Fans of the Premier League are in for a treat this Sunday as the two power houses of English football lock horns in what is expected to be an epic clash.
Although it’s still early in the season, Chelsea’s lead at the top and Manchester City’s determination to ensure it doesn’t stretch further will make the clash tenser than the usual early season clashes.
Here are 5 reasons why we think Chelsea are poised to carry the day:
The Blues are on a run of good form
A team playing that is winning matches automatically begins to have confidence in their ability to overcome any odds. Chelsea hasn’t lost in the Premier League this season, in fact they haven’t drawn. They have won all the matches convincingly, why playing uncharacteristically good football.
Manchester City on the other hand have lost once and drawn once, and have looked a bit shaky so far this season.
And for the first time in a long while, it seems like the Blues will be going into Sunday’s tie as favorites.
Chelsea Possesses a Better Bench
As undervalued as bench players are in the game of football, the whole sport would be functionally inept without them. If a player on the first eleven sustains an injury, is fatigued or playing poorly, a bench player suddenly becomes vital to the tie.
Sometimes, when a match is going poorly, a substitute can come in and change the whole game with a bit of quality and clearly, not every substitute can have such a game defining impact. So the question is, of these two teams, whose bench is likely to make such an impact?
In this scenario, Chelsea seems to have the upper hand with a bench that could contain players like Willian, Salah, Remy, Drogba, Ramires, F.Luis and Cech. All the above listed players could probably contend for a starting spot at a club like Everton or Spurs.
Manchester City on the other hand, with Jovetic injured and Dzeko a doubt with a back problem, have available players as Cabellero, Boyata, Sinclair, Sagna, Nastasic, Lampard and Nasri.
The only player that seems capable of changing the game from this city bench is Sami Nasri.
Jose Mourinho is a Superior Tactician
In head to head meetings between the two managers who have met 10 times, Mourinho has triumphed 7 times, while the Chilean has won twice.
The Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, in over 2 decades as a manager, only won his first major trophy with a European side last year with Manchester City.
He’s stints at Villarreal, Malaga and Real Madrid was unsuccessful as far as trophies were concerned. His only trophies before last season were with River plate and San Lorenzo many years back.
Yaya Toure’s Slump in Form
The Ivorian has come under criticism for his poor form in recent games.
Just recently, he was criticized for his below par performance against German champions Bayern Munich in midweek.
His manager Manuel Pellegrini has come to his defense, stating that the Ivorian was going through a personal struggle with the death of his brother.
At the end of the day, excuses will mean nothing if Manchester City were to lose and subsequently fall 8 points behind the current leaders.
Diego Costa’s excellent form
With Spaniard already netting 7 goals so far, the odds are in his favor to continue his good form. Diego Costa as Chelsea’s leading scorer has outperformed his counterpart Sergio Arguero, who has managed to net just 3 times.
Diego is tipped to win the battle of the goal scorers on Sunday.
All is set for the epic clash, that we will shape the Premier League table either way.
