Predicted Chelsea line-up vs Manchester City: Estevao benched, Andrey Santos starts

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·2 January 2026

Predicted Chelsea line-up vs Manchester City: Estevao benched, Andrey Santos starts

Chelsea Under-21s head coach Calum McFarlane will be in charge of the first team for Sunday's clash with Manchester City, and he is not expected to make any major tactical changes in the team.

The timing of Chelsea's decision to part ways with former head coach Enzo Maresca has left McFarlane, who has been given the nod to lead the first team against, not much time to prepare.

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He will essentially have been in charge of just one training session by the time Chelsea make the trip, and there is no time to introduce any significant tactical tweaks.

McFarlane is also very familiar with the 4-2-3-1 formation Maresca used at Chelsea, since he often deploys a similar system with the Under-21s.

Robert Sanchez is expected to start as usual, behind the centre-back pairing of Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana.

At right-back, Reece James should be the obvious choice, unless he starts in midfield to fill the void left by Moises Caicedo's suspension.

On the left, both Marc Cucurella and Jorrel Hato, who were absent due to injuries against Bournemouth, took part in Friday's training, but McFarlane admitted that the former remains doubtful for the weekend.

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In midfield, Enzo Fernandez will likely start alongside either James or Andrey Santos, behind Cole Palmer, who is expected to start as a number 10.

On the right flank, Pedro Neto should return to the starting XI, replacing Estevao, who played almost a full game in the Bournemouth draw.

While on the left, it is often a toss-up between Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens. However, the former started in the last three games and seems to be ahead of the latter in the pecking order.

Up front, there is no doubt that Joao Pedro has outperformed Liam Delap so far this season, so the Brazil international is expected to get the nod to start.