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Manchester City look to close the gap to Arsenal at the top of the Premier League to five points as they travel to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tonight. Pep Guardiola’s side were frustrated last time out as they were held to a draw by Everton, but can take advantage of Arsenal’s stalemate with Newcastle.
Graham Potter will be hoping Chelsea can pull off a much-needed win on home soil to get their campaign back on track. The Blues were once again far from convincing as they drew with Nottingham Forest on New Year’s Day, and sit tenth in the table going into this match. They are closer to the relegation zone than they are to City.
Erling Haaland has scored in all three of his side’s matches since the World Cup and leads the line for City, as Phil Foden and Joao Cancelo return to the starting XI. Mason Mount is ruled out with a knock for Chelsea. Follow all the action with our LIVE blog below, featuring expert analysis from Nizaar Kinsella at Stamford Bridge.
Live updates
New signing is here!
Chelsea earlier today confirmed the signing of Benoit Badiashile on a seven-and-a-half-year contract from Monaco, and he is at Stamford Bridge this evening.
The defender has arrived in a deal worth around £33million.
“I’m very happy to be here at Chelsea. I’m so excited to start playing for this club. I can’t wait to see the fans and start playing in the best league in the world,” Badiashile said.
Guardiola on title race
Pep Guardiola is relatively relaxed about Manchester City’s position in the title race, despite Arsenal currently leading the way by eight points.
“We would prefer to be eight points in front, that is the reality,” Guardiola tells Sky Sports.
“But, I have the feeling, when you’ve won four Premier Leagues in the last five years, that it is not normal to be eight points clear with this competition and all the top teams that we have.
“We try to be there close, and there is a lot of games still to play. We’ll try to maintain our playing level and get a good run of victories.”
Nizaar Kinsella at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea now have eight players out injured after Mason Mount got a knock in training. It is very rare for the midfielder to miss any matches.
It only highlights what an issue fitness is at the moment.
Worst in the league
Since Potter took charge, Chelsea rank 20th in the Premier League for shots and shots on target at home. An absolutely crazy statistic.
They’re 18th for goals scored on home soil, so not exactly much better. Pretty clear that Potter has to find some answers to the problems Chelsea are experiencing in forward areas.
Potter’s pre-match thoughts
“You have to be stable, that helps. The situation we came into was quite extreme, in terms of the amount of games we had with the Champions League, and then we had injuries to key players.
“In the end you are trying to find a solution: How do you replace Reece James? How do you replace N’Golo Kante? How do you replace Wesley Fofana? These are guys that are key players for us. I don’t want to make excuses, it sounds like them. We need stability and we are working towards that.
“We need to be consistent with the shape and try and be consistent with the players we have. We’ve lost James and Mason Mount since our last home game. That is just the life you have as a football manager. That affects consistency.”
Toughest test at worst possible time
Chelsea face a double-header against Manchester City at their worst moment of the season, writes Nizaar Kinsella.
The Blues will kick-off at Stamford Bridge tonight 10 points off the top four, 19 behind leaders Arsenal and down in 10th place. It follows a poor run of just one win in seven Premier League games — and patience is wearing thin among frustrated supporters.
Manager Graham Potter met Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali in California during the World Cup, when he was assured of his long-term future.
After Chelsea paid Brighton £20million in compensation to hire him in September, there is no reason to believe Potter is in immediate danger of losing his job, but defeat tonight would be another blow to their hopes of finishing in the top four.
Read our full match preview here
Mount out with injury
Mount is absent for Chelsea tonight, after picking up a knock in training that ruled him out of the match.
Kovacic partners Zakaria in midfield, while Ziyech makes his first Premier League start since Potter took charge at Stamford Bridge.
As for Man City, Cancelo and Foden return to the starting XI, while Walker starts in his place of Lewis and Silva seemingly lines up in the front three.
Ake partners Stones at centre-back, with neither Laporte or Dias making the squad.
Nizaar Kinsella at Stamford Bridge
Credit to Denis Zakaria who hadn’t played a single minute of Premier League action since joining Chelsea before the World Cup. He has started every game after the World Cup.
Man City team news
Man City XI: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Ake, Cancelo, Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Silva, Haaland, Foden
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Phillips, Grealish, Alvarez, Gomez, Akanji, Mahrez, Palmer, Lewis.
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