Manuel Akanji, Rodrigo, Bernardo Silva, Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez come in to the team that convincingly beat Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
John Stones, Rico Lewis, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Jack Grealish come out, with all but the injured Stones taking their place on the bench.
Chelsea v City | Match preview
City are looking to make it five Premier League wins in a row against Chelsea having done the double over the west London club in each of the last two campaigns.
We’re in fine form heading in to the match, with five consecutive wins across all competitions.
You can follow the 16:30 (UK) kick-off with radio and text commentary on our Matchday Centre.
Teams
CITY XI: Ederson, Walker (C), Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Foden, Doku, Alvarez, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Kovacic, Grealish, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis
CHELSEA XI: Sanchez, James (C), Disasi, Silva, Cucurella, Fernandez, Caicedo, Gallagher, Palmer, Sterling, Jackson
Subs: Petrovic, Gusto, Maatsen, Badiashile, Ugochukwu, Madueke, Matos, Mudryk, Broja
Tactics
Ederson will be protected by a four-man defence of captain Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji and Josko Gvardiol. Walker will play on the right with Gvardiol on the left and Akanji and Dias between them.
Rodrigo and Bernardo will be in the engine room of midfield with Phil Foden on the right and Jeremy Doku down the left.
Julian Alvarez will play behind central striker Erling Haaland.
Three from 50
Erling Haaland needs three goals in his next 18 games to be the quickest man to 50 Premier League goals.
He has scored 47 in 47 matches having broken the individual record for most goals in a Premier League season during his debut campaign last term.
The Norwegian has 11 in the league this season and again leads the race for the Golden Boot.
Match stats
- Chelsea have lost their last four Premier League meetings with Man City – all by a 1-0 scoreline – since a 2-1 away win in May 2021. The Blues haven’t lost five consecutive league games against an opponent since a run of seven against Blackburn between 1993 and 1996.
- We have won our last three Premier League games away games against Chelsea, as many victories as we had in our previous 22 visits to Stamford Bridge (D5 L14).
- City have won our last six meetings with Chelsea in all competitions by an aggregate score of 10-0 – only against Burnley (8), Fulham (7) and Wigan (7) have they had longer winning runs without conceding.
- Chelsea have lost their last six meetings with Manchester City without scoring – it’s their longest losing run against an opponent without reply, while only against Blackburn (1993-1996) and Huddersfield (1931-1933) have they ever lost seven in a row in general.
- Manchester City won 6-1 against Bournemouth in our last Premier League game. It was the 12th time we had scored six goals in a Premier League game under Pep Guardiola – since 2016-17 when he joined the Club, that is twice as many as any other side has managed (Liverpool, 6).
- Chelsea have lost eight home Premier League matches in 2023, their most ever in a single year in the competition. They have only lost more than eight in five previous years in their league history, most recently in 1986 when they lost 10.
- Since losing against Chelsea and Brighton in May 2021, Manchester City have only lost one of our last 68 Premier League games when we have scored the first goal (W61 D6), winning all eight games this season when we have opened the scoring.
- Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino’s first ever Premier League win came against Man City, when they were reigning champions in February 2013 (3-1 with Southampton). The Argentine won four of his first eight against the Citizens (D1 L3), but is since winless in six against them (D2 L4).
- John Stones completed all 54 of his passes in Man City’s last Premier League game against Bournemouth, the most by an Englishman without misplacing a pass since Harry Maguire in May 2019 for Leicester vs Chelsea (68). Indeed, seven of the last eight instances of an outfield player completing 50+ passes without misplacing one in a Premier League game have been Man City players.
- Jérémy Doku registered four assists in Manchester City’s 6-1 win over Bournemouth on MD11, becoming the first City player to assist four goals in a Premier League game. It took his overall total to five assists in eight Premier League appearances – only Kyle Walker-Peters (five games), Elano (seven) and Faustino Asprilla (seven) have assisted five goals in fewer appearances.
