Chelsea – Manchester City

Chelsea and Manchester City will face off at Stamford Bridge in the most anticipated Premier League clash this weekend. The two teams are separated by 1 point, with Chelsea being placed 5th and Manchester City 6th.

Chelsea is playing fantastic football at the moment. After a shaky start, now everybody seems to be on the same page and the tactical cohesion has improved, Mourinho finally implementing his ideas. Chelsea has 6 wins and 1 draw in the last 7 matches, the only hiccup being a 1-1 at Tottenham in a match they arguably deserved to win. Much of Chelsea`s recent success can be attributed to the fantastic line of 3 attacking midfielders behind striker Torres, where The Blues have so many world class options: Hazard, Willian, Schurrle, De Bruyne, van Ginkel, Mata or Oscar. Chelsea defeated Schalke 3-0 in Germany in Champions League after easily dispatching Cardiff 4-1 at home in the last Premier League game.

Manchester City also had to adjust to a new manager, Pellegrini being brought in from Malaga to finally replace Roberto Mancini. Pellegrini is an offensive manager and has implemented a very attacking style of play. City made some fantastic signings in the offensive setup over the summer: Navas, Negredo or Jovetic, but the back line remains pretty shaky with the current center-back pairing of Nastasic and Lescott. City won the last three games in all competitions, including a 2-1 win at Moscow against CSKA midweek.

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Team news & lineups

Chelsea is close to full strength, though van Ginkel remains sidelined. The only new injury worry is Ashley Cole, who is doubtful but should play. City will miss Kompany and Demichelis, so both teams are almost at their best for today`s game.

Manchester City: Hart – Zabaleta, Lescott, Nastasic, Clichy – Fernandinho, Toure – Milner, Aguero, Silva – Negredo.

City has been playing all out attack football this season under Pellegrini and it comes as little surprise that their last 8 games have all had at least 3 goals, while 6 of them have had at least 4 goals. Chelsea themselves are very strong up front with their amazing supporting cast behind striker Torres, and the Blues are on a run of 4 consecutive over 2,5 matches, scoring at least 3 times in each of those matches. You have to say that these are some insane statistics. The last encounter between the two saw City pick up a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup in April this year.

Chelsea looks to be in better form at the moment and you get a pretty good price for Mourinho`s men to triumph against City, but a bet on goals seems to be the safer and more logical option. Both teams are fantastic up front and they will look for a win in order to close the gap to Arsenal, who is already 5 points clear of Chelsea and 6 points clear of City. Both sides are at full strength in attack and have scored at will in the last weeks, while also conceding goals, especially the visitors. Chelsea looks sure to score with their attacking capabilities, form, and City`s defense. The hosts are better at the back but Manchester surely has the required offensive strength to score at least once themselves. Premier League derbies are usually spectacular, high scoring affairs (though this season it has not really been so). All in all we really have all the arguments to bet on goals here and I don`t see any reason to avoid wagering high stakes on the over 2,5. My pick is Chelsea – Manchester City 2-1 or 3-2.

Pick: over 2,5 goals
Odds: 1.79 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 7.1
Event date: 27 October

Editor Facts

• Rostick is 3 for 4 in tips involving Chelsea this season