Man City: Hope to Keep Title Ambition on Track with Chelsea Visit 

After losing to table toppers, Liverpool 3-1 before the international break, a result which really dented their Premier League title defence, defending champions, Manchester City will be hoping to put their title hope on track as the Citizens welcome Chelsea to the Etihad today. The Blues have been in devastating form recently winning six matches in a trot and would definitely be a tough nut to crack against Pep Guardiola’s side who may be 12 points behind league leaders before the kickoff with the Stamford Bridge side

After losing to Liverpool last time out, Manchester City will be tested once again as they welcome an in-form Chelsea side. Frank Lampard’s men are full of confidence and they will pose a real test to the City defence which they will be confident of breaching.

After 12 Premier League matches, not many Chelsea fans would have expected to be above Manchester City in the table

Last season, City clinched the league title, and even though the Blues finished third, they were still 28 points behind Pep Guardiola’s team.

Once again Chelsea went through a change of head coach, and instead of experience they went for Blues legend Lampard, who had just a year of managerial experience under his belt. Add to that, the Blues were slapped with a two-window transfer ban, meaning that they were unable to bring in any new players over the summer. And then the cherry on top of the cake, they lost their best player, Eden Hazard, to Real Madrid.

Combine all of that together and many were predicting a pretty disastrous start to the campaign.

After the 4-0 opening game defeat to Manchester United as well, that looked like it was going to come true.

However, those early fears have been put to one side and with six league wins in a row, Chelsea are in a really good position going into the Christmas run.

Currently being third in the table and a point above the current champions is above the expectations set.

But this weekend’s trip to the Etihad Stadium will be the greatest test of just how far this young team have come. 

One can’t take away from the fact that six wins in a row is an excellent achievement from Lampard’s side, but Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton, Newcastle, Burnley, Watford and Crystal Palace are teams, who on paper, the Blues should be beating.

It’s one thing being the favourite and then actually going out and beating them, but it was a run of fixtures that Lampard would have eyed a big number of points.

However, Chelsea’s record this season against the traditional ‘big six’ has not been good and it is the next step on the way to Lampard’s development of his team. 

This season, the Blues have lost twice to Manhester United, that heavy defeat at Old Trafford and then the Carabao Cup loss at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have been beaten twice by Liverpool, once in the league and then in the Super Cup on penalties.

In fact, the 1-1 draw against Leicester City could have been a lot worse if the Foxes had taken their chances in the second half in West London.

 There’s no doubt that the Blues are on the up and have come on leaps and bounds from those defeats to the other top teams, but now is the time to prove it. 

Blues fans don’t need a reminder of what happened last season in the trip to the Eithad.

To say Chelsea were hammered is a bit of an understatement. They were 4-0 down inside 25 minutes, with the match ending 6-0 courtesy of a Sergio Aguero hat-trick.

The Blues will need to rest that ghost and get through the first half unscathed.

Chelsea’s attacking prowess this season cannot be disputed, with 27 goals to their name already. But with 35, Manchester City lead the league in finding the back of the net.

So for all the attacking intent that Chelsea will want to show, it will be in the defensive areas that Chelsea will have their biggest test.

Fikayo Tomori and Kurt Zouma have started to build a partnership in the absence of Antonio Rudiger, while Lampard has a decision to make over the right-back position.

 Does the Blues boss go for the old guard in Cesar Azpilicueta, or the new, up and coming star in Reece James to take on the formidable attack of City’s flying wingers?

Despite being a point ahead, Chelsea will go into the game as underdogs. But what would it mean to the Blues if they are beaten? Would those six wins in a row be all for nothing?

Of course, those 18 points will become vital for the end of season and have already created a game between them and those outside the top four.

But Lampard and Chelsea want to take the next step, and for them the next step is results against the top four. 

Meanwhile, Guardiola would be boosted by the return to training of goalkeeper Ederson, after his recent muscular injury picked up in the Champions League three weeks ago. City’s number one will be a lift for the squad against Chelsea today.