4. A starved Diego Costa
Diego Costa has been missing from the Chelsea squad for the last few games. After being sent off during the Blues’ FA Cup exit at the hands of Everton, he has been serving his (extended) suspension. However, the striker is back and available after seeing out his three-game ban.
Hiddink stated that the forward has been training hard despite having little football to look forward to and thus he is raring to go on Saturday afternoon. It is almost guaranteed that he will be immediately reinstated to the starting line-up with Alexandre Pato and Bertrand Traore proving ineffective last weekend.
While the performance of the latter can be excused, the former was unnervingly woeful. Costa will be required to restore the lethal touch that was missing at the Liberty Stadium. The Blues will probably need to take whatever chance they get against City and Costa is the man to stick them away.
Having said that, all eyes will be on his behaviour. He tends to get excessively feisty during these high-profile fixtures and while it sometimes succeeds in putting off opposition defenders, it also renders him a liability. The last thing the Blues need is to be reduced to ten men.
Next: 5. Two matches that count