent to show that the title race isn’t done just yet. The second came in the FA Cup, where they dominated Liverpool and laid out another statement of intent: they’ll be there till the finish.
Chelsea’s form is cause for concern
Dismantling Port Vale in the FA Cup may have been a boost, but the stats don’t lie — after winning each of their first four Premier League games under Liam Rosenior, Chelsea have since won just one of their last six (D2 L3).
This includes a run of four straight losses across all competitions, and the worrying thing is that in none of those did they look like they could compete and get back into the game. Rosenior has a lot of injuries and absences (more on that later) to deal with, but all this is part of the gig — if he hopes to remain manager come the summer, he has to nail this final stretch, and that starts with the imposing fixture against City.
Is Haaland back in form?
Erling Haaland‘s hat trick against Liverpool in the FA Cup would have been glorious to watch for Pep Guardiola and the City fans. It’s not just the fact of the hat trick, but the fact that Haaland looks to have regained the sharpness that saw him scoring so freely in the first half of the season. In fact, he scored 19 goals in 17 Prem appearances before Christmas this season — after that he has scored just three in his last 12 (two of which were penalties). And he’d not even looked like scoring recently. In fact, he had been averaging 0.89 non-penalty expected goals per 90 pre-Christmas in the Prem, post it, this had dropped to 0.32.
If there’s a course correction going to be made, now would be the time for Arsenal-hunting City, and Haaland’s FA Cup exploits promise just that.
Will Rosenior stick with his Enzo suspension — and how does it affect Chelsea’s chances?
After some disparaging remarks about the managerial change at Chelsea, and speaking about a potential Real Madrid move, Enzo Fernandez was swiftly disciplined by the club. This was the first real instance of Rosenior stamping his authority on the squad, and with that much at stack, he’s not going to revoke the suspension, no matter the importance of the match. Surely.
As important as sticking to his word is, though, is understanding how best to replace his second captain. Fernández has made more passes that have broken the opposition’s defensive line than any player in the Prem this season (41). He has also made 36 line-breaking passes into the opposition’s penalty area, a joint-high with Bruno Fernandes. Without Fernandez’s ball progression from midfield, Chelsea could struggle to break though City’s lines — and this is where former City talent turned Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer comes in.
What do the numbers say?
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Chelsea haven’t beaten Man City in their last nine Prem games (D3 L6). Their last won was a 2-1 away win in May 2021.
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Manchester City have drawn both of their last two Prem games, this despite scoring first each time (2-2 v Nottingham Forest, 1-1 v West Ham).
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Chelsea have lost both of their last two Prem games, a 0-1 defeat to Newcastle and 0-3 loss to Everton. The Blues last lost three in a row in May 2023 (4), and last did so without scoring in March 1998 (4).
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Manchester City (51) and Chelsea (50) have had more shots following high turnovers than any other sides in the Prem this season.
