Manchester City and Chelsea are both looking to cut into Liverpool’s
Premier League dominance in Saturday’s huge clash at the Etihad.
Liverpool beat Man City 3-1 at Anfield to head into the international
break nine points ahead of the champions – a result which also allowed
Chelsea and Leicester City to leapfrog Pep Guardiola’s side.
The champions now sit a lowly fourth by their standards, and cannot
realistically afford any more defeats if they are to haul in Jurgen
Klopp’s pace-setters.
As for Chelsea, Frank Lampard’s young squad are flying high and will
be full of confidence heading to Ethiad Stadium – and a win in
Manchester would do little to dampen suggestions of an unlikely title
challenge.
After the crushing defeat to Liverpool, Manchester City have fallen 9
points behind in the Premier League title race.
Despite Pep Guardiola’s post-game meltdown, the reality is that City
are firmly second-favourites. However, in order to keep their hopes
up, they must find back the momentum which allowed them to win 14
matches in-a-row to seal the title last season.
Next up, however, are Frank Lampard’s glowing Chelseal side. The Blues
are high on confidence. They visit the Etihad Stadium on the back of
seven away wins in-a-row in all competitions. Of course, they will
still be the underdogs knowing just how powerful the Citizens are at
home.
The worst thing is that the defending champions are pissed. Expect
them to come out with a full-fledged attacking approach to come up
with a defiant response to their last loss. Lampard truly needs to
come up with something spectacular to counter City’s threat or risk
another annihilation at Manchester, similar to the one suffered at the
opening weekend.
The loss to Liverpool means that Man City have already lost 3 games
this season. They only lost 4 last time out. The Citizens have fallen
off quite a bit and that showed as they wasted chances at Merseyside
before the Reds convincingly shoved them aside.
The only good thing was that City still managed to trouble Liverpool
more than other teams have at Anfield. Sergio Aguero going into
incognito mode didn’t help. The Argentine must be raging to get back
to firing on all cylinders after that embarrassment. Chelsea would be
foolish to take him for granted, knowing just how lethal he is
finishing off chances at his beloved Etihad.
Raheem Sterling also got into a controversy after scuffling with Joe
Gomez in the England camp following the loss. However, he’s desperate
to silence his doubters too. The youngster has been in impressive
touch this season. Knowing his cunning movement & goal-scoring touch
now, he should turn up the fire at the weekend.
Kevin De Bruyne’s retained his stunning consistency through the highs
& lows this season. The way he creates chances out of nothing is
rather mesmerizing. His stinging crosses, as well as expert
through-balls, should cause a nightmare for the visitors. David
Silva’s vibrancy is another unique attacking trait which they lacked
against Liverpool.
Chelsea, however, aren’t one to go defensive. A fearless unit under
new management, they have mastered the art of withering the storm away
from home. Not only have they won their last five league away games,
but pulling out a miracle at Ajax proved just how good Lampard’s
tactical knowledge is.
Considering that the Blues have created the second most goal-scoring
chances in the league, just behind City, they aren’t one to park the
bus, hoping for a point. They should go with a protected formation,
with Pulisic out, but will steer forward in swift breaks or try to
work their way past City’s shaky defence.
The Citizens must maintain their defensive solidity or risk being
carved apart by this booming young squad. Tammy Abraham’s scoring with
ease under the new system which compliments hi natural, old-school
finishing skill perfectly. Willian might not be getting many goals or
assists, but has been their driving force with witty movement or
crossing from the wings.
Youngsters Fikayo Tomori, Kurt Zouma& Mason Mount have all excelled in
pressure situations. This is their biggest challenge, in which they
can prove their strong mental fortitude. With experienced Jorginho &
the three-lung Kante around, they’ll hope to frustrate the hosts.
The visitors must put in their heart & souls into the game to pull off
anything. But if they end up losing their concentration or bulking
under pressure, the defending champions won’t hesitate even the
slightest before curbing them to the stomp as well as jumping over
them in the standings.
Knowing how both sides love to attack, this should be a thrilling,
end-to-end contest. Chelsea won’t back down. City’s defense is
vulnerable. However, I think City are too strong at home. Being
desperate for a win, they’ll probably be relentless gunning forward
for goals.
