Manchester
City's clash with Chelsea on
Saturday Night Football is the biggest
game of the defending champions' season - and here's why.
'The next game is always the most important' is a phrase spouted out by
managers far too often but it's one which resonates with the situation City
find themselves in this weekend.
After their crushing 3-1 defeat at Liverpool before the international break,
the defending champions' season is at a crossroads. They need a response,
not another setback.
But, with the Premier League's in-form team Chelsea on their way to the
Etihad, come Saturday night, we will know whether the champions have the
stomach for the fight or whether Liverpool really did strike a psychological
blow.
Pep in uncharted territory
Whether it be at Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester City, Pep
Guardiola's teams have notoriously led from the front, or at least that used
to be the case.
Of course, Guardiola has chased down teams in title races before, but only
once has he won the league having trailed at this stage of the season, and
that was with arguably the greatest of his Barcelona teams in 2011, where
they overturned a one-point deficit after 12 games to win La Liga.
With the gap to Liverpool currently at nine points - it could be 12 by the
time City kick-off against Chelsea - Guardiola is very much in uncharted
territory.
Never before has he been this far off the pace in his top-flight managerial
career, and to make matters worse, he has never taken fewer points from his
opening 12 games of a top-flight season than this term.
Whether Guardiola can adapt his squad's psyche from being hunted to the
hunter remains to be seen, but if City were to go on and win the Premier
League from this position, it would be up there with his greatest
achievements at City, if not his career.
The worst is yet to come?
Having faced just two of the current top eight in their opening 12 fixtures,
the visit of Chelsea ushers in the start of Manchester City's most-testing
period in the Premier League so far.
While Liverpool have been overcoming obstacle after obstacle, beating the
five teams directly below them in the table, including City, the champions
have faltered and are yet to beat a side higher than ninth.
Man City: Next 8 PL fixtures
| Club |
Position |
| Chelsea (H) |
3rd |
| Newcatle (A) |
13th |
| Burnley (A) |
10th |
| Man Utd (H) |
7th |
| Arsenal (A) |
6th |
| Leicester (H) |
2nd |
| Wolaves (A) |
8th |
| Sheff Utd (H) |
6th |
With away trips to Newcastle and Burnley, the Manchester derby, matches with
Arsenal and Leicester and the potential banana skins of Wolves and Sheffield
United, there's an argument things could get worse before they get better
for Manchester City.
Aguero the answer again?
Whenever Manchester City have found themselves in need, there's one man who
continues to provide the answers - Sergio Aguero.
The Argentine has struck fear into the hearts of Chelsea ever since he moved
to the Premier League, and there's every chance he will be key if City are
to get back on track on Saturday.
No player in Premier League history has scored more goals against Chelsea
than Aguero, whose hat-trick in last season's corresponding fixture saw him
hit double figures (10) against the Blues in just 13 games.
Chelsea - the new challengers?
Manchester City hit Chelsea for six in an imperious performance in the same
fixture last season, but this time around, Frank Lampard's side arrive at
the Etihad as the Premier League's in-form team.
The Blues have won their last six games on the bounce - their best run in
the division since their title-winning 2016/17 campaign - and another could
well see them replace City as the chief challengers to Liverpool.
Chelsea sit a point and a place ahead of the champions but if they are to
really ramp up the rhetoric that they are genuine title contenders they have
to achieve something that has so far eluded them this season, and that's win
against a side currently in the top seven.
Winning away at City is no formality, as last season proved, but with
Chelsea boasting the best record against Guardiola since he moved to the
Premier League - three wins from six encounters - the blueprint is there for
Lampard's current crop.
Attack, attack, attack
Whatever the outcome of Saturday's match, it promises to be a belter, with
two of the Premier League's most attack-minded sides locking horns.
Manchester City top the goalscoring, shots and quality chances created
charts by a sizable margin this season, but Chelsea are not too far behind.
Man City vs Chelsea: Attacking comparison
| Rank |
Man City |
PL - 19/20 |
Chelsea |
Rank |
| 1st |
35 |
Goals |
27 |
4th |
| 1st |
27 |
Goals from open play |
24 |
2nd |
| 1st |
34.38 |
xG |
23.87 |
2nd |
| 1st |
258 |
Shots |
204 |
2nd |
| 1st |
56 |
Big chances created |
39 |
2nd |
Both sides boast one of the Premier League's top scorers, Sergio Aguero and
Tammy Abraham, with both strikers are among five of the top seven players
for expected goals and expected assists that could feature at the Etihad,
along with Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic and David Silva.
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