Chelsea Sunday’s match is on neutral territory, of course, but their recent record when leaving the Bridge does not bode well and Chelsea have already lost three times at Wembley this season – in the Community Shield against Man City and twice against Tottenham Hotspur.Defeat would not come as a surprise to most, but the manner of it could prove telling for Sarri’s future – if they meekly surrender as they did at the Etihad Stadium then Chelsea’s notoriously trigger-happy board might be forced into action.Victory, however, may just be enough to stave off the looming shadow of proposed successor Zinedine Zidane and bring a positive end to a difficult week for Chelsea which has seen them hit with a two-window transfer ban.
Manchester City currently sit top of the Premier League table, face lower-league opposition in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and boast an away first-leg lead in the last 16 of the Champions League, so further progression on all fronts looks likely.The champions are also big favourites to come out on top against Chelsea on Sunday, due in a large part to the way they dismantled the same opponents so easily a fortnight ago.
Watch stream open: Link
Chelsea lineup:
Caballero; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Barkley; Willian, Higuain, Hazard
Man City lineup:
Muric; Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, D Silva; Bernardo, Aguero, Sterling
Head-to-head matches: CHELSEA – MANCHESTER CITY
10.02.19 PL Manchester City Chelsea 6 : 0
08.12.18 PL Chelsea Manchester City 2 : 0
05.08.18 CS Chelsea Manchester City 0 : 2
04.03.18 PL Manchester City Chelsea 1 : 0
30.09.17 PL Chelsea Manchester City 0 : 1
Last matches: CHELSEA
18.02.19 FAC Chelsea Manchester Utd 0 : 2
15.02.19 EL Malmo FF Chelsea 1 : 2
10.02.19 PL Manchester City Chelsea 6 : 0
02.02.19 PL Chelsea Huddersfield 5 : 0
30.01.19 PL Bournemouth Chelsea 4 : 0
Last matches: MANCHESTER CITY
16.02.19 FAC Newport Co Manchester City 1 : 4
10.02.19 PL Manchester City Chelsea 6 : 0
06.02.19 PL Everton Manchester City 0 : 2
03.02.19 PL Manchester City Arsenal 3 : 1
30.01.19 PL Newcastle Manchester City 2 : 1