English Premier League: Chelsea vs. Manchester City Preview, Odds, Prediction

Round 6 of the English Premier League starts in London, at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea hosts Manchester City. The two of the biggest title contenders in England will clash and see where they stand at this point. Even though the season is still early on, this event’s result could have a massive impact on the final standings. Chelsea is a slight favorite, but overall, the bookies believe that the changes in this one are 50-50.

Just to remind you that these two teams met in the UCL finals earlier this year, when Chelsea earned the title.

Preview

Chelsea (+162) survived a thriller in the Carabao Cup, eliminating Aston Villa only after the penalties. Tuchel did mix the starting lineup a little bit, but that can’t be the alibi for one average performance his team showed on Wednesday night.

Overall, the Blues continued their streak of invincibility, which dates way back into the previous campaign. So far this season, the UCL champions have six wins and two draws, counting this one against Villa.

In five of those games, they didn’t allow a single goal, which is the biggest strength of this unit. Since Tuchel took over the wheel, Chelsea’s defense became one of the best in Europe. Upfront, they now have Lukaku, who is the targetman and everything revolves around the strong Belgian striker.

Manchester City (+175) rolled over Wycombe in the Carabao Cup, trashing the rivals, 6-1. The guests scored the opener from virtually nothing, but soon after that, the EPL champs showed their true faces. Guardiola sent a very strong team on the pitch, probably wanting to have his boys in full-speed for Saturday’s event.

Following two defeats at the start of the campaign, Man City went on to win five of the upcoming six games, scoring at least five goals on four occasions. Among their victims were Norwich and Arsenal, 5-0, RB Leipzig, 6-3, and at last, Wycombe.

Since the season started, only one of City’s games saw both teams scoring, and that was against Leipzig. Both of their defeats were minimal, 1-0.

Latest News

Two problematic players in Chelsea are goalkeeper Mendy and American midfielder Christian Pulisic.

On the other side, City is in trouble, with Stones and Laporte out. These two were the center-back duo for several years. Bernard Mendy is suspended, while Rodri, Gundogan, and Zinchenko all received knocks recently and are doubtful.

Head to Head Games

Chelsea has 71 wins, Man City 59, and 39 ended with a draw.

Their most recent direct encounter was in the UEFA Champions League finals, where Chelsea won 1-0 with Kai Havertz scoring the winner.

Since Tuchel took over, Chelsea won two more games, one in the FA Cup, 1-0, and in the Premiership, 1-2.

Prediction

In our opinion, this will be a very tough game, with extra caution coming from both sides. We are more than sure that Tuchel and Guardiola wouldn’t mind splitting a point each, which is why our prediction for Saturday’s matinee is under 2.5 goals. The odds are -110, which is not bad at all we need to say.

Pick: Under 2.5 goals -110