Chelsea vs Manchester City: EPL Match Preview, Predicted Line-ups and Dream11 Predictions

Chelsea vs Manchester City is up next as Man City are hoping to capitalise on Arsenal's slip against Newcastle to close the gap at the top of the Premier League table when they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea.

Match Details:

• Location: London, England
• Stadium: Stamford Bridge
• Date: Thursday 6 January
• Kick-off Time: 1:30 AM

Chelsea vs Manchester City: Match Preview:

The first of back-to-back meetings between Chelsea and Manchester City takes place at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night as the two sides pit their wits against each other in the Premier League before they meet in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Graham Potter oversaw a disappointing draw at Nottingham Forest on New Year's Day with a long list of injuries playing a major role in their malaise either side of the World Cup break. The Blues are well off it at the moment and an ominous test awaits in the form of the champions.

Arsenal may well be the front-runners through 16 games, but City aren't half bad - even if they did drop points at home to Everton last time out. Erling Haaland bagged his 21st league goal of the season on New Year's Eve and the demonic Norwegian now has his sights set on an intriguing duel with Thiago Silva.

Team News:

Chelsea:

The Blues' injury list is lengthy. Potter will be without Armando Broja (ACL), N'Golo Kante, Ben Chilwell (both hamstring), Wesley Fofana (knee) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (calf) on Thursday.

Reece James is also out of action for another month after he re-injured his knee in the victory over Bournemouth after Christmas.

On a brighter note, Mateo Kovacic should make his first start since the conclusion of the World Cup after he earned minutes off the bench at the City Ground.

Manchester City:

Guardiola handed some of his players a body language warning in the build-up to Thursday's game. The Spaniard has left Joao Cancelo and Phil Foden out of the starting XI in City's opening two games after the World Cup, but neither are believed to be nursing any sort of injury.

Ruben Dias is expected to miss the trip to Stamford Bridge with a hamstring issue, while Aymeric Laporte is a doubt with a back problem.

World Cup hero Julian Alvarez could make Pep's squad for the first time since the tournament's conclusion, but he won't start with Haaland set to lead City's line in west London.

Chelsea vs Manchester City: Head to Head:

Chelsea have a good record against Manchester City and have won 71 out of the 172 matches played between the two teams, as opposed to Manchester City's 62 victories.

Chelsea have lost their last two Premier League home games against Manchester City and have lost more consecutive home league games only against Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal.

Manchester City did the Premier League double over Chelsea last season - the last time they beat the Blues in three consecutive league games was in 2010.

Predicted Line-ups:

Chelsea starting 11 (4-3-3): Kepa; Azpilicueta, Silva, Koulibaly, Cucurella; Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount; Ziyech, Havertz, Sterling.

Man City starting 11 (4-3-3): Ederson; Cancelo, Stones, Akanji, Ake; Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan; Mahrez, Haaland, Foden.

CHE vs MCI: Dream11 Predictions:

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