The Premier League returns after a two-week break. Here, the clash Manchester City vs. Chelsea opens the Saturday programme. At first glance, the leaders compete at home against the second, with the Citizens and the Blues having collected 53 and 43 points respectively. However, ahead of the match Manchester City vs. Chelsea and as we will explain in our betting tip, the teams have two wholly different form curves. Pep Guardiola’s team celebrated their eleventh league win in a row on New Year’s Day with a 1-0 at Arsenal.
The visitors, with Thomas Tuchel on the sidelines, experienced a 2-2 against Liverpool in front of their crowd the following day. And they have won exclusively on Boxing Day at Aston Villa in their last five EPL appearances so far. At least the Blues made it to the final of the Carabao Cup. Chelsea beat a city rival, Tottenham Hotspur, thanks to a 2-0 home win and a 1-0 away success on Wednesday. Craig Pawson referees the match at the Etihad Stadium.
By the way it’s always worth reading our betting bonus test carefully.
What speaks for Manchester City?
- Has a home fixture
- Won all their last eleven appearances in the EPL so far
- The result crisis of the opponent
- Did not compete in the Carabao Cup during the week
What speaks for Chelsea?
- Can only surprise at the leaders now
- Overturned a 0-2 deficit against Liverpool
- No players taking part in Africa Cup
- Boosted self-confidence in the Carabao Cup
For the clash between Manchester City and Chelsea on Saturday, there is an interesting betting tip with 1.70 odds. You can use our expert tip at bookmaker Betway and place this football bet.
Expert analysis Manchester City
For Manchester City, at least once on the pitch, everything is going like clockwork. After all, Pep Guardiola’s team has won eleven games in the Premier League so far after a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at the end of October. Moreover, the defeat to the Eagles represented their only loss of points in fourteen championship matches.
The Citizens grabbed the headlines on Boxing Day with a 6-3 home win over Leicester City. It was the third successive game in which the first-placed side scored at least four times, following a 7-0 in front of their crowd against Leeds United and a 4-0 at Newcastle. Thereafter, however, they took a little off the pedal. Because: This was followed by a 1-0 at Brentford and a 2-1 at Arsenal on 1 January.
In their appearance at the Gunners, Manchester City showed morale as the leaders overturned an interval deficit. Riyad Mahrez converted a penalty in the 57th minute to equalize after Bukayo Saka had given the home side the lead after half an hour. Immediately afterwards, there was another match-deciding scene as Gabriel Magalhães was shown the second yellow card and sent from the pitch. And in the 90th minute, Rodri scored the winning goal. Last weekend there was a non-meaningful 4-1 at Swindon Town in the FA Cup.
Before that, a COVID-19 cluster broke out, with Guardiola also having to go into isolation. Because of this, Phil Foden and Oleksandr Zinchenko cannot play. Samuel Edozie and Liam Delap miss out due to injuries. Furthermore, Mahrez is taking part in the Africa Cup with Algeria. Foden and Mahrez together scored eleven of their team’s fifty-three league goals so far. However, we are convinced that Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling (seven goals each) and Kevin De Bruyne (five goals) can compensate for their absences.
Expert analysis Chelsea
For the Blues, the Manchester City vs. Chelsea clash comes, as we already indicated in our betting tip, at a particularly unfavourable time. On the one hand, Thomas Tuchel’s team is unbeaten in six league games. And on the other hand, the last three victories came against teams in the second half of the table. To be precise, there were two away victories against Watford as well as on 26 December at Aston Villa and in between a home success against Leeds United.
After the latter Championship fixture, Chelsea never went out as losers but drew four times. After the 3-1 at Birmingham on Boxing Day, in which Jorginho transformed two penalties, the Blues shared the points twice at home. And with two wholly different origin stories.
The previous year ended with a 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion. Romelo Lukaku gave the second-placed the lead in the 28th minute. This was followed by a cold shower in the 91st minute with a well-earned goal by Danny Welbeck. Then on 2 January, Liverpool came to Stamford Bridge. The Reds took a 2-0 lead after less than half an hour. However, a double strike by Mateo Kovačić and Christian Pulišić followed immediately before the break. Subsequently, the Blues defended the draw in the second half of the match.
Thereafter, they celebrated 5-1 home win against Chesterfield in the FA Cup at the weekend, which should not be taken as a yardstick. Subsequently, Chelsea celebrated their entry into the final of the Carabao Cup on 12 January. After a 2-0 home win the previous week, the Londoners beat their city rivals Tottenham Hotspur away 1-0. However, the whole thing should be taken with a grain of salt. Cup competitions have their own laws and, moreover, both coaches modified their starting line-ups.
Tuchel will be without the injured Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah and Benjamin Chilwell for the Manchester City vs. Chelsea clash. In contrast, N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva are back at his disposal after overcoming COVID-19 infections.
Head-to-head comparison Manchester City – Chelsea
Manchester City and Chelsea met for the first time in the 2021/2022 Premier League on 25 September. On that occasion, the home side celebrated a 1-0 away win. This ended a run of three consecutive victories for the Blues. After an away defeat in the FA Cup in mid-April, the Citizens were beaten in the EPL and at the end of May in the Champions League final (0-1).
Expert betting tip Manchester City – Chelsea
Ahead of the Manchester City vs. Chelsea clash, our betting tip is that the home side manages their twelfth win in the EPL in a row. Guardiola may be without Foden and Mahrez, but these attacking players scored eleven of the fifty-three goals in the championship. The top strikers, Silva and Sterling, netted seven times each. Thus, several players can contribute with decisive goals.
In their last Premier League appearance so far, Chelsea drew 2-2 at home to Liverpool, their fourth draw in five league games. Tuchel’s team came back from a 0-2 deficit before the break. With the Reds not having covered themselves in glory recently either, we would not necessarily use the game as a yardstick.
Manchester City vs. Chelsea – betting tip: Manchester City, odds of 1.70 at bookmaker Betway.
