Chelsea predictions at Man City: Blues on the receiving end of vengeance

Manchester City have a point to prove right as Chelsea are scheduled to face them at the Etihad. Realism edges optimism among our writers.

Manchester City will have their absolute last-string defence, you know, the one where the least expensive player of the lot probably cost around £50 million. Unfortunately for Chelsea, City’s offence is not similarly compromised.

Tan Yi Hao: Manchester City 3 – 1. To say that Manchester City is a good team would undoubtedly be an understatement. Under Pep Guardiola, City are as tactically sound as they are mentally resilient.

That said, having lost 3-1 to Liverpool last time out, City will be out for a statement victory against their next opponents, which Chelsea have the misfortune of being.

As much as the Blues are enjoying a seven-away match winning streak and seem to generally perform better away from home, City are once again going to prove too strong for Frank Lampard’s comparatively inexperienced side, which has yet to win a game against a top-six opponent in four attempts this campaign.

Hugo Amaya: 2 – 3. A really difficult game to call considering both teams’ attacking abilities. However, Chelsea learned a lot from their win against Crystal Palace and will want to keep the good run going. And after being demolished by Liverpool before the break, City’s morale is not too high and their defense seems shaky at the moment.

City won’t find it too difficult to break through the Chelsea defense at first. Despite that, Chelsea’s aggressive forward thinking will be too much to ask of a crumbling City back line. Manchester City will make a lot of mistakes in the back due to the high and intense pressure of Lampard’s young team.

The scoreline will be an accurate indicator of how close the game was. While Chelsea won’t be happy with a tie, they will not upset about the prospect either. Holding the game at 2-2 in the second half will be a reasonable tactic. But City won’t want to lose two important games in a row, which will make them impatient and frustrated, forcing mistakes and allowing Chelsea to score the winning goal for the three points.

Vansh Ambashta: 1 – 2. A very difficult game for Chelsea as they will be against a Manchester City side looking for salvation after their loss at Anfield. City will take the lead right before half time. The Blues will come back strongly in the second half and take the game through goals from Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount.

Scott Brant: 2 – 1. This match is expected to be high scoring, and I feel the opposite brewing. I think it will be an exciting match, with City in control for long stretches and Chelsea making them uncomfortable with their late two-goal lead.

Chelsea could beat City at Stamford Bridge on another day, but Manchester City coming off the break and a loss to Liverpool will be too much to handle. City edge out Chelsea for a 2-1 victory. Sergio Aguero has scored more goals against Chelsea than any other club in his career, so he and Raheem Sterling will be on the board for them; and Tammy Abraham to score for the Blues.

Abhishek Pancholi: 3 – 2. This will be the toughest assignment in Frank Lampard’s fledgling Chelsea career so far. Manchester City are an incredibly strong team on any given day, but they are especially dangerous after a loss.

Pep Guardiola will set his team up to go all guns blazing from the first minute. Chelsea will try to absorb as many blows as possible, but City will find a way to open the scoring through Aguero. This will give them further encouragement to go on and add another to their tally.

Chelsea will fight back after the break, halving the deficit, but Raheem Sterling will score City’s third on a swift counter to settle Guardiola’s nerves. A goal from Willian right at the death will prove to be too little, too late.

Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 2 – 2. Manchester City will be coming into this one angry and itching to prove a point. Suddenly this game is even more important than the Liverpool game.

City recognise that while they are nine points behind the league leaders, it would become very awkward to fall four points behind Chelsea. On the other hand, should the Blues win this fixture, many would be forced to admit that Chelsea are also in the title race.

With so much at stake for both, the likely outcome would be a draw. Goals for Mateo Kovacic and Kurt Zouma.

Nate Hofmann: 5 – 3. Give me one good reason why these teams can’t hang eight goals on the scoreboard. The only decent argument is that no one physically hangs scores on scoreboards nowadays.

As for the actual football, this is the neutral’s dream. Chelsea’s defense is rounding into form, but they still gave up four goals to Ajax two weeks ago, and City are much scarier the Dutch side. City themselves are dealing with a catastrophic dearth of defensive options. The incumbent combination of John Stones and Fernandinho wasn’t exactly inspiring against Liverpool, and Nicolas Otamendi as the next available body won’t raise spirits much either.

Literally any player who steps onto the field has a reasonable chance of scoring a goal, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Ederson included. City need the result more than Chelsea do, though, and the home field advantage should be enough to get them over the line.

Barrett Rouen: 2 – 2. Chelsea will find a way to get a result here in what many will come to see as a seminal moment for Frank Lampard as well as Pep Guardiola. Guardiola is in his first, by his standards, crisis since coming to England and Lampard will show just how well he can manage a team to get the result.

Kevin Peacock: 1 – 1. City are a wounded animal as they watch Liverpool runaway with the league. Chelsea play like a bunch of kids… wait… who fear no one.

This game has goals and drama written all over it. I’m tempted by 5-4, but that could never happen in a game between these two, surely. Really, all the pressure is on the light blues in this game. They’ll not want to risk losing more ground in the title race. Frank Lampard may not say it, but he too will be watching and hoping Liverpool slip up. This game will probably come down to two teams not wanting to lose.