Chelsea vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City make a long-awaited return to league action on Sunday as Pep Guardiola’s men travel to the capital to take on Chelsea, in a fixture that could be monumental in the context of the title race.

At the weekend, the Blues secured a resounding victory in the FA Cup quarter-final, producing a five-star display and dismantling Arne Slot’s Liverpool by four goals to nil at the Etihad Stadium as Erling Haaland netted his 12th Manchester City hat-trick.

The Norwegian opened his account in the 39th minute, as Nico O’Reilly drew a foul from Virgil Van Dijk inside the 18-yard box, allowing Haaland to dispatch seamlessly past Giorgi Mamardashvili from the spot and give City the lead in the tie.

Just eight minutes later, some intricate football between Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo enabled the latter to get to the byline and lift in an inch-perfect cross for Haaland, who leapt onto the ball and nodded superbly into the Liverpool net.

The sky blue onslaught wasn’t finished there, however. Just five minutes into the second period, a flawless Rayan Cherki pass slipped Antoine Semnyo in behind the visitors’ defence, and the Ghanaian showed excellent composure, lifting a delicate finish over Mamardashvili.

With 57 minutes on the clock, a clever one-two between Jeremy Doku and Nico O’Reilly forced the Liverpool defence to commit to closing down the Englishman, giving him the opportunity to tease a great cross into the box for Haaland to fire home into a gaping net.

That victory not only saw City earn the right of passage to Wembley for the second time this campaign but also completed a treble of wins over the Merseyside giants by an aggregate scoreline of 9-1.

Now, all focus returns solely to Premier League action as Manchester City are faced with the challenge of chasing down Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in the race for the title, with the Gunners currently nine points clear at the summit of the table.

Next up for Pep Guardiola and his players in their bid to return to their throne is a tough task against Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as the season reaches its climax and every game is of immense importance.

In their last outing, Chelsea also progressed to the FA Cup semi-final, defeating League One side Port Vale by a merciless score of 7-0 and ending a torrid run of four consecutive losses across competitions.

Rosenior’s men currently sit sixth in the Premier League and will be desperate for a result against the Citizens in order to bolster their hopes of UEFA Champions League football next campaign.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this huge clash of titans in the Premier League this weekend!

Match Details

Chelsea host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Sunday, 12 April, with kick-off scheduled for 16:30 (BST).

Match Officials

The football association has confirmed that Chris Kavanagh will be the man in the middle for Chelsea vs Manchester City in match week 32 of the Premier League season.

Check out the full list of match officials HERE!

Team News

For the hosts, the list of those residing in the medical room is particularly extensive. Goalkeeper Filip Jorgenson is ruled out through a groin issue, whilst central defensive pairing Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah are also absent as they recover from respective knee and ankle injuries.

Both Reece James and Jamie Gittens are also set to be sidelined for Sunday’s match as both are nursing hamstring problems.

Vice-captain Enzo Fernandez is also unavailable for selection after facing an internal disciplinary suspension by Chelsea following comments made by the Argentine midfielder on international duty.

For Manchester City, there are no new additions to the injury list, as the only absentees remain the centre-back trio of John Stones, who picked up a calf issue on international duty, Ruben Dias, who is still sidelined with a hamstring injury, and Josko Gvardiol – who continues his road to recovery following a leg bone fracture.

Head To Head

In the last fixture between these two, a 1-1 stalemate played out at the Etihad Stadium in January as a first-half goal by Tijjani Reijnders was cancelled out through an Enzo Fernadez equaliser, as Chelsea’s No.8 forced the ball home from close range in the 94th minute.

In the last meeting at Sunday’s venue, Manchester City ran out 0-2 victors on the opening day of the last campaign as Erling Haaland and former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic both got themselves on the scoresheet.

Historically, City have narrowly edged the fixture, as in the last 168 matches between the pair, the Sky Blues have emerged victorious 64 times, drawing 42 and losing the remaining 62.

Statistics

Chelsea are winless in their last nine Premier League games against Man City (D3 L6) since a 2-1 away win in May 2021.

Manchester City have won four of their last five away Premier League games against Chelsea (D1), as many as they had in their previous 26 league visits to Stamford Bridge (D8, L14).

Chelsea have lost both of their last two Premier League games, a 0-1 defeat to Newcastle and a 0-3 loss to Everton. The Blues last lost three in a row in May 2023 (4) and last did so without scoring in March 1998 (4).

Manchester City have drawn both of their last two Premier League games, despite scoring first each time (2-2 v Nottingham Forest, 1-1 v West Ham). The Citizens haven’t scored first in three successive matches in the competition without going on to win any since December 2003/January 2004 under Kevin Keegan.

After winning each of their first four Premier League games under Liam Rosenior, Chelsea have since won just one of their last six (D2 L3). Since the start of this period (February 10th, a 2-2 draw with Leeds), only Leeds (4) and Tottenham Hotspur (1) have fewer points in the competition than the Blues (5).

Manchester City have won 28 of their last 31 Premier League games in the month of April (D2 L1). Under Pep Guardiola, the Citizens average 2.50 points per game in the competition in April (P38 W30 D5 L3), the highest rate of any team to play 15+ matches in a specific month under a manager; in second place is also Guardiola’s Man City side in May (2.47).

How To Watch

For United Kingdom-based viewers, the game is available to stream on Sky Sports with action underway from 16:30 BST.

For those in the United States, the fixture will kick off at 11:30 EDT and can be streamed through USA Network.

Check out the full global TV listings HERE!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout matchday, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk!