Chelsea vs Manchester City Preview

Chelsea vs Manchester City

Competition – Barclays Premier League

Stadium: Stamford Bridge

Date: 18th August 2024

Kick-off time – 16:30 GMT

Manchester City will begin their title defence this Sunday when they travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea.

For the second season in a row the Blues will begin the new campaign with a new manager. In the last two seasons, they have had three different permanent managers, so Enzo Maresca is their fourth manager in the last 24 months.

The Italian has a huge task on his hands. He is expected to bring some order to the chaos at Chelsea and help the club improve on its seventh-place finish last season. He did well at Leicester City, leading them to promotion.

However, the early signs haven’t been good at Chelsea with just one win from their six pre-season matches (D2, L3). But that’ll all be forgotten if Maresca’s men can hit the ground running when it matters against reigning English champions Manchester City. 

Yet, the omen suggests another defeat as since beating Pep Guardiola’s men 1-0 in the 2021 Champions League final, their H2H record against City is dreadful. They have not won in the nine H2H clashes (D2, L7) and have failed to score on seven occasions. 

Meanwhile, after an average pre-season, Manchester City clicked to life when it mattered.

Guardiola’s side made the ideal start to their competitive campaign by beating rivals Manchester United at Wembley last weekend in the Community Shield on penalties. 

They now switch their focus to the Premier League where they’re bidding to take their already unprecedented dominance to another level by winning a fifth successive title. However, the case for allegedly breaching 115 of the Premier League’s rules is set to finally be heard next month which could change the league’s landscape this term depending on the outcome. 

Guardiola’s men will aim to put that distraction to one side and get off to a flying start here. The omen is good for them as the Cityzens have won their opening Premier League game in 12 of the past 13 seasons (L1). However, the sole blemish on that record came in the capital against Chelsea’s rivals Tottenham in 2021.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures:

March 15, 2025
Everton 16:00 West Ham United
Manchester City 16:00 Brighton & Hov…
Southampton 16:00 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Ipswich Town 16:00 Nottingham Forest
AFC Bournemouth 18:30 Brentford
March 16, 2025
Arsenal 14:30 Chelsea
Fulham 14:30 Tottenham Hotspur
Leicester City 20:00 Manchester United
April 1, 2025
Arsenal 18:45 Fulham
Wolverhampton Wanderers 18:45 West Ham United
Nottingham Forest 19:00 Manchester United
April 2, 2025
Newcastle United 18:45 Brentford
Southampton 18:45 Crystal Palace
Brighton & Hov… 18:45 Aston Villa
Manchester City 18:45 Leicester City
AFC Bournemouth 18:45 Ipswich Town
Liverpool 19:00 Everton
April 3, 2025
Chelsea 19:00 Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League Table

# Team MP W D L F A G P
1 Liverpool 29 21 7 1 69 27 +42 70
2 Arsenal 28 15 10 3 52 24 +28 55
3 Nottingham Forest 28 15 6 7 45 33 +12 51
4 Chelsea 28 14 7 7 53 36 +17 49
5 Manchester City 28 14 5 9 53 38 +15 47
6 Newcastle United 28 14 5 9 47 38 +9 47
7 Brighton & Hov… 28 12 10 6 46 40 +6 46
8 Aston Villa 29 12 9 8 41 45 -4 45
9 AFC Bournemouth 28 12 8 8 47 34 +13 44
10 Fulham 28 11 9 8 41 38 +3 42
11 Crystal Palace 28 10 9 9 36 33 +3 39
12 Brentford 28 11 5 12 48 44 +4 38
13 Tottenham Hotspur 28 10 4 14 55 41 +14 34
14 Manchester United 28 9 7 12 34 40 -6 34
15 Everton 28 7 12 9 31 35 -4 33
16 West Ham United 28 9 6 13 32 48 -16 33
17 Wolverhampton Wanderers 28 6 5 17 38 57 -19 23
18 Ipswich Town 28 3 8 17 26 58 -32 17
19 Leicester City 28 4 5 19 25 62 -37 17
20 Southampton 28 2 3 23 20 68 -48 9

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