1) Will candid Conte repeat Chelsea trick?
Antonio Conte returns to the Etihad, a stadium that helped announce him to English football. Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat of Manchester City in December 2016 came midway through the 13-match winning run that seized control of that title race. Like Conte, Pep Guardiola was in his first Premier League season, and his team had no answer to Chelsea’s vigour and power. More than five years on and Guardiola is master of all he surveys, part of the furniture, commanding a bespoke, multifunctional squad. Conte has gained a reputation for blowing up and blowing out when all is not to his satisfaction. His Sky Italia interview this week was explicit in its opinion of Tottenham’s January transfer window. Conte taking on Guardiola in a battle between two of the game’s finest coaches should be an enticing prospect, but the Italian does not appear to believe his squad is capable of making it a contest. JB
