Chelsea (H) - Sat 15th Jan, 12:30 | Pre-Match Thread

[the blue panther]

It’s going to be far far tougher than it seemed like it might be a few weeks ago. Tuchel seems to have refocused after his whinging, excuse-making spell and has made some tactical tweaks. They look good again and are pretty much full strength whereas we’re unsure what our covid situation looks like. Would be another huge win if we can get it.

Not so sure about them 'turning it round' nor being full strength. They won't have their first choice full backs, or wing backs if you prefer, and they've only beaten Brighton, Villa, and a poor Spurs side twice. Liverpool should have beaten them, imho.
I'm not worried about them - they were on better form when we played them at Stamford Bridge - and I feel that, if we play anything like our best, we should win.
I expect them to park a very big bus!

 

[Del_Bosque]

Really looking forward to this, fucking dry Jan off and going into town after.

Helps massively that Kepa will be in net

 

[daflanger]

Given the choice - I think I'd take a point now.

Keeps the 10 point gap between us and Chelsea and i'm sure Liverpool will drop points in their next 3 games

Our next 3 are - Southampton, Brentford and Norwich which I'm confident we will get 9 points from.

I am happy with this cause most of our players will be just about coming back from COVID. But a win for us will be even sweeter!

 

[andyhinch]

Really looking forward to this, fucking dry Jan off and going into town after.

Helps massively that Kepa will be in net

I’m doing exactly the same, can’t wait.

 

[Vialli98]

Not so sure about them 'turning it round' nor being full strength. They won't have their first choice full backs, or wing backs if you prefer, and they've only beaten Brighton, Villa, and a poor Spurs side twice. Liverpool should have beaten them, imho.
I'm not worried about them - they were on better form when we played them at Stamford Bridge - and I feel that, if we play anything like our best, we should win.
I expect them to park a very big bus!

Who else should we have beaten? The league fixture list is the same for everyone. City have only beaten Brentford, Leeds, Newcastle , Wolves and a decent Arsenal side who deserved at least a draw from the same in recent weeks. I'd argue we lve turned a corner, not because Tuchel has done anything special tweaking but because we have gotten Jorginho, Kante and Kovacic fit again. We have stopped shipping goals, we're dominating games in a controlled manner again because we have our first choice midfielders back again.

Not that any of this will count for much on Saturday. I think we'll lose the game narrowly but as always I'm hopping for a surprise result

 

[Bazzmand Show]

Really looking forward to this, fucking dry Jan off and going into town after.

Helps massively that Kepa will be in net

2 weeks is a solid effort, I lasted about 3 or 4 days....

 

[BerkshireBlue]

If Lukaku plays then it's pretty much a city win. To be honest it's a city win anyway

 

[lionheart]

This game has a cautious 0-0 written all over it. Did you see the strength of the Chelsea bench at Spurs last night? How many top players have they lost to AFCON? Will be happy to share the points.

 

[Manchester33]

This game has a cautious 0-0 written all over it. Did you see the strength of the Chelsea bench at Spurs last night? How many top players have they lost to AFCON? Will be happy to share the points.

I disagree. Even if we lose we're still in a brilliant position. It's essentially a free hit for us to throw everything at Chelsea and destroy their small title aspirations. Go all out, try to batter them and then enjoy a nice long rest before the next game.

 

[alexmcity]

Who else should we have beaten? The league fixture list is the same for everyone. City have only beaten Brentford, Leeds, Newcastle , Wolves and a decent Arsenal side who deserved at least a draw from the same in recent weeks. I'd argue we lve turned a corner, not because Tuchel has done anything special tweaking but because we have gotten Jorginho, Kante and Kovacic fit again. We have stopped shipping goals, we're dominating games in a controlled manner again because we have our first choice midfielders back again.

Not that any of this will count for much on Saturday. I think we'll lose the game narrowly but as always I'm hopping for a surprise result

Fans hate to worry and prefer to be optimistic. Sometimes we invent reasons to be optimistic by underestimating the opposition. Some on here were guilty of that before the CL final in Porto.

However, this City team, when it is in form anyway, is so strong that it is pointless to underestimate the opposition in order to feel optimistic. Personally, I think Chelsea are one of the very best teams in Europe and can be very hard to beat most of the time. But if one has carefully watched our games with Chelsea in September, Liverpool in October and PSG in November should know that this City at their very best can be a level above some of the strongest teams in the world. So, while I think that Chelsea have top players and a top manager, I'm optimistic that City will put in an excellent performance on Saturday, injuries and covid permitting. The outcome is never a certainty, though. We may play outstanding football and still draw or lose. The Centurions lost vs Wigan, ffs. It's football, the opposition always has a chance to get a result.