Chelsea at Manchester City score predictions: A tough title bout

Chelsea travels up to Manchester to take on the Sky Blues as it looks to close the gap between itself and the Premier League leaders. Manchester City is currently running away with what would be its fourth league title in the last five seasons. Pep Guardiola’s men currently hold a 10-point advantage over the reigning Champions of Europe, despite trailing in the table for much of the campaign at the beginning. The Citizens handed Thomas Tuchel’s team its first loss of the 2021/22 domestic season and if they are able to take three points from this one, they’ll all but dub themselves champions elect.

The Blues, on the other hand, have strung together a nice little unbeaten run recently. They’re through to the final of the Carabao Cup—a competition often won by Saturday’s hosts—with a dominant two-legged victory over rival Tottenham Hotspur. They will look to continue that fine form and some recent tactical changes have made them more unpredictable in this contest. The Etihad Stadium will play host to a clash of epic proportions between the reigning English and European champions. It’s one versus two in the table as these footballing giants square off.

Here is how The Pride of London team sees the contest playing out:

Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 1-1 Draw

Chelsea should be able to win if it can get the ball off Man City. It would be a big ask to expect the Blues to leave the Etihad with three points given all of their injuries, but it’s not impossible. A draw would not be upsetting though.

Leighton September: 1-2 Chelsea

This is gonna be a very tough battle between the top two teams in world football. The Blues were given a football lesson by Guardiola in the reverse match at the Bridge. Tuchel admitted he got the approach and tactics wrong in his pre-match press conference. It’s a huge match for sure. If Chelsea wins, the title battle is still alive. However, a Man City victory and that all but seals the Premier League title destination for the year (once again). I back the Blues to do what they did last season and sneak a 2-1 win again.

Mike Malley: 2-2 Draw

Even with the title race all but wrapped up for Guardiola’s side, the Blues will want to put in a good showing amid fierce competition for the second spot in the table. Dropping points against the reigning league champions wouldn’t be the worst result in the world (especially considering how poor Liverpool looked without Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in the League Cup) and the Etihad has certainly been a difficult ground for visiting sides this season. At the very least, let the supporters and neutrals alike be entertained.

Barrett Rouen: 2-3 Chelsea

It’s either this or 3-2 us. I have a hard time thinking there’s any chance we’ll keep a clean sheet.

Olly Smith: 1-1 Draw

Chelsea looked superb for the most part against a weak Tottenham, but even Spurs found some gaps. Man City is a far better outfit than Antonio Conte’s men. Tuchel is stuck between playing someone with Romelu Lukaku up top and sacrificing defensive solidarity, or risk leaving the Belgian isolated. Neither is appetizing but a loss is catastrophic for Chelsea’s title bid. Since Tuchel beat Guardiola three times in a row with a single striker up top, expect to see that same tactical approach in a must-not-lose game.

Anthony Gatt: 1-1 Draw

This is a must win game in order to have any hope about remaining in the title race. But at full-time, I see a 1-1 draw at the Etihad as the best result the Blues will get.

Gabe Henderson: 0-1 Chelsea

The reality of the situation is Chelsea simply needs this point to have any hope there is a shot at the title. A win would close the gap to seven and although Man City is unlikely to drop seven points for the remainder of the year, it’d be encouraging to the Blues after a tough stretch of results lately. The edge here goes to the visitors in my opinion because Guardiola has missed training this week and the Citizens are without a few players due to COVID-19. Chelsea steps up and leaves Manchester with three points and a nice little streak on its hands.

Kevin Peacock: 2-2 Draw

These types of games are so tough to call. I always find it tough to not predict a win, a loss forecast is a definite no. Chelsea has still only lost three times this season, so it is no walk-over. The Blues are second in the league and into the final of the Carabao Cup, things are going pretty good thus far. In recent seasons, Chelsea normally steps up to the plate in the big games, and against Man City, has done pretty well as of late. Expect goals and a degree of retribution for Lukaku, who grabs one goal, with Mason Mount getting the other.

What is your score prediction? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!