The headline fixture of the Premier League’s opening weekend comes from west London today as Chelsea meet Manchester City.
These two sides have already met once this summer on their respective pre-season tours of the USA, with Erling Haaland’s hat-trick helping the reigning champions to a commanding 4-2 victory in Columbus, Ohio earlier this month.
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It’s quite the baptism of fire for Enzo Maresca in his first competitive match in charge of Chelsea since being hired from Leicester to replace the one-and-done Mauricio Pochettino in June, with pre-season having been a struggle.
The Blues won just one of their six total friendlies, suffering heavy losses to both City and Celtic as well as being beaten by Real Madrid and failing to defeat third-tier Wrexham as well as Inter Milan.
City also lost to both Celtic and AC Milan and drew with Barcelona to go along with that thumping win over Chelsea, though will be high on confidence after edging out Manchester United on penalties to lift the Community Shield at Wembley last weekend.
Once again Pep Guardiola’s side go into a new campaign as strong title favourites and very much still the team to beat, having won an unprecedented four consecutive league championships and six out of the last seven.
For Chelsea, it’s the start of yet another new era amidst another hectic transfer window as they desperately try and return to contention, having ended up sixth last term only following a late renaissance that ultimately was not enough for Pochettino.
Date, kick-off time and venue
Chelsea vs Man City is scheduled for a 4:30pm BST kick-off time today, Sunday August 18, 2024.
The match will take place at Stamford Bridge in west London.
Where to watch Chelsea vs Man City
TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage beginning at 4pm - after the conclusion of the London derby between Brentford and Crystal Palace.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the Sky Go app.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog.
Chelsea vs Man City team news
Your first Chelsea XI for 24/25. 💙#CFC | #CHEMCI pic.twitter.com/4ap2nzIa9W
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 18, 2024
Your first City XI of the 24/25 #PL season! 🩵
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 18, 2024
XI | Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Doku, Savinho, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Walker, Stones, Ake, Grealish, Nunes, Foden, O'Reilly, McAtee#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/xPrBjDQzN2
Chelsea vs Man City prediction
You should of course never read too much into pre-season form and results, while Chelsea matched City well in every match they played against them last term.
However, despite that, it’s not hard to see this being a very tough start indeed to the Maresca era.
Chelsea’s frustrating summer campaign was littered with alarming defensive woes that will be fully punished again by Haaland and Co if repeated this weekend.
The Blues showed enough in pre-season to suggest that they will create plenty of chances, but they will also likely concede plenty of goals and despite another big-spending transfer window so far still don’t have a quality out-and-out striker to capitalise on the opportunities that will be presented.
Man City to win, 3-1.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
This match was an absolute classic last season, with Cole Palmer’s dramatic stoppage-time penalty securing a thrilling 4-4 draw against his former club in the November rain at Stamford Bridge.
The return fixture at the Etihad Stadium ended 1-1 after Rodri’s late equaliser, before City beat Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley in April thanks to Bernardo Silva’s late goal.
City had previously won six on the bounce against Chelsea, who have not won a game against the champions since May 2021.
Chelsea wins: 71
Man City wins: 66
Draws: 41
Chelsea vs Man City match odds
Chelsea to win: 29/10
Man City to win: 10/11
Draw: 29/10
