New Delhi: It is Chelsea hosting Manchester City at the Stamford Bridge stadium in their opening fixture. The two teams met each other two weeks ago for a pre-season friendly when City won the game 4-2 thanks to a brilliant hat trick from Erling Haaland. While Manchester City are chasing their fifth consecutive title, Chelsea, on the other hand, finished sixth last season in the Premier League.
Chelsea last season didn’t have the greatest season, but a late revival that saw them win five of five matches helped their cause for an appearance in the UEFA competition back in May. However, their then-manager Mauricio Pochettino has been replaced since, and Enzo Maresca has taken charge of this season after the Argentine coach mutually agreed with the management to depart after only ten months into the job. It is Chelsea’s fourth managerial employment since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over back in May 2022. A lot of hopes lie with Maresca, who won the Championship title with Leicester City last season. His start with Chelsea hasn’t been that great, winning only one of the six pre-season friendlies.
Maresca will face Pep Guardiola, under whom the former was assistant at Man City. Chelsea will come to the league after another successful run last season, where they collected 91 points from 38 games and just lost thrice. Though Arsenal were runners-up by just three points, City looked confident about winning a ninth trophy in the top English football league. They will know that they were not consistent during the pre-season, though they didn’t have many of their senior players. Losses to Celtic and AC Milan with a penalty defeat to Barcelona in a 2-2 draw was followed by a six-goal thriller where Chelsea won 4-2. Guardiola will still be riding on high horses, having won his 18th trophy with the club after beating arch-rivals Manchester United in the Community Shield in penalties after the score was drawn 1-1 in Wembley Stadium.
Team news
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 11: Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea in action during the pre-season friendly match between Chelsea and FC Internazionale at Stamford Bridge on August 11, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
Chelsea will miss out on their captain, Reece James, who is recovering from a hamstring injury and faces suspension after being sent away in the penultimate match of City’s previous season. This makes Malo Gusto an automatic option to start at right-back, with Robert Sanchez handling the goalpost, along with Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill likely to start in central defence.
Romeo Lavia might also get a nod to start for Chelsea for the first time, having missed out last season due to injury, and will link with Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo in centre-midfield. Cole Palmer, who was the highest scorer for the club last season with 22 goals, will operate on either flank if Maresca uses a three-man midfield. Pedro Neto and Marc Guiu are both in contention to make debuts in attack although one of them could be looked over for Christopher Nkunku.
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 10: Erling Haaland, Mateo Kovacic and Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City celebrate at the end of the penalty shoot out during the 2024 FA Community Shield match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on August 10, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
In Man City campaign, Oscar bobb has been ruled out for three to four months due a fibula fracture along with the club’s star midfielder Rodri who was forced out of the playing having picked up an injury in the Euro 2024 and hasn’t yet returned to the Man City training. It is still unclear if Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and John Stones will be available for the game, having missed the Community Shield clash last week and have spent only a few days in training.
Former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kavacic is most likely to replace Rodri in deep midfield and will be supported in the middle by Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva, or Kevin De Bruyne. New signing Savinho could debut in the Premier League to replace Bobb, with Jack Doku and Jack Grealish all in contention to start on the left. Haaland is clearing to lead the line.
Predicted lineup
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, W. Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Lavia, Caicedo; Neto, Nkunku, Palmer
Manchester: Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Bernardo, Kovacic; Savinho, De Bruyne, Doku; Haaland
Early Prediction
Chelsea have picked up the most points in the opening match of a new season compared to all other Premier League clubs. However, they are on a six-match winless streak compared to Manchester City. So, City could win the game 2-1. If Chelsea turn up like last November’s game, in which the two sides drew 4-4, then this game will be an edge-of-the-seat contest until the last minute.
As reigning champions Manchester City open their Premier League campaign against Chelsea, here’s how the two teams might look to win their opening game. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
