Manchester City v Chelsea – The Opposition

Manchester City face Chelsea in the late Saturday kick off, looking for the three points that will secure their third Premier League title in four years. And an added twist to the tale means this fixture will be a dress rehearsal for the Champions League Final at the end of the month, when the two meet in Istanbul.

Form

Chelsea sacked manager Frank Lampard at the end of January and brought in former PSG boss Thomas Tuchel the following day. Since then, the West London side have climbed the table and are now challenging for a Champions League spot for next season.

Since Tuchel took over, Chelsea have won 16 of their 24 games, including a 1-0 victory over City in the FA Cup semi-final last month. The Londoners have lost just twice in that run - a surprising 5-2 home defeat to relegation threatened West Brom, and a 1-0 home defeat to Porto in the Champions League.

From their last six matches, Chelsea have scored 7 and conceded just once. On the road, they have the fifth best record, winning 9 from their 17 matches played, however they have scored 24 and conceded 15 on their travels so far this season, giving them a goal difference of +9.

Danger Men

For all the bad press he’s received, Timo Werner is actually Chelsea’s most dangerous player. Werner has scored 12 goals so far this season, level with Tammy Abraham. While his goal conversion rate is only 15%, with 80, Werner has attempted the most shots than anyone in the Chelsea team, almost double that of Abraham (42).

Werner also leads the assist chart, having provided 10 goals this season. Mason Mount is next on the list with 7 assists, and he has also weighed in with 9 goals. It will be interesting to see the inevitable comparisons between him and Phil Foden after tomorrow’s clash, should they both play.

Who’s The Boss?

Thomas Tuchel has been in charge at Stamford Bridge since the end of January. Chelsea were 9^th at the time, but just five points off a Champions League slot. They have since swapped placed with Liverpool, who occupied 4^th at the time of Tuchel’s appointment.

Tuchel has presided over 24 matches for Chelsea and has a win rate of 66%. This is the second highest, with his previous coming at PSG, when he had a 74% rate from 127 matches. His worst win rate was during his five year spell at German side Mainz, where he managed just 39% from 182 matches.

Played for Both

Several players have donned the sky blue of City and royal blue of Chelsea. Nicolas Anelka, Wayne Bridge, Frank Lampard, George Weah and Shaun Wright-Phillips are the more familiar names to have moved between the two clubs at one time or another, but there are some that maybe supporters didn’t realise.

Terry Phelan moved the Chelsea from City in 1995. Daniel Sturridge left City to join Chelsea on a free transfer in 2009 and Scott Sinclair arrived at City via Chelsea and Swansea. And another who swapped Maine Road for Stamford Bridge was former Arsenal and Leeds midfielder David Rocastle. The signing from Leeds joined Chelsea in 1994.

Last Time Out

City won the league battle at Stamford Bridge after a first half blitz saw the blues go 3-0 up, before Chelsea pulled a late goal back. More recently, Chelsea reached the FA Cup Final at City’s expense, winning 1-0 at Wembley.