Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri bested Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola in the summer transfer window when the Italian hijacked City’s potentially £50 million deal for Jorginho. Sarri essentially brought his midfielder at Napoli with him when he made the move to Stamford Bridge, and in the process really got one over on the current reigning Premier League champions.
Jorginho has really been the engine that makes them go this season. Now comes the first of two chances (well perhaps there will be another meeting in a domestic cup) in 2018-19 for Man City to get their revenge as they head to west London for the weekend’s headliner fixture.
Chelsea will likely find it much harder to beat City on the pitch than in the transfer market. At least that’s what the bookies and pundits say. Sarri doesn’t seem to disagree either, as he’s said, on at least two occasions that his side is not at City’s level.
The Bank’s Manchester City Starting XI (4-3-2-1) Prediction vs Chelsea FC
Striker: Gabriel Jesus
Forwards: Raheem Sterling Riyad Mahrez
Midfielders: David Silva, Fernandinho, Bernando Silva
Defenders: Fabian Delph Aymeric Laporte John Stones Kyle Walker
Goalkeeper: Ederson
Chelsea vs Manchester City FYIs
Injury Report: go to this link
Kickoff, TV: Saturday December 8, 5:30 pm local, 12:30pm EST, Stamford Bridge, BT Sport 1, NBC Sports
Win probability according to Google: Manchester City 48%, Chelsea 25%, Draw probability is estimated at 27%.
Odds according to Odds Shark: Manchester City are favored to win, backed at 10/11. Chelsea are backed at 3/1 while odds for a draw are 13/5
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Press conference video, quotes: coming Friday
Prediction: Manchester City 4, Chelsea 2
Feel free to post your own Chelsea and/or Manchester City starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be. Enjoy the match everybody!
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.