Manchester City vs Chelsea
This was meant to be a New Year clash between two title contenders, two already big clubs who have become Premier League giants since being taken over by billionaires.
Indeed, the arrivals of Roman Abramovich (2003) and Sheikh Mansour (2008) completely changed the landscape of the English game, and you will find very few (although they do exist) fans of Chelsea or Manchester City who will regret what has happened to their heroes ever since.
Sunday’s meeting at the Etihad Stadium (the clue is in the name), however, is taking second billing right now to what has happened on the sidelines in recent days.
Talking Points
In the home corner is Pep Guardiola, who is approaching a decade in charge at City during which time he has won everything there is to offer.
In the away corner was Enzo Maresca, Guardiola’s assistant during the most successful season of his tenure (2022-23) and a man tipped in recent weeks to replace his compatriot when he eventually decides to call it a day.
Chelsea, though, now comes into this one with a rookie at the helm after the club and the Italian parted ways.
The fact that Maresca largely underachieved during his 18 months in west London doesn’t surprise me.
These pages have shown that I didn’t really rate their achievements all that highly last season.
Sure, they qualified for the Champions League by finishing fourth in the Premier League and then went on to win the Europa Conference League. Given their financial outlay, that was a pretty mediocre return.
Rather than label them as “flat-track bullies”, however, I was more impressed with their success in the World Club Championship (albeit more of a summer soiree than a major tournament).
Yet when the time to start accurately judging Chelsea arrived, they didn’t really progress during his tenure. Fifth place in the current table, 15 points off the top, at the halfway stage of the season proves that point.
Maresca’s supporters will argue that predecessors Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel, and Graham Potter all struggled to work within Chelsea’s set-up post Abramovich, who sold the club to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital in 2022, the private equity firm run by Eghbali and José E. Feliciano.
But as the Athletic website noted, from the moment Maresca described the 48 hours leading up to a Premier League win over Everton in mid-December as “the worst” of his career at Chelsea (swiftly followed by reports of City sizing him up as a Guardiola replacement), the countdown to his exit began.
New Year’s Day’s mutual parting of ways seemed inevitable, and Chelsea now go in search of some early Premier League 2026 highlights with Calum McFarlane, Chelsea’s under-21s head coach, as interim manager.
Never has an appointment better demonstrated a club that is not operating the way any well-run organisation should.
The fact that McFarlane’s training ground pass had to be amended to grant him access to the club’s press conference room on Friday morning just adds weight to the view that chaos has overshadowed the west Londoners in recent years.
That they are also without their driving force, Moises Caciedo, who is suspended this weekend, means Chelsea have an even more uphill task.
It’s City, four points off the top, who will win this for me, even without Savinho and Nico Gonzalez, who they lost to injury during the goalless draw at Sunderland on New Year’s Day.
History
Nine of the last 11 matches have all been City victories. That includes a league double last term when goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic secured an opening weekend success at Stamford Bridge in Maresca’s first game in charge of Chelsea.
The return fixture in Manchester went the way of the hosts too as Josko Gvardiol, Haaland, and Phil Foden netted in a 3-1 win.
Chelsea have not defeated City since the 2021 Champions League Final – a six-week period in which they also beat them in the league and the FA Cup semi-final.
They were two very different clubs when they first met back in 1907 in the former Division One. Billy Brawn and George Hilsdon were the Chelsea scorers on that occasion in a 2-2 draw.
Overall, City have 68 successes compared to 71 Chelsea triumphs and 41 draws.
Betting Tip
The SBOTOP Premier League 2026 betting odds predict another 3-1 City success @ 11.00 with Correct Score. That has tempted me, but I am going to be straightforward than that.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT)
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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