Antonio Conte's men are looking to get back on track
after a surprise defeat to Crystal Palace but face tough opposition at
Stamford Bridge
The Blues lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace at the weekend and could see the gap between themselves and Tottenham closed to four points if they suffer defeat again.
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They face tough opposition in City, who have held Liverpool and Arsenal to draws of late and end a gruelling run of fixtures against top-six sides in west London.
| Game | Chelsea vs Manchester City |
| Date | Wednesday, April 5, 2017 |
| Time | 20:00 GMT, 15:00 ET |
TV CHANNEL & LIVE STREAM
In the UK, the match will be available to watch live on television on BT Sport 1 and by stream via the BT Sport app.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| BT Sport 1 | BT Sport app |
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| NBCSN | NBC Sports Live |
SQUADS & TEAM NEWS
| Position | Chelsea players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Begovic, Courtois, Eduardo |
| Defenders | Zouma, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Aina, Alonso, Luiz, Ake |
| Midfielders | Fabregas, Hazard, Matic, Willian, Loftus-Cheek, Moses, Kante, Chalobah, Kenedy |
| Forwards | Pedro, Costa, Batshuayi, Solanke |
Chelsea are dealing with a few ongoing issues, and Antonio Conte hinted at concern over another unnamed player in his pre-match press conference. David Luiz has been managing a knee problem - sustained in the reverse fixture as a result of a red-card Sergio Aguero challenge - for much of the season, while Thibaut Courtois is nursing fluid accumulation in his hip and Cesar Azpilicueta is playing with a broken bone in his hand.
Potential starting XI: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Pedro, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Willian, Costa, Hazard.
| Position | Man City players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Caballero, Bravo, Gunn |
| Defenders | Kompany, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Clichy, Otamendi, Stones, Adarabioyo |
| Midfielders | Fernando, Navas, De Bruyne, Delph, Silva, Fernandinho, Toure, Sane, Garcia, Diaz |
| Forwards | Sterling, Aguero, Iheanacho, Nolito |
Pep Guardiola has tended to rotate his side on a regular basis and Aleksandar Kolarov, Yaya Toure and even Vincent Kompany could all be in contention to come into the team.
Potential starting XI: Caballero; Navas, Stones, Kolarov, Clichy; Fernandinho; Sterling, De Bruyne, Silva, Sane; Aguero.
BETTING & GAME ODDS
Chelsea are 7/5 favourites to win at home, which are the longest odds they are likely to be at Stamford Bridge for the remainder of the season. Man City can be backed at 21/10 and the draw is available at 5/2.
Conte does not bear Aguero grudge
Diego Costa is favoured to score first at 4/1, with Sergio Aguero just behind him at 9/2. Eden Hazard and Michy Batshuayi come in next at 13/2.
GAME PREVIEW
While Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte remain in charge these two clubs should remain major forces in the Premier League, and it will be interesting to see how their rivalry develops over the next few years. They account for four of the last seven championships - and soon to be five of eight, you would imagine - but a hatred of the kind that accompanied Manchester United vs Arsenal matches in the early 2000s had not really materialised prior to the current campaign.
Sergio Aguero's shocking tackle on David Luiz in the final minutes of the clash between these two teams at the Etihad Stadium in December threatened to change that, however, and should add an extra edge to their latest meeting.
In their preparation, at least, Chelsea will be more focused on ensuring they do not lose a second game in a row after they were surprisingly beaten by Crystal Palace. They have built up enough of a cushion for that loss not to matter greatly in isolation but another would test their mental resolve down the final stretch.
Conte will need to decide whether to stick with the 3-5-2 formation he tested against Palace or revert to a 3-4-3. Common sense would suggest a return to the formation which has served the Blues so well but the Italian did not seem too upset by his side's performance despite the result, and Cesc Fabregas was influential in a three-man midfield unit alongside N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic.
City have fallen behind Tottenham as a result of a tough run of matches but are managing to avoid defeat, with their last coming in the 4-0 humbling at Everton in January. Next season will be a much bigger one for Guardiola but they still have some work to do to ensure they stay in the Champions League qualification spots.
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