Gut Feelings: Chelsea FC v Manchester City

Manchester City are looking to close the gap between themselves and Premier League leaders Arsenal. They get their chance today at Stamford Bridge as they face off against Chelsea FC. Our writer's roundtable share their views on how the match will play out.

Manc Pete (@inuisibilem) - Bitter and Blue

City play Chelsea twice in the space of four days and I think the outcome will depend on Chelsea’s priorities. Barring a monumental collapse by City and Arsenal, and maybe Newcastle too, Chelsea’s title hopes are practically over, so they may prioritise the FA Cup instead. If that happens, I think City will win at a canter. If they don’t, it’ll be a much tougher match.

Personally, I think they’ll prioritise Sunday (and still lose) so that means a comfortable win for the blues on Thursday night.

Chelsea 0-3 City

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Craig Resnik-Hanson (@CraigSporticos) – Sporticos

I don’t know how else to say this so I’ll just say it, Chelsea have been shocking recently, and I really don’t see a reversal of fortunes in this one. They’ve earned just one win in six in all competitions, and that was a 2-0 win over lowly Bournemouth. Forest held them to a point, and three other teams have beaten them 1-0 during that stretch. They can’t score goals, and they cannot win games. City have won the last three meetings to nil. All signs point to a City win and a City clean sheet here. On the other hand, City have struggled to keep the back door closed themselves of late, securing just one clean sheet from seven in all competitions, so Chelsea might just get a goal, but to do so they’ll have to leave themselves more exposed than usual and concede two or three. I see either a 1-0 win for City, or a 3-1 win for City, and I’m going with the latter.

Chelsea 1-3 City

Saul Garcia (@BitterandBlue1) - Bitter and Blue

Tough, tough match. Haaland will need to be active and aggressive early as will KDB. Expect some switching around them, with Foden and Alvarez maybe in. Pep would be smart to make use of Chelsea’s lack of strong midfielders and attack there. A struggling 2-1 Win.

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Dillon Meehan (@IVIeehan ) - City Report

Historically, Pep has always gotten results against Chelsea. Yeah City didn’t look great against Everton but Chelsea won’t be playing in a low block like that, especially at home. Kante, James and Wesley Fofana are all out so it’ll be a hampered defence against a (hopefully) pissed-off City side. Need Foden to get a start, especially with a run of huge games coming up. Manchester City 3, Chelsea 1

CITYZENDuck (@duckman4real)- Bitter and Blue

I expect a hungry and motivated Manchester City in this one. With Arsenal dropping points already, City will see this as their opportunity to get themselves that much closer to the leaders, all while putting distance between themselves and Newcastle. I would love to see Julian Alvarez get a start alongside Haaland here. Give me a goal a piece for the two young strikers and a City win.

Chelsea 1-3 City

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There you have it Cityzens. How do you think City will get on in the first of 2 matches in 4 days against Chelsea? Let us know in the comments.