Chelsea vs Manchester City Betting Tips & Predictions

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Chelsea

Manchester City

Chelsea come into this match having suffered their first defeat since the Guus Hiddink took over in midweek. They lost 2-1 away to the in form Paris Saint Germain to end their 12 match unbeaten streak, but an away match at the French champions isn’t exactly an easy game. Guus Hiddink’s side have also started winning recently after struggling to find their winning spirit after a dismal first half to the season, and three of their previous five matches had ended in victory. Their terrible start to their Premier League defence has left them down in 12^th position, and the cups are their only chance of success this season.

Manchester City have lost two crucial Premier League matches in the last couple of weeks, with both Leicester and Spurs beating them at the Etihad to widen the gulf between them and the top spot to six points. City have a crucial Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev coming up in midweek, and with their Premier League challenge still in tact we could see a marginally weaker side on Sunday.

Reasons for Betting Tips

Manchester City have their priorities, and the FA Cup is low on their list. The Premier League and the Champions League both take precedence to Manuel Pellegrini, and with them lagging behind in the title race and facing a Champions League match in midweek I think we could see a weakened side on Sunday. Chelsea, on the other hand, are out of the Premier League title race due to their awful start to the season and will be focusing heavily on the cup competitions to regain some pride this season.

The hosts haven’t got a midweek game coming up, unlike their visitors, so are likely to put out the best squad available to them. They are also facing a Manchester City side who have been defeated in back to back games on home turf and who have a pretty poor away record this season. Man City have only won four of their last 11 games on the road in all competitions.

This makes Chelsea the favourites in my book, and a reasonably tight 2-1 victory for the hosts looks a good backing to me.

Recent Form

All competitions; most recent first.

Chelsea: LWDDWW

Manchester City: LLWWWD

Head to Head

Manchester City secured a 3-0 win back in August when the two met in the Premier League, which takes the recent record for Chelsea to two wins, two defeats, and two draws in their last six matches against Manchester City.

Statistics

Manchester City have won 42% of their away days so far this season, a poor return considering their 64% return at the Etihad.

Team News

Chelsea – Captain John Terry is likely to miss out on this match, with defensive partner Kurt Zouma and striker Radamel Falcao on the casualty list.

Manchester City – The visitors have Bacary Sagna and Wilfried Bony listed as doubts for this clash, with the perenially injured Fabian Delph accompanying Jesus Navas, Kevin De Bruyne, Elaquim Mangala, and Samir Nasri on the sidelines.