MY ACCOUNT
– City have won their last 15 home games in all competitions
– Chelsea have lost all three previous games vs City this season to zero
– Recommended bets: Over 2.5 Man City goals Riyad Mahrez anytime goalscorer
The treble is calling for Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City team and they can complete the first part of the trophy trilogy on Sunday by wrapping up the Premier League title.
A win over Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium will clinch the Citizens a third successive Premier League title, a feat only achieved by their Manchester neighbours in the past.
They could already be champions come kick-off should Arsenal lose to Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening. Chelsea could ruin those plans, but the last time they beat City was in the 2021 Champions League final.
The Blues have dramatically fallen off the pace since then and head to Manchester having won only one of their last 11 games in all competitions.
Team news
Guardiola is expected to freshen up his team following Wednesday’s remarkable 4-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second leg.
City’s only injury concern is Nathan Ake, who is carrying a thigh issue.
Chelsea have a lengthy injury list with as many as eight players potentially unavailable to interim boss Frank Lampard.
Kalidou Koulibaly, Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante are all significant doubts, while Benoit Badiashile, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Mason Mount and Marc Cucurella are out.
The stats
Manchester City have won their last 11 Premier League games, comfortably seeing off Everton 3-0 last weekend.
Their winning run at home is even better with Wednesday’s victory over Real Madrid making it 15 victories on the spin at the Etihad Stadium, a sequence that started with a 4-0 success against Chelsea in the FA Cup in January.
That win over Chelsea and the demolition of Real are two of the 21 wins City have achieved by three or more goals this season, seven more than anyone else in Europe.
City have already beaten Chelsea three times this season, eliminating them from the EFL Cup and FA Cup, while winning the reverse league fixture 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have lost their last five meetings against City, all without scoring, and have never lost six in a row to the same side without scoring in the club’s history.
Chelsea have taken four points from their last two games against Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, two sides below them in the table.
When facing sides above them in the standings, Chelsea have failed to win their last 14 games, losing 10 of those outings.
Prediction
Optimistic Chelsea fans might point to Frank Lampard overseeing Everton’s 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium earlier in the season, but that result appears an anomaly.
City should win this comfortably, but those searching for value on such a result may struggle to find it, except when it comes to the number of goals City might score.
City have averaged over three goals per game at home in the league this season and need just one more to become only the fourth side in Premier League history to score 60 home goals in a season.
Chelsea’s injury-hit defence, which recently shipped three goals at Arsenal, will struggle to cope and the Blues could once again be tormented by Riyad Mahrez.
The Algerian has scored four goals in this season’s three games against Chelsea, taking his career tally against the west London side to eight.
Mahrez has been the provider rather than a scorer of late, registering five assists in four games, but could get on the scoresheet here.
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