Preview: Liverpool welcome Manchester City in high-stakes clash
Goals, goals and some more goals are a guarantee when Manchester City travel to Anfield in the English Premier League!
It may be billed as ‘El Cashico’, but the reality is that who emerges on top when Manchester City host Chelsea on Saturday, may well take home the English Premier League title in May.
Yes, the stakes are high as the league leaders travel to fortress Etihad, a venue that most teams fear coming to. Most teams don’t have the fiery Antonio Conte as their manager.
City have a high-profile manager in Pep Guardiola, the man tasked with ushering in a footballing revolution in the blue half of Manchester.
So which side will come out on top? It is mightily tough to call, but Chelsea have the momentum and enter the tie as slight favourites despite playing away.
Manchester City
Results in recent games have been mixed. Unbeaten in the league since September, but have drawn their fair share since then.
City coach Guardiola is the master innovator, constantly chopping and changing his starting XI in almost every game this season, making it impossible to predict who will start.
His 4-2-3-1 formation is unlikely to see much change and the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero are their main threats and the likeliest to start along with keeper Claudio Bravo.
Yaya Toure has been a man on a mission, making up for lost time in recent games and whether he starts from the bench, his presence could swing the tie either way.
If there is a weakness, it is their defence, which almost always concedes goals. As a matter of fact their last clean sheet was in September, when they beat West Brom 4-0.
Bravo is yet to prove he is ready for the physical nature of the Premier League and against a robust Chelsea side, may come undone.
Captain Vincent Kompany is the only injured player, thus paving the way for Guardiola to field a strong XI.
Chelsea
Without a doubt, the team to beat in the league, Chelsea seem to have no equals at the moment.
A seven match winning streak in which 19 goals have been scored and just a solitary one has been let in.
That dominant a team can only have one weakness– Complacency.
Diego Costa is their answer to Sergio Aguero and Eden Hazard is their riposte for Kevin De Bruyne.
Both are excellent players but Chelsea’s form is down to its fringe players excellence more than anything.
A 3-4-3 formation now seems tailor made for this side, allowing rampaging wing backs to whip in dangerous balls all game long.
Captain John Terry is out along with John Obi Mikel while Kurt Zouma and Marco Van Ginkel are still not fit to return to action.
Super Stat: Manchester City’s resident hitman Sergio Aguero has 10 goals in the Premier League while Chelsea’s top dog Diego Costa has exactly the same number of goals this season!
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