On this Saturday, in the Premier League will take place some intriguing matches. One of them will be between two serious contenders to win the title, pre-season favorites, but currently disappointing teams in the local standings - Chelsea and Manchester City. Eurofootball.com presents the preview of these matches.
Chelsea vs Manchester City
Time and place of the match: on April 16 at 7:30 pm at "Stamford Bridge" stadium in London;
Referee: Mike Dean;
Head-to-head history: Chelsea won 64 matches, Manchester City won 51 matches, and 39 matches ended in a draw;
Team form: Chelsea (1 win, 1 draw, 3 losses), Manchester City (3 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss);
Tournament situation: After 33 rounds, Manchester City is in fourth place with 57 points, while Chelsea, with 44 points, is in tenth place in the Premier League. Leicester City is currently leading the standings with 72 points.
Team news:
Chelsea:
Diego Costa, who completed a three-match suspension, will return to the team. Nemanja Matic and Gary Cahill have recovered from injuries and will be ready for the match. However, John Terry, Eden Hazard, and Loic Remy will still miss the game due to injuries.
Manchester City:
Vincent Kompany will still be absent from the team, and he might return in the next week's match. Raheem Sterling has returned to training, but it is unclear if he will be registered for this match.
Key facts before the match:
Chelsea has only lost one of their last 17 home matches against City (11 wins, 5 draws);
In their last match at Stamford Bridge in February, Chelsea won 5-1. However, it was an 'FA Cup' match, so City didn't field their strongest lineup;
Chelsea's recent loss to Swansea in the last round ended their 15-match unbeaten streak in the league. Guus Hiddink has not lost two consecutive league matches since February 2004 when he was at PSV;
Chelsea has not lost at home when Hiddink is in charge (6 wins, 7 draws). However, during the second spell as a coach at Stamford Bridge, they have drawn in four out of seven matches;
Chelsea has conceded goals in nine consecutive home matches - the longest such streak in the Premier League. The last time they conceded in ten consecutive home matches was in November 1970;
City won two consecutive league matches for the first time since October last year. They last won three matches in a row at the start of the season, securing five consecutive wins;
Manuel Pellegrini's team lost only one of their last seven away matches (3 wins, 3 draws);
In the last five league matches, City conceded only two goals. Before this run, they had conceded eight goals in three matches;
Kevin De Bruyne has contributed to 27 City goals this season (15 goals, 12 assists), the best result in the team, equaled only by Sergio Aguero.
Other Premier League matches on Saturday:
14:45 Norwich - Sunderland
17:00 Everton - Southampton
17:00 Manchester United - Aston Villa
17:00 Newcastle United - Swansea
17:00 West Brom - Watford
