It will be Premier League match time again at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea get set to host Manchester City in match week 30 on Saturday, March 19.
The game will be the second of a two-legged contest; the first, hosted by Manchester City on September 26, 2010, ended 1-0 in the hosts’ favour. City’s talismanic striker Tevez scored the solitary goal of the game, on the hour, to hand the champions their first defeat of the season.
On the day City showed efficiency rather than flair; their defence was impressive as they closed out the spaces thereby preventing Chelsea from finding scoring opportunities. That said, Chelsea were off-colour, especially in midfield, where any creative move was thwarted by three holding midfielders employed by Mancini. As a result, the Chelsea forwards did not get continual service; added to that, their main striker, Drogba, was well below his best. That led Ancelotti to withdraw his star striker after the interval, a decision that would have been unthinkable, earlier in the season.
Eventually, the game turned out to much less than exciting than its billing, especially the first half, considering that it was a clash of the two richest teams of the Premiership, both overflowing with marquee names. The game was akin to two heavyweights sizing up each other. City deserves praise for dominating a midfield comprising the likes of Essien and Mikel, with Gareth Barry turning out to be the stand out performer on the day. Kompany and Kolo Toure underscored their credentials as the best centre-halves in the business, while Silva combined well with Tevez and could turn out to be the most exciting prospect for City on their campaign trail.
Head to head, Chelsea hold a 14-4 advantage in the last 20 league games played between the sides, with the remaining 2 matches drawn.
In their last 10 league games, Chelsea have registered 5 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses; Manchester City have won 5 of their last 10, while losing 2 and drawing the remaining 3. Of their 13 home games this season, Chelsea have won 9, while having drawn and lost 2 each, while Manchester City have won 6 of their 14 games on the road, while losing and drawing 4 each.
In match week 29, Chelsea won 3-2 away at Blackpool; Manchester City won 1-0 against Wigan at home. On current form, Chelsea can expect a tough fight from Manchester City, despite the Stamford Bridge squad’s home advantage.
Chelsea’s starting eleven against Blackpool had the following players: Cech, Bosingwa, David Lutz, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Zhirkov, Drogba and Torres. Kalou, Malouda and McEachran featured as substitutes.
Manchester City had the following men in their starting eleven against Wigan: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta, Vieira, Barry, Silva, Y Toure, Balotelli and Tevez. Kolarov, Dzeko and De Jong were used as substitutes.
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