Chelsea head into the FA Cup clash with Manchester City looking to defeat Manuel Pellegrini’s men for a third time this campaign. The Etihad stadium has been a bogey ground for Chelsea since 2008, but that changed following our 1-0 win a week ago. It was one of the games of the season, but it is unlikely that tomorrow’s encounter will match up to it.
City came into that league encounter missing a number of key players, but this is Chelsea’s turn to be without big names.
Team News:
John Terry was expected to come back for this match, but Jose Mourinho has confirmed that the defender misses out once again. He has missed the last two matches due to injury. Another potential addition to the injury list is Gary Cahill, who has suffered a calf strain. His participation will be decided at the last minute. Marco van Ginkel recently returned to light training, but he is not expected to start until the second week of April.
City have a lot of good news on the injury front. Both Samir Nasri and Javi Garcia have returned for Pellegrini. Even though they have missed the recent matches, extract them to start against Chelsea. Garcia especially is a huge upgrade over Martin Demichelis. Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho are still out. Nastasic is the latest addition to their injury table.
Predicted Line-ups:
Manchester City (4-1-4-1): Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Garcia, Navas, Toure, Silva, Nasri, Negredo
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole, Lampard, Matic, Ramires, Willian, Hazard, Torres
City have had extra rest for this match after their league match against Sunderland was called off. In a game of this magnitude, this is likely to be a significant difference. Hence, Mourinho may include players with legs on them like Ramires and Willian up top.
Score Prediction:
Manchester City 1-2 Chelsea
The return of Nasri certainly makes them more threatening going forward, but Chelsea have enough pace on the counter-attack to score two goals (possibly more) and progress to the next round.
Open an account with bet365 today and qualify for up to £200 in free bets with our fantastic 100% Initial Deposit Bonus.
