Chelsea will host Manchester City at home in a second game this season after they played each other in the EFL Cup two months ago. Man City won that game 2-0 and advanced to the quarterfinals with goals from Mahrez and Alvarez. They will also play again on Sunday in the FA Cup.
Chelsea finished the year on top of their group in the Champions League, beating AC Milan, Salzburg, and Dinamo Zagreb. The round-of-16 draw put them in a tough matchup with Borussia Dortmund. Chelsea are exactly in the middle of the table in the Premier League to start the year and will be eyeing a top-four finish.
Manchester City are in a much better situation to start the year; the Citizens topped their group in the Champions League as well and will face RB Leipzig in the next round. Man City is in second place in the Premier League standings, eight points behind Arsenal, which is unusual for them since they are almost always at the top of the table by this time.
| Tournament: | English Premier League, season 2022-23, Matchday 19 |
| Venue: | Stamford Bridge, London, England |
| Date: | 8 p.m. GMT on Thursday, 5 January 2023 |
According to the best football bookies, Manchester City is at 1.64 (21/30) to repeat their EFL Cup win tonight. A draw is at 4.2 (16/5), and Chelsea is at a massive 5.5 (9/2) to beat the Citizens tonight. The game total over 2.5 is 1.77 (4/5), while the game total under 2.5 is 2.05 (Evs).
If you have been betting on Chelsea in their last games, then you definitely have to pick other options instead of the Pensioners’ victory. Chelsea has lost four of its last six games, with one draw and only one win. The Blues are coming off a draw against Forrest as huge favorites to win the game, and Chelsea are now in 10th place in the Premier League standings with 25 points from 16 games. Graham Potter is definitely not satisfied with how the team has performed in the last couple of weeks and will try to make a statement against a strong City side at home.
Manchester City is also coming off a draw, and it was in the game with high odds for Everton, who is only three points above relegation. Erling Haaland opened the scoring to get his 21st goal of the season, but Gray equalized in the second half with a banger shot to get the Toffees a much-needed point. Man City have won every game against the Blues since their 0-1 Champions League final loss to Chelsea. Man City are still in 2nd place with 36 points from 16 games and are eight points behind the leader Arsenal, who already played and dropped points against Newcastle United on Tuesday.
The Citizens have won seven of the last ten games versus the Blues, with only three for Chelsea; there was no draw in those ten games. The over/under is 5-5 as Man City scored 17 goals while Chelsea scored only eight goals. Manchester City had five clean sheets compared to Chelsea’s one.
Chelsea: DWLLL
Manchester City: DWWWL
I like these odds for a Man City match, as Manchester has seen both teams score (BTTS) in four of their last five matches. Chelsea were unfortunate not to score against the Citizens in the EFL Cup; the Blues had 15 shots and five shots on target but couldn’t convert that into goals. With both sides having some troubles in the defensive line and needing to win the game, we should see plenty of goals in this EPL game.
Koulibaly has gotten a yellow card in three of the last five matches that he started. Kalidou has also gotten a yellow in the last game against the citizens, and he will be up against Erling Haaland, so he is expected to do a lot of fouls and potentially get a yellow.
Raheem has been in fine form after the World Cup. Sterling scored Chelsea’s only goal in their last match against Forest, and he also had an assist against Bournemouth before that. Sterling will be more motivated than anyone to score against his former team at home, so betting on Chelsea makes sense in this individual market. Also, he should better know how to play against his former teammates, so his goal or assist (if you want a safer option) is a likely option for this matchup.
The Blues have a lot of injuries going into this game. N’golo Kante, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, and Armando Broja are all out for Chelsea. Edouard Mendy, Ben Chilwell, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are all questionable.
The citizens will be missing Ruben Dias due to a thigh injury, while Benjamin Mendy is still suspended for EPL games.
Manchester City continue the hunt for first place after dropping points vs. Everton in a game that should have been an easy win for the citizens. Make sure you use our Chelsea vs. Man City 2022 predictions and betting expert picks and bet on them on the UK bookmakers to have more fun watching the game.
