Manchester City are on a run of five wins in their last six Premier League outings and welcome Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s side has been on something of a resurgence lately in their bid to retain their crown while Chelsea’s form has been patchy at best but do find themselves coming off a 5-0 victory over Huddersfield.
Here, we look at the talking points ahead of the encounter.
THE PREDICTABLE VS THE UNKNOWN
There is a lot of respect between Maurizio Sarri and Pep Guardiola and it’s easy to see why. A mutual admiration of each other’s philosophy is only natural given the similarities they share, particularly in terms of dominating possession, employing a high defensive line and playing out from the back.
“I met him last season when we played against Napoli and I was so curious because I enjoyed, a lot, watching his Napoli,” Guardiola said on Saturday.
However, while Sarri is an idealist, obsessed with perfecting a specific system, Guardiola is nothing if not innovative. The Catalan has a set of principles that governs the way his teams operate but there’s always plenty of leeway for tinkering as per the personnel at his disposal or indeed the opposition he faces.
Any Fantasy Premier League manager picking his team or football journalist previewing a City game (hey there!) will attest to the difficulty of guessing Guardiola’s selection or formation. Even Unai Emery would’ve been caught off guard by his decision to play Fernandinho as a centre-back during a 3-1 win over Arsenal with the Brazilian often stepping up into midfield in possession.
In contrast, Sarri never – ever – deviates from his tried and tested 4-3-3 formation. The only question marks have been over his team selection as he tried to choose between Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud up front, sometimes opting for neither and playing Eden Hazard there instead.
Guardiola – like the rest of us – know who Chelsea will field and how they will play, it’s only stopping them that needs working out. How City set up on the other hand, no one can really say with authority.
AGUERO THE DANGER MAN
With five goals and an assist in his last six league starts, Sergio Aguero has been pivotal to City’s recent form. His goals, including a hat-trick against Arsenal has seen their title defence gather momentum.
The Argentine has always been a talisman or the Citizens and Guardiola hopes he can continue on this rich vein of form as Chelsea visit the Etihad Stadium.
“The big players need to appear in the key games, the big moments, and he did it. Hopefully he can continue doing it. In the big games we need important players,” Guardiola said.
Aguero is indeed the man for the big occasion, regularly plundering goals against top six opposition. Chelsea of course know all about his exploits. The striker has scored 12 goals and assisted three in 16 appearances against them.
Meanwhile, another City goalscoring milestone beckons for Aguero. With 157 league goals, he is one short of equalling the club record held jointly by Tommy Johnson and Eric Brook.
Sergio Aguero
PEP’S BLUES
On current form, City must be favourites at home to Chelsea. After stumbling during the festive period, the Manchester outfit have recovered and have the bit between their teeth now.
“At the moment, in my opinion, Manchester City are the best team in Europe. They are an example for every club,” Sarri said ahead of the encounter.
However, Guardiola will be haunted by his past meetings with the west London club. He has suffered more league defeats (three) against Chelsea than any other team in his career as a head coach.
For all of his side’s domination of possession in the first half at the Bridge earlier this season, Guardiola still came away from the game scratching his head as he was left to mull over a 2-0 defeat.
All signs point to a City win but football is rarely that straightforward and when it comes to Chelsea, Guardiola knows that better than anyone.
