There had been some doubt as to whether or not Sunday’s massive Premier League fixture, Manchester City at Chelsea FC, would actually go on as planned.
That’s due to a COVID-19 outbreak at Man City, which sees five players unavailable for this one. Thus far, only two of the quintent have been identified: defender Kyle Walker and centre forward Gabriel Jesus.
Manchester City at Chelsea FC FYIs
Kick off: 4:30 pm ET, Sun. Jan. 3
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go here
Man City Starting XI Prediction: go here
TV: NBCSN (US), Streaming: NBCSports.com
Chelsea win +190, Man City win +130, Draw +255
Premier League Form Guide: Chelsea DLWLL Man City WWDDW
Premier League Position: Chelsea 5th, 26 points Man City 8th, 26 points
Team News For Both Sides
Although it has not been confirmed, there are reports out there indicating that City No. 1 Ederson is a member of the five stricken with COVID.
“I don’t think the Premier League allow us to name the players but you will know tomorrow,” City manager Pep Guardiola told reporters today.
“We had enough players to play against Everton, we wanted to play but, on the day of the game, with more cases we informed the Premier League and I personally called [Everton manager] Carlo Ancelotti to explain the situation.
“The day before we were in touch about what would happen and the huge risk… But now the training centre is disinfected and hopefully the next tests everyone is negative and the people that are positive can come back without problems.”
Additionally, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is dealing with a knock.
Flipping over to the Blues, defender Reece James will miss out due to a chronic hamstring problem. Attacking midfielder Hakim Ziyech should play a role possibly here in this one, although not a major one. We’ve covered his situation in detail earlier this week, over at this link.
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Man City 1
Blues boss Frank Lampard has been extremely miffed about some of the efforts put forth by his players lately, and understandably so. They’re in dire need of a result right now, and this time, I think he’ll get through to them.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.