Pep Guardiola&aposs men have won all six of their previous meetings in all competitions and are buoyant having cruised to the Champions League knockout phases in midweek. Couple this with Mauricio Pochettino&aposs men&aposs form this campaign and suddenly you are very optimistic for City&aposs chances.
Chelsea already find themselves 12 points behind the Blues and have squandered some pretty straightforward fixtures at the Bridge. However, Monday night&aposs performance against Tottenham Hotspur will have sent Guardiola and his players a timely reminder of what their opponents can do.
There are a whole host of caveats to their 4-1 win in north London at the beginning of the week. However, a victory of that magnitude against a fierce rival cannot have its importance underestimated.
Just look at City, following their comprehensive victory over Manchester United they have moved from strength-to-strength and no doubt Chelsea will be hopeful of a similar bounce this weekend. Among those to naturally look out for is Raheem Sterling.
From his time at the Etihad Stadium, City will remember the threat he can pose. His omission from the England squad on Thursday will also add extra motivation to his performance as he attempts to prove to Gareth Southgate what he is missing.
Meanwhile, their new signing Nicolas Jackson gained a huge confidence boost at Spurs when he bagged a hat-trick. After having a difficult time adapting to life in the capital since moving from Villarreal, those goals will have given him no end of confidence.
Finally, it is best we do not forget Cole Palmer. The most recent exit from City has enjoyed a great spell at Chelsea so far and is arguably one of their better players – yet another forward with a point to prove then.
Whichever way you look at it, across the field there are a number of banana skins just waiting to trip the Blues up. Any thoughts of this being a straightforward Sunday afternoon could well have been presumptuous.
