Chelsea vs. Man City
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Kick off: 6:30PM
Chelsea will become the latest team to attempt to stop the Manchester City juggernaut this evening when they host the Premier League champions at Stamford Bridge.
City go into the weekend still two points clear at the top of the table, whereas Chelsea have slipped down to fourth place and now trail Pep Guardiola’s side by 10 points.
Less than a month ago, Chelsea were being discussed in the same breath as Man City and Liverpool as title challengers, having won eight of their opening 11 Premier League games.
Such is the relentless pace being set by Saturday’s opponents that a 10-point gap has now opened up between the two sides, though, with Chelsea paying the price for a recent dip in form.
It was not until November 24 that Maurizio Sarri suffered his first Premier League defeat as a manager – the longest a new boss has ever gone without losing in his debut season in the competition – but they go into this weekend having now lost two of their last three.
The 3-1 humbling at Tottenham Hotspur could be put down to coming up against another top team in good form, but Wednesday’s 2-1 reverse at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers was a particularly disappointing result.
Newly-promoted Wolves had picked up just one point from their previous six league games and were coming off the back of successive defeats to Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City, but they came from behind at Molineux to inflict a shock defeat on Chelsea.
The harsh reality of the Premier League today is that two defeats in the space of 11 days will be ruthlessly exploited by those at the top of the table, and another loss this weekend could see any lingering hopes of a title challenge extinguished once and for all.
On the flip side, victory could breathe new life into those hopes by proving that they can beat the best, and it is more than two years since Sarri suffered back-to-back league defeats as a manager.
The Italian also remains unbeaten at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea boss, winning nine of his 12 home games in charge across all competitions. Indeed, including the tail end of last season Chelsea are now unbeaten in 15 home games, stretching back more than eight months.
Three of their last five home games in the league have seen the spoils shared, though, and Chelsea will this weekend be looking for back-to-back home league wins for the first time since mid-September.
Should they achieve that then there may be a glimmer of hope that it will not be just a two-horse race for the title, and more immediately it would see them keep their place in the top four amid some fierce competition from London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal.
Chelsea possible XI: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Kante, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Pedro, Giroud, Hazard.
Man City possible XI: Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Delph, Gundogan, Fernandinho, Bernardo, Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling.