Chelsea, rather unjustly, sacked their Champions League winning manger, Roberto Di Matteo on Wednesday morning following the club's 3-0 loss to Juventus in Turin. The result means that Rafa Beníez may be leading his team out to the Europa League anthem after Christmas, as may his Roberto Mancini.
City are likely to be without captain Vincent Kompany after the Belgium picked up a knock to the knee in midweek, however it is possible that Clichy may return after missing Wednesday's game with an injury, while the likelihood of Balotelli making the bench is unknown despite having trained with the rest of the squad for the past five days or so. Expect some bad mathematics from the media if he doesn't make the cut.
Part of me doubts that Mancini will opt for the same system as was played in the first half of the game against Los Blancos, simply because the two of the three centre-backs played, Zabaleta and Kompany played appallingly in the system. That said, against Spurs, the three-at-the-back system worked because we had Clichy and Zabaleta either side of Kompany, as Tottenham played with only one striker, allowing one of Kompany or Gael to pick up the Adebayor, and leave Pablo as the spare man. Given that Chelsea themselves only play with one up top, it is possible that Roberto may adopt 3-4-1-2 again, as it also provides width that might well prove handy given the narrow nature of the '3' in Chelsea's 4-2-3-1.
City are likely to be without captain Vincent Kompany after the Belgium picked up a knock to the knee in midweek, however it is possible that Clichy may return after missing Wednesday's game with an injury, while the likelihood of Balotelli making the bench is unknown despite having trained with the rest of the squad for the past five days or so. Expect some bad mathematics from the media if he doesn't make the cut.
Part of me doubts that Mancini will opt for the same system as was played in the first half of the game against Los Blancos, simply because the two of the three centre-backs played, Zabaleta and Kompany played appallingly in the system. That said, against Spurs, the three-at-the-back system worked because we had Clichy and Zabaleta either side of Kompany, as Tottenham played with only one striker, allowing one of Kompany or Gael to pick up the Adebayor, and leave Pablo as the spare man. Given that Chelsea themselves only play with one up top, it is possible that Roberto may adopt 3-4-1-2 again, as it also provides width that might well prove handy given the narrow nature of the '3' in Chelsea's 4-2-3-1.
On the other hand, if Mancini does fancy playing Lescott and Nastasic together, then he may decide to go with a flat back four, with Zabaleta and Clichy as full-backs. Granted we then lose much of our width but it adds much more stability to a defence that hasn't particularly been convincing when in a three-at-the-back system. After being introduced at the beginning of the second half, Javi Garcia produced his best performance in a blue shirt yet, which may well have convinced Mancini to give the Spaniard the nod tomorrow ahead of Gareth Barry.
Carlos Tevez's record against Chelsea is fantastic, especially since joining City, and given Dzeko's lackluster performance in midweek, I expect him to partner his fellow Argentine, Sergio Aguero up front, regardless of the formation in which the players behind them are playing. We may well see City line up as below:
Unfortunately for Nasri, Milner may well get the nod due to his work ethic and positional awareness that will allow him to slot in should either Zabaleta or Yaya bomb forward. Silva's selection is self-explanatory. I think Manicni may prefer to start with four defenders, then if needed, Maicon or Kolarov may be brought on to provide width in the final half hour. Both are useful options coming off the bench.
Chelsea's selection is somewhat more difficult to predict, because I don't think Benítez will want to begin with a lose, regardless of how nice the football may be on the eye. That said, he doesn't really have any option but to play Oscar, Hazard and Mata (or another attacking trio) because the only defensive and central midfielders available to him are Mikel, Ramires and Romeu, and I'm not sure he'll want to throw the young Spaniard in after having found himself out of favour for so long.
Furthermore, the defence is almost impossible to predict. Take your pick from either Azpilicueta-Ivanovic-Luiz-Cole or Ivanovic-Cahill-Luiz-Cole. I'd be inclined to pick the former as I'm not convinced by the Luiz-Cahill partnership, despite their heroics in Munich in May. Should Cole be deemed not fit enough to play, Bertrand will play.
Tevez and Silva for City and Mata and Oscar for Chelsea will be the key players as they will be expected to expose the space that Ramires and Yaya leave behind when they bomb forward. The extra man in midfield will prove pivotal here as Milner will offer Garcia the option Mikel won't have when both are in possession. I expect goals, at least three, as Chelsea's defence, as has been said, has produced numerous unconvincing performances thus far this season, and City will have to deal with an unwelcome change in their defence.
Bets
You can find the following odds at Paddy Power:
- Draw/City at 11/2 on the half-time/full-time market.
- Tevez to score anytime at 9/5.
- City to win both halves at 8/1.
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