Manchester City welcome Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium as fourth meets third in a blockbuster Premier League clash.
Victory for City will lift them above their opposition into third, whereas Chelsea could stay third with a win or move up to second if Leicester lose earlier in the day.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesEderson could return in goal for Manchester City after missing their defeat at Liverpool with an undisclosed injury.
Bernardo Silva is suspended after collecting his fifth yellow card of the season at Anfield, going Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte on sidelines who all have knee injuries.
Chelsea could hand Ross Barkley and Christian Pulisic late fitness tests after recent ankle and groin injuries respectively.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Achilles) and Antonio Rudiger (groin) aren’t match fit but should be available for the festive season.
Marco van Ginkel remains a long-term absentee with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
Form
City enter this match unbeaten in three of their last five league games and have conceded just five goals in five home matches this season.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last six league outings but are yet to keep a clean sheet away from Stamford Bridge.
Stat Attack
- Manchester City have won three of their last five league meetings with Chelsea (W3, L2).
- Only the winning team has scored in each of their last four meetings since Chelsea won 2-1 in April 2017.
- City have lost just one of their last five home clashes against Chelsea (W3, D1, L1), including seven goals without reply in their last two meetings at the Etihad.
- Kurt Zouma has made 50 clearances for Chelsea this season, in comparison to Fernandinho’s 23 for City.
- Sergio Aguero and Tammy Abraham’s are City and Chelsea’s respective top scorers, although both have managed two assists each this season.
Prediction
The Etihad hasn’t been a good place for Chelsea in recent seasons but this is a must-win for both teams, if want to mount a title challenge to Leicester and Liverpool.
I therefore am expecting a good game full of attack given the defensive instability of both teams, which has been telling at times this season.
A high scoring draw is therefore my prediction because both can score plenty but concede plenty too, consequently cancelling each other out.
Prediction: Manchester City 2-2 Chelsea