Manchester City are on an impressive seven-game winning run in all competitions and have a 10-point lead at the summit of the league table when they take on second-placed Chelsea.
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Premier League leaders Manchester City welcome second-placed Chelsea to the Etihad stadium for a lunchtime battle on Saturday. Pep Guardiola’s men currently sit 10 points clear of their upcoming opponents in the standings. Cityzens defeated Arsenal 2-1 in their previous league fixture on New Years eve before thrashing Swindon Town 4-1 in the FA Cup 3rd round encounter last Friday. Meanwhile Chelsea beat Tottenham 1-0 on Wednesday to book their place in the Carabao Cup final.
? @WestHam
Their third consecutive win sees them leapfrog Arsenal into the top four#WHUNOR pic.twitter.com/5x11nD6Igy
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 12, 2022
Manchester City are on an impressive seven-game winning run in all competitions and they will be hoping to extend their lead at the summit of the league table when they take on Thomas Tuchel’s side. Guardiola’s side have scored a stunning 17 goals in their last five games, and that too without a recognised striker for much of the campaign. City averaged three goals per premier league game at the Etihad.
Meanwhile Chelsea edged past Tottenham in the last game courtesy of a lone goal from defender Antonio Rudiger. The Blues went through with an aggregate score of 3-0. A shot at the title against either Liverpool or Arsenal awaits the Blues next month. However, Tuchel’s priority would be to close the gap on the leaders and not to fall behind further.
The Blues could even finish the weekend third should Liverpool get the better of Brentford a day later. Meanwhile they are very impressive on the road, having won six of their last eight top-flight games on the rival turf, conceding only six goals in such games.
As per the reports coming in, City’s seven first-team players have been affected by COVID-19, as well as Guardiola, entering isolation before the Swindon victory, and it remains to be seen how many of the unnamed contingent will be able to return here.
Phil Foden and Oleksadr Zinchenko are believed to be two of the players affected, while Riyad Mahrez is away on international duty representing Algeria at the Africa Cup of nations. Central defender Aymeric Laporte is expected to start ahead of Nathan Ake if John Stones fails to recover from a knock.
For Chelsea, Tuchel has no fresh concerns apart from goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who is on international duty, representing Senegal at Africa Cup of Nations. Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kante have returned from Coronavirus infection and came off the bench against Spurs.
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