Man City aim to close the gap at the top against managerless Chelsea

Manchester City welcomes Chelsea to the Etihad for a Premier League classic matchup on Sunday evening.

City were held to a goalless draw by Sunderland on New Year’s Day and will be keen to return to winning ways.

Chelsea battled to a 2-2 stalemate in their midweek clash with Bournemouth and are faced with a tough road trip at Manchester.

The Blues were dealt a blow after Enzo Maresca left his role as head coach after 18 months at Stamford Bridge on New Year’s Day.

Match preview

Man City are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League games against Chelsea (W6 D2), their joint-longest run without defeat against the Blues in their league history (also 8 between 1936 and 1949).

Having won four consecutive away league games against Man City between 2005 and 2008, Chelsea have now won just three of their last 16 visits to the Etihad (D2 L11).

City have only failed to score in one of their last 22 Premier League games against Chelsea, losing 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in December 2018.

The Blues have won their first league game in just one of the last nine calendar years (D6 L2), beating Fulham 1-0 in 2024.

The Citizens have won their last eight Premier League home games, netting 3+ goals in seven of those, including the last five in a row.

Chelsea have won just one of their last seven Premier League games (D4 L2), having won five of their previous six (L1).

The West Londoners have dropped 15 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, as many as in the whole of 2024/25, while they last dropped more in 2022/23 (18).

This will be Pep Guardiola’s 31st meeting with Chelsea as a manager (W15 D7 L8), only facing Arsenal more often (33). As Man City boss, this will be his 26th against the Blues (W15 D3 L7), his joint-most against an opponent (also 26 vs Manchester United).

Erling Haaland has scored 11 goals in eight Premier League home games for Man City this season, netting twice in five different games.

Each of Cole Palmer’s last nine Premier League goals for Chelsea have been scored in London. He’s not scored outside of the capital since December 2024 (vs Southampton), while he’s not scored north of London since August 2024 (vs Wolves).

Team news

Manchester City

The city welcomed back Rodri and Jeremy Doku in the Sunderland draw while losing both Nico Gonzalez and Savinho to injuries.

The pair could join Mateo Kovacic, John Stones and Oscar Bobb on the sidelines.

Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush are away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Chelsea

The Blues caretaker manager Calum McFarlane confirmed that Marc Cucurella will be assessed ahead of this fixture after returning back to training.

Moises Caicedo is suspended after he picked up his fifth booking of the season last time out.

Levi Colwill, Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo and Jorrel Hato are unavailable due to injuries.

Predicted line-ups

Manchester City: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Matheus Nunes, Rúben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nico O’Reilly, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, Jérémy Doku, Erling Haaland.

Chelsea: Robert Sánchez, Josh Acheampong, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Malo Gusto, Reece James, Enzo Fernández, Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer, Alejandro Garnacho, João Pedro.