On Thursday, Chelsea and Manchester City will both be looking to return to winning ways when they go head-to-head at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
Both sides recorded unexpected 1-1 draws last time out, with Chelsea being held by Nottingham Forest and Everton frustrating Man City.
As a result, second-place Man City find themselves seven points behind Arsenal – with eighth-place Chelsea trailing the defending champions by 11 points.
Chelsea returned from the World Cup break with an easy 2-0 victory over Bournemouth, ending a run of three consecutive defeats in the Premier League.
However, they were held to a 1-1 draw by Forest on Sunday and could have lost the game after allowing the hosts to rack up 12 shots – five of which were on target.
The Blues have now won just one of their previous seven Premier League games, piling pressure on new manager Graham Potter.
Although Chelsea have lost just four of their past 37 home games across all competitions, they are expected to struggle against Man City.
As for the Cityzens, they were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton on New Year’s Eve – despite racking up 74% possession and 16 shots on home soil.
Erling Haaland scored his 21st goal in 15 Premier League appearances last time out, but a stunning long-range strike from Demarai Gray saw the Toffees leave the Etihad with a point.
It is worth noting, however, that City have lost just two of their 16 league outings this term – picking up 11 wins and three draws in the process.
Having lost just three of their previous 44 Premier League clashes, Pep Guardiola’s side will be confident of bouncing straight back at Stamford Bridge.
Head-to-head: Man City have won three of the last four league meetings with Chelsea, with Guardiola’s men keeping a clean sheet on each occasion.
Across all competition, Chelsea have managed to win four of their previous 11 matches against City – keeping just three clean sheets along the way.
Team news: N’Golo Kane, Armando Broja, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ben Chilwell, Reece James and Wesley Fofana are all currently injured for Chelsea.
As for Man City, Ruben Dias will miss Thursday’s clash due to injury. Julian Alvarez could play some part after return from Argentina’s World Cup celebrations.
There is no hiding the fact that Chelsea have struggled for consistency either side of the World Cup break. Consequently, they won’t find life easy against Man City.
Forebet predicts that Man City will score over 1.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to overcoming Chelsea.
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