- By Funmilayo Kanmodi
Gameweek 22 officially kicks off today, 15th of January with the match between Brighton and Crystal Palace, but all eyes are on the game at the Etihad stadium as premier league champions, Manchester city welcomes the champions of Europe, Chelsea for the second leg of a cracking fixture in the premier league.
This cracker of a fixture is surprisingly the first game of the weekend. The first leg of the fixture at Stamford Bridge was won by Manchester City with the scoreline at 1-0 but neutrals of the game know just what is at stake for both sides in this second encounter.
Manchester City remains top of the league and Chelsea follows at second place with a ten points gap. If Manchester city secures a win tomorrow, they extend the gap to 13 points and this takes the league away from other teams.
Head-to-Head
History however falls on the side of Chelsea FC who have managed to win 27 out of the 49 encounters both sides have had. The record Chelsea FC also holds at the Etihad stadium puts the option of winning the game at the tip of their fingers.
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Manchester City is in the form of their lives having secured 17 straight wins in the premier league; they seem unstoppable. Football lovers and pundits still would not look at these stats and feel like a win for manchester city is guaranteed. This is because in their three meetings last season which included the champions league and FA Cup finals Thomas Tuchel has managed to get the better of Pep Guardiola all three times.
Injury And Covid Cases
The match would go on as scheduled regardless of the new covid cases in the Manchester city camp which would be missing a few first-team players that Pep did not identify in his press conference today.
For Chelsea however, they welcome the return of Ngolo Kante and Thiago Silva who tested positive for covid 19 before the FA Cup 3rd Round fixture last week. The Blues would be without Reece James and Ben Chilwell who are out due to injury.
Players To Look Out For
Our match day analysis would fall short if we forget to mention key signings for both sides.
Manchester City made a record signing for the former Aston Villa man Jack Grealish for a record-breaking fee of 100 million pounds. Expectations were high upon his arrival but, the English player has only registered 3 goals and 3 assist in 21 appearances in all competitions for Manchester City.
All eyes would be on the city playmaker and midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne who is known to deliver a first-class performance against big teams.
The name on everybody’s lips at the moment is Joao Cancelo who has been in top form since the start of the season. Gabriel Jesus and Bernado Silva are also players that can make a difference for the blue side of Manchester.
Chelsea however is an unpredictable team, they have scored 15 goals this season with 15 different players, but the name that seems to be on everyone’s lips would be Romelu Lukaku who is the record signing player for the team at 97 million pounds has managed to score 8 goals in 21 appearances for the club.
Predictions
With a Thomas Tuchel side in Chelsea, you can only expect the unexpected, but with a Pep Guardiola side, we know the main goal would be to win. We expect a cracking fixture tomorrow but with Chelsea securing all 3 points to close the gap on the league table.
What do you think? To share your thoughts drop a comment below?
