Man City Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Chelsea

Manchester City will be without some key defenders for their trip to Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.

Left-back Benjamin Mendy is facing several month on the sidelines with cruciate knee ligament damage, while Vincent Kompany is likely to miss out with an ongoing calf problem.

Over 4.5 goals in Man City v Chelsea

City have been in sparkling form of late but will come up against the defending champions, who have found their feet again after their opening-day set-back.


MAN CITY INJURIES


Mendy has been assessed by City’s medical team in Barcelona following his collision with Andros Townsend last weekend, and he is not expected to be back in action until 2018.

City announced that Kompany had returned to training around 10 days ago, but he has missed several sessions since then and has not been named in the squad for the Blues’ last two games.

Ilkay Gundogan is back in contention, having overcome the knock he picked up at West Brom in the Carabao Cup.

Danilo did not play in the Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek but is one option to replace Mendy at left-back.

Benjamin Mendy Manchester City


MAN CITY SUSPENSIONS


City do not have any suspensions to worry about but David Luiz is banned for Chelsea.


MAN CITY POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP


City have had great success with a traditional four-man back-line of late, though Guardiola will have to decide whether to return to a 3-4-3 to try to combat Chelsea.

Either way, it will be between Fabian Delph and Danilo at left-back, to replace the injured Mendy.

Fernandinho did a find job stopping Shakhtar Donetsk’s attacking midfielders on Tuesday and he may well be picked to do the same at Stamford Bridge, even though Ilkay Gundogan is a candidate for the role going forward.

Guardiola has chopped and changed his front three this season and it is impossible to guess which way he will go with it for any given game.

However, there may be a temptation to start with Bernardo Silva given the Portugal midfielder’s ability to keep hold of the ball. Leroy Sane has been in fine form and could retain his place.

Man City XI


CHELSEA TEAM NEWS


David Luiz is banned for this game following his red card against Arsenal last weekend, but that is the only big concern for Antonio Conte.

Eden Hazard could make his first start of the Premier League season having returned to the team in impressive fashion against Atletico Madrid in midweek.

Danny Drinkwater has a calf injury and is yet to make his debut for the club. Pedro picked up a knock against Arsenal but should be available for selection after being named on the bench for the game in Madrid. 

Baba Rahman remains at Chelsea but isn’t part of the club’s Premier League or European squad due to a knee injury. He is expecting to return in late October or early November. 


OPTA MATCH FACTS


  • Manchester City lost both Premier League matches against Chelsea last season, with the Blues the only side to achieve this feat over Pep Guardiola’s side.

  • Pep Guardiola has only lost three consecutive matches against an opponent once before in his managerial career — he lost three in a row against Real Madrid between April 2012 and April 2014 (one in La Liga, two in the Champions League).

  • Guardiola has faced Chelsea seven times as a manager and failed to win any (D4 L3), more than against any other side — though one of those draws was in the 2013 Super Cup final, with his Bayern Munich side beating Chelsea 5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

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  • Manchester City have the highest xG (Expected Goals) total in the Premier League this season: 15.1 — suggesting that the quality of chances they’ve been presented would see the average side score 15 goals in these matches. Chelsea, on the other hand, have an xG total of just 6.3 — the 11th best tally.

  • Eden Hazard has had a hand in five goals in his last five Premier League apps against the Citizens (three goals, two assists).


TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME


The match is being televised live in the UK and it will be shown on BT Sport. The kick off is at 17:30 BST on Saturday. In the US, the match can be seen at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

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