Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City continue to charge towards a possible quadruple trophy-winning season after surviving a stern test from Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League but attention now turns to something closer to home as City face a Chelsea side in hot form under Thomas Tuchel, losing just once.
Manchester City Look to Complete Quadruple
Chelsea Out to Stop City Quadruple Chances
Chelsea rested several key players on Tuesday night, while Manchester City started a full-strength squad without Sergio Aguero. Manchester City showed vulnerability last time out against Leeds United as the frontline of Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus turned in a disaster class as the pair have only one goal between them despite 29 shots. Goalkeeper Ederson has also come for some criticism making errors and showing shaky signs when under pressure.
Chelsea has improved ten-folds under Thomas Tuchel with the occasional slip-ups like their 5-2 loss to West Bromwich Albion. Granted they were playing with ten men losing to a bottom of the table team is a brutal loss. Slips-up happens in football with both sides losing in the league in recent times and both will be hoping to replicate their form in the Champions League if they stand a chance to progress to the final.
Manchester City are likely to be without Sergio Aguero who loves playing against the Blues scoring ten times in 15 matches. City have the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan despite Aguero’s absence and both will need to continue to show they can step up when needed most.
However, with the Blues hard to break down and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has been phenomenal in cup competitions and taken his game to another level. Mason Mount, Olivier Giroud and Jorginho have also been vital to the success of Chelsea this season.Â
The Forgotten Tie: Southampton vs Leicester City
Ever since Southampton‘s 9-0 loss to Manchester United they have been in a free fall in the Premier League. They were able to reach the semi-finals by beating teams of lesser quality. Playing a quality team in Leicester City will be a daunting challenge. The first goal will become an important factor with the Foxes also in some inconsistent form and have been conceding goals early this season.
For example, they went down 3-0 to West Ham United and their comeback fell short losing 3-2 on Sunday. Both teams are in some form of a downward spiral and a win here and chance to win some silverware could perform a good push in the Premier League to upturn this poor form.
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