Guardiola also opted for several changes during the week for his side’s EFL Cup win over Wycombe Wanderers. City’s line-up has a similar outlook to their team that played against Southampton. Ake drops to the bench as Laporte starts in the back four. Ilkay Gundogan is injured and is replaced by De Bruyne, while Rodri gets the nod ahead of Fernandinho. Foden starts in the midfield for Sterling, who slides to the bench. Silva pushes forward into a three-man attack with Jesus and Grealish.
Chelsea are without Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic due to injury this afternoon. Tuchel reverts back to his Premier League line-up after making numerous changes to allow squad players time on the field in the EFL Cup. There are four changes to the side that beat Tottenham. Mendy returns between the posts, while James also comes into the side. Thiago Silva drops to the bench, which sees Azpilicueta move into a three-man defence. Kante returns in the midfield in place of the injured Mount. Werner is preferred to Havertz in the final third.
MANCHESTER CITY SUBS: John Stones, Nathan Ake, Raheem Sterling, Zack Steffen, Ferran Torres, Fernandinho, Riyad Mahrez, Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo; Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Phil Foden; Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish.
CHELSEA SUBS: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Thiago Silva, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Trevor Chalobah, Saul Niguez, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz.
CHELSEA (3-5-2): Edouard Mendy; Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger; Reece James, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Marcos Alonso; Timo Werner, Romelu Lukaku.
City dropped points for the second time of the season last week in their 0-0 draw against Southampton. However, Pep Guardiola and his team may have been grateful to take a share of the spoils after Kyle Walker saw a red card and a penalty overturned by VAR. City begin the day three points behind Chelsea at the top of the table, and a victory would allow them to draw level with their rivals. It would also send out a message that City are not going to surrender their crown lightly, despite their impressive opening runs of their challengers at the top.
Chelsea have a huge opportunity to maintain their excellent start to the season and put out an early statement in the race for the Premier League crown. The Blues defeated Manchester City to win the Champions League in their last meeting courtesy of Kai Havertz’s strike. Thomas Tuchel and his men will now look to wrestle away the top-flight title away from City by reeling off their fifth win in six games to start the term. They were excellent last week in a 3-0 triumph over Tottenham on the road and overcame Aston Villa in a penalty shootout in the EFL Cup during week. Tuchel will be desperate to continue their momentum.
Good afternoon and welcome to the live commentary of the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Source: Source: Goal
Chelsea have won their last three meetings with Man City in all competitions, in the FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League. They last had a longer winning run against the Citizens between December 2005 and March 2009 (8 games).