Tag: Chelsea

Three months on from their riveting 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge, Manchester City and Chelsea renew acquaintances at the Etihad Stadium for a Premier League showdown this  evening.

While the Citizens endeavour to chase down Liverpool at the summit, their West London counterparts are seeking to boost their hopes of securing a top-seven finish.

Fixtures continue to come thick and fast for Man City as they continue their pursuit of another historic treble, but Pep Guardiola’s men have had few problems establishing another one of their trademark winning runs during a crucial period in the second half of the campaign.

Indeed, the Citizens have won each of their last 11 matches across all tournaments, a run which began with success at the Club World Cup in mid-December and was most recently extended courtesy of a 3-1 away victory over Copenhagen in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.

Goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden ensured that Man City would take a two-goal advantage into their second leg on home soil in three weeks’ time; their focus now shift back to the Premier League title race as they attempt to close the two-point gap that separates them in second with leaders Liverpool, who could momentarily move five points clear if they beat Brentford in Saturday’s lunchtime kickoff.

Man City are gearing up for three home fixtures in their next four and will welcome a return to the Etihad where they have not lost any of their last 22 Premier League games. They have also won six of their last eight top-flight home meetings with Saturday’s opponents Chelsea, keeping a clean sheet in five of those victories in the process.

Clean sheets have been hard to come by for the Citizens this season, though, as Guardiola’s side have conceded in 11 of their last 13 Premier League games, and they can ill-afford to show any defensive frailties this weekend against a Chelsea side who fired four goals past them in the reverse fixture and have since netted eight times in their last three games this month.

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Chelsea’s frustratingly inconsistent form has been the catalyst behind their mid-table mediocrity so far this season, and after suffering two four-goal defeats to Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers, the pressure has since somewhat eased on head coach Mauricio Pochettino following two important 3-1 away wins over Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.

Five days after beating Villa in an FA Cup fourth-round replay with arguably their best performance of the season to date, the Blues were staring down the barrel of defeat against Palace on Monday as they trailed at half time after failing to register a single shot on target despite boasting 80% possession at Selhurst Park.

However, Chelsea came out a different side after the interval and their efforts were rewarded as ex-Eagles man Conor Gallagher bookended the second half with a brace, before Enzo Fernandez sealed the victory deep into stoppage time.

Having posted 10 wins, four draws and 10 defeats from 24 Premier League games, few can be surprised to see Chelsea languishing in 10th place, but securing European football for next season remains a possibility for the Blues as they are only two points behind Newcastle United in seventh, and seven points adrift of Manchester United in sixth – two teams Chelsea are still to play on home soil.

Pochettino and co must find consistency quickly if they wish to climb the table, but success on Saturday could prove challenging as they have failed to win any of their last seven meetings with Man City since securing a famous 1-0 triumph in the 2021 Champions League final; the Blues have also alarmingly conceded in 18 of their last 19 Premier League clashes with the Citizens.

For the best part of an hour, Preston performed in a manner that suggested Stamford Bridge could be the scene of some FA Cup magic.

Then Chelsea flexed their muscles and quickly killed off that prospect with three goals in 11 tie-ending minutes before adding a late fourth.

It was looking tricky for Chelsea as they struggled for a long while to break down Ryan Lowe’s Championship side.

They were impressive and Chelsea the opposite.

But their four-goal margin of victory in the end made it an ultimately comfortable win and ideal start to an important few days in the cup competitions which represent Chelsea’s best chance of success this season and getting into Europe next term, which the hierarchy are expecting.

Against Preston it was a place in the fourth round up for grabs.

On Tuesday it is the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals against another second tier side in Middlesbrough and an opportunity to take a giant step towards Wembley.

Eventually and not without difficulty, it was one down for Chelsea and Pochettino.

The first goal was headed in by Armando Broja, an important deadlock-breaking goal for him as well as Chelsea.

The burden for scoring goals, and to prove to Chelsea’s owners they do not yet need to invest in a new striker, will be on his shoulders for the foreseeable future with Nicolas Jackson away at AFCON with Senegal. This was a good start.

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Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling then put the result beyond doubt before Enzo Fernandez made it 4-0 late on.

This was a big occasion for academy defender Alfie Gilchrist who was handed his first start by Pochettino.

His tenacious style had quickly endeared him to Chelsea supporters in his two previous cameos off the bench.

A Cruyff turn to get out of a tight spot and set Chelsea on the attack was another moment to lift he crowd.

It was Gilchrist too whose proactive defending sparked this game into life. A cross-field Preston was intercepted by Gilchrist who was on the front foot and alert.

He traded passes with Raheem Sterling before the England winger saw his eventual shot loop up into the air for Freddie Woodman to grab.

The two sides went on to trade chances during the rest of the half with Preston more than holding their own even if Chelsea unsurprisingly dominated possession.