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Chelsea v Man City
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Kick Off: Sunday 18th August at 16:30
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Competition: Premier League
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Watch Live: Sky Sports Main Event
Champions Manchester City begin their title defence with a tricky tie at Chelsea on Sunday, in what is undoubtedly the marquee fixture of the opening weekend of the new Premier League campaign.
After another summer of upheaval at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea supporters are preparing to usher in a new era under the leadership of Enzo Maresca, while Pep Guardiola will be aiming to steer City’s much steadier ship towards a fifth consecutive Premier League crown this season.
This is the first time since 1972 that Chelsea will start a new season with a game against England’s reigning champions and priced as 4.00 underdogs, the markets suggest the Blues will struggle to pass their tough opening test.
With the Premier League returning this weekend, our catalogue of football betting predictions has you covered for all of the action. Ensure that you take a look at our range of Premier League betting tips, which includes our Premier League accumulator tips and our expert’s both teams to score tips.
While you are here, our card betting tips, player shots on target tips, and fouls betting predictions are well worth the look, particularly for those looking to place bet builders. Our Chelsea v Man City bet builder tips also provide great insight into Sunday’s afternoon clash.
Chelsea v Man City Best Bets
Chelsea used a counter-attacking strategy to take points off City twice last season, though there is a decent amount of guesswork around how the new-look Blues will approach Sunday’s task.
What we do know is that new manager Enzo Maresca – who has previously spent time under Guardiola in Manchester – tends to favour a more possession-based approach and that could play into the champion’s hands.
City, who are unbeaten in nine previous meetings with Chelsea in all competitions, were a cut above the Londoners just 13 days ago (4-2), and while extracting concrete conclusions from friendly games can be tricky, the Blues named a close to full strength XI in Ohio and were still thoroughly outclassed.
On that evidence and with Chelsea likely to take time to settle under Maresca, City look like outstanding value at 1.75 to win at their host’s expense at Stamford Bridge. City have won their opening Premier League match in 12 of the last 13 seasons, and we’re backing that trend to continue.
Elsewhere, Erling Haaland is a similarly attractive prospect at 1.91 in the anytime goalscorer stakes.
We won’t win any points for creativity by tipping Haaland to net, however, he scored a hattrick inside an hour against a first-choice Chelsea backline in the USA on August 3rd and twice against the Blues on his last visit to Stamford Bridge.
Haaland, who also scored twice in each of City’s first Premier League fixtures of the previous two campaigns, is a proven fast starter and the Norwegian can find gaps to exploit in a vulnerable-looking Chelsea defence. For an alternative in the same niche, consider backing Haaland to have at least two shots on target at the same price (1.91).
📂 Chelsea v Man City Cheat Sheet
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You can find even more match stats for this match on my bet builder stats tool, along with official line-ups one hour before kick-off.
Check out our list of the best Premier League free bet offers, best betting sites for accumulators and the top bet builder sites. In order to help you bet smarter, we have also collected a list of the best free bet offers, weekly free bet clubs, and best UK sports betting sites.
We aim to make our readers better punters, and guides such as our xG in football article are available on-site to help you take your research to the next level. Other useful pieces include our guide to betting on corners, and our tips for how to bet on the fouls won market.
📊 Chelsea Form and Stats
Enzo Maresca became Chelsea’s fourth permanent manager in as many years when he signed on the dotted line at Stamford Bridge this summer, and the 44-year-old will be tasked with masterminding an improvement on The Blues’ sixth-place Premier League finish in 2023/24.
It seemed like Maresca’s predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino, was finally onto something when Chelsea lost only one of their last 15 Premier League fixtures last term, however, the Argentinean was still sacked, knocking the Blues back to square one yet again.
Chelsea have embarked on yet another aggressive recruitment drive this summer and their number of ins and outs will top 20 before the window shuts. The influx of new faces last year meant the Blues lacked chemistry and tactical fluidity in the opening months of the 2023/24 campaign and Maresca is likely to face similar issues.
The Blues managed to win only once in six attempts in pre-season and Maresca deployed his troops in a 4-2-3-1 formation in the final four of those friendlies, which suggests that should be his favoured system against City.
Chelsea will look to Cole Palmer for inspiration again this term. The 22-year-old lodged more goal involvements (33) than any other Premier League player last term and he bagged more goals at home (16) than any other player in the division.
Indeed, Chelsea developed into a formidable attacking force under Pochettino and finished as the Premier League’s fifth-highest scorers with (77 goals), while ranking 5fh for xGF (74.5).
Chelsea also collected more yellow cards (109) than anyone else in England’s top tier in 2023/24 and ended in sixth position for fouls committed per 90 (11.70). It will be interesting to see if they are quite as aggressive under Maresca’s instruction.
📊 Man City Form and Stats
In stark contrast to Sunday’s opponents, Manchester City have had a very quiet summer and have made only minor tweaks to their playing staff ahead of the new season.
Julian Alvarez was sold at a massive profit to Atletico Madrid, while the acquisition of winger Savinho from sister club Troyes has been their only incoming of note, with Pep Guardiola seeming keen to blood a bunch of City’s most promising academy graduates instead of searching for outside hires.
Indeed, Oscar Bobb, Nico O’Reilly and James McAtee were handed starting berths in last weekend’s Community Shield triumph over rivals Manchester United and all three could earn plenty of Premier League minutes this season.
City clinched their record-breaking fourth consecutive Premier League title in May by just two points ahead of Arsenal, however, in reality, they always looked in command. City won their final nine league fixtures of the previous campaign and dropped only eight of the final 69 points on offer.
The dominant Cityzens were last season’s metric masters for average possession per game (65.2%), goals scored (94), shots on target per 90 (6.95), while ranking second for total corners won (286) and for xGA (35.6). They also collected fewer yellow cards (53) than any other outfit.
Seven City players finished the 2023/24 on double-figure goal contributions with Erling Haaland (32) again the pick of the bunch. The 23-year-old could make history on Sunday by becoming the first player to score twice in three opening weekend fixtures in a row. Haaland notched a brace against West Ham in 2022/23 and another against Burnley in 2023/24.
⚔️ Chelsea v Man City Head-to-Head
Chelsea have failed to win any of their last six Premier League meetings with Manchester City (D2, L4). Indeed, the Blues haven’t beaten the Cityzens in any competition since their shock triumph in the 2021 Champions League Final.
That sequence, which covers more than three years, includes nine separate unbeaten encounters in all competitions for City against Chelsea, which is their joint-longest run without defeat against the Londoners in the club’s history.
Still, last season’s Premier League skirmishes between the teams were both evenly fought, with Chelsea earning a share of the spoils on each occasion.
At Stamford Bridge, in last season’s corresponding fixture in November, the teams split eight goals between them (4-4) on a chaotic evening that featured 32 shots, 28 fouls and nine yellow cards.
In the return meeting at The Etihad Stadium in February, Chelsea counter-punched with precision to earn a 1-1 draw in Manchester. The Blues were one of just three teams to stop City winning in their final 21 Premier League matches.
Former City star, Raheem Sterling scored both home and away for Chelsea against his former employers last season, though the 29-year-old isn’t expected to start on Sunday.
Erling Haaland netted two of his team’s four goals at Stamford Bridge last November and the Norwegian goal machine also buried a hattrick in a 4-2 City win over the Blues in a pre-season contest in Ohio on August 3rd.
* We recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
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