Gut Feelings: Manchester City v Chelsea FC

The guard of honor awaits Manchester City as they take to the Etihad pitch against Chelsea FC. The lads are once again the Champions of England and today they look to take a victory lap against their rivals from North London. How will the Sky Blues mark the occasion? Only one thing is for sure, İlkay Gündoğan will lift the Premier League trophy after the final whistle blows. Here’s the City Collective with the rest.

Manc Pete (@inuisibilem) - Bitter and Blue

Carnival time!!!!!! Arsenal’s 1-0 loss means its party time in Manchester. But, while the fans will celebrate in the stands, Pep Guardiola will still demand perfection on the pitch. I’m predicting a good scoreline, one that would have confirmed City as champions anyway, as they’ll be playing with no pressure and their football will flow.

Manchester City 5-0 Chelsea

Photo by Matt McNulty - Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images

Adam Marrett (@AdamAdammarrett) - Man City Square

Here’s the chance to put the Premier League to bed, and one it feels the fans, the players and Pep are all ready for. A chance to end it for season 22/23 and clinch a third successive Premier League title. I can’t wait for the game to kick off, and expecting another electric Etihad atmosphere.

As for the game I predict we’ll see a couple of changes in our starting line up. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Foden and Mahrez start here, and De Bruyne to get a rest as he ran himself into the floor against Real. Outside of that I can’t see many more changes the back 4 is solid, and I expect Haaland to start up top again. We come into this one off the back of arguably our best performance under Pep Guardiola, and from any Manchester City side in recent memory and I expect that form to carry into this game, and the game to play out accordingly.

As for Chelsea god knows what line up they’ll come out with, they have a few players out injured but with their squad of 947 players to pick from they do possess quality in it, but they’re mid table for a reason and I expect that to play out in this one.

Time for us to take our crown and clinch the first part of the potential treble on offer. Then it will be followed by another plethora of media headlines that don’t befit the achievement, something to look forward to there as well.

Manchester City 4-0 Chelsea

Photo by Declan Lloyd - Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images

Craig Resnik-Hanson (@CraigSporticos) – Sporticos

With the title now officially wrapped up, Pep would be an absolute psychopath not to rotate. I still think he’ll want to keep most of the key pieces in place in order to maintain consistency and keep everybody firing ahead of the two finals. However, the reality is even with a few changes, any team Pep could put out will be confident of beating a woeful Chelsea. The one thing in the visitors favour is that our lads aren’t likely to be diving into too many 50/50 challenges with history on the horizon. Still see City winning at a canter.

Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea

Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images

CITYZENDuck (@duckman4real)- Bitter and Blue

Welcome to the garden party. City are Champions and the trophy lift is scheduled. There will be a party atmosphere will be inside the City of Manchester Stadium and Pep Guardiola is the Master of Ceremonies. Chelsea, for their part, are winding down a very disappointing season. The London Blues will be keen to spoil the occasion as they try to finish in the top half of the table.

This one is down to City’s approach. If the Mancunians view today as a celebration, they may well cede the points. I don’t see them doing that, however. I believe Pep will want to give the fans a performance. We’ll likely see a similar team sheet to the one Guardiola wrote down in Madrid at midweek. Surely though, all 5 subs will be used, as much for rotation as to give the supporters a chance to show their adoration for these champions.

I’m going for a walk in the park for City, and nothing would provide a better bookend to this magical Premier League title chase than an Erling Haaland brace.

Manchester City 3-0 Chelsea

Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images

There you have it Cityzens. What do you want to see from the lads on this day of days? Let us know in the comments.