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

Chelsea and Manchester City are closing Thursday’s English Premier League program with their clash. For the Blues, this might be the game of the year, as they need to win it and make a giant step towards the Champions League. On the other side, City is preparing for the UCL restart where they aim the trophy and nothing less than that. The Sky-Blues will be banned from the European competitions in the next two seasons, meaning that this is the last chance for this generation to do something notable.

Preview

Chelsea (+325) comes into this one as an underdog. Having empty Stamford definitely won’t help, but the Blues have to overcome that handicap and try to defeat Guardiola’s machinery. Right now, Chelsea has 51 points , two more than the fifth-placed United and sixth-placed Wolves, but has a game in hand. 

If they win this match, Lampard’s boys will rebuff the surge of the Red Devils and Wolves, who are aiming to jump over the team from London. 

The Blues defeated Aston Villa in Birmingham, 1-2, in the opening match since the restart, coming back from behind with Christian Pulisic’s magnificent performance.

Manchester City (-125) opened the comeback with two massive wins, one against Arsenal 3-0, and the other against Burnley 5-0. There is an impression among the fans that these two wins could have been even more convincing, as the Blues played routine in both matches.

Not allowing a goal is showing the power of Guardiola’s back line, but Chelsea has an excellent offense that would present a real test for the guests from Etihad.

This is the first time for the Citizens to travel away from home after the restart, and as we said, they are in a solid position because there aren’t any fans involved. 

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Tomori and van Ginkel are not available for this event and Callum Hudson-Odoi is questionable. 

On the other side, City experiences a massive blow with Sergio Aguero’s knee injury, as well as with Phil Foden’s absence. The youngster has been superb against Burnley. Stones and Claudio bravo are doubtful for this match. 

Head to Head Matches

The first part of the season saw Manchester City defeating Chelsea at Etihad, 2-1. It was a game that started good for the Blues, with Kante’s score in the 21st minute, but everything changed until the end of the opening half. Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez turned the table in just 15 minutes.

That was the first game after six straight in which both teams haven’t scored. Previous four at Stamford haven’t seen more than two goals.

Prediction

Even though we follow the tradition in most of the cases, in this one, we won’t. We expect a lot of goals, because these two sides have massive offensive potential, and apart from that, the overall factors of the game are pointing in that direction. Chelsea needs to win, while City plays without pressure. This has to provide high-efficiency. The moneyline for over 2.5 goals is at -130, which is pretty solid. If you want, try it also with both teams to score and over 2.5 scores at +100.