Stamford Bridge hosts Chelsea and Manchester City this Sunday in an important weekend in the Premier League season. The two sides have had vastly different starts to the season and need a win to increase a lead or get back in the race.
Chelsea currently sit tenth in the Premier League after 11 games. The Blues have four wins, three draws and four losses, which leaves them on 15 points, nine points away from the Champions League places.
In their last five games in all competitions, Chelsea have three wins, one draw and one loss. Despite going behind at Burnley thanks to a goal from Wilson Odobert an own goal from Ameen Al-Dakhil levelled the game going into halftime. A penalty from Cole Palmer and goals from Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson gave Chelsea the 4 - 1 win. Next up was a visit from Arsenal. Another penalty from Palmer and a goal from Mykhailo Mudryk put Chelsea into a shock 2 - 0 lead, but in a catastrophic end to the game as Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard both scored to grab a 2 - 2 draw for Arsenal.
Another poor home showing for Chelsea came against fellow West London side Brentford. Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbeumo both scored in the second half to give The Bees the 2 - 0 win. However, The Blues bounced back in the Round of 16 of the League Cup against Blackburn. Benoit Badiashile and Sterling both scored for a 2 - 0 win and a spot in the next round.
The last time out for Chelsea was a fierce London derby against Tottenham. Dejan Kulusevski opened the scoring in the sixth minute, but it only went downhill for Tottenham. Cristian Romero was sent off and Palmer converted the subsequent penalty. Destiny Udogie was then shown a second yellow which opened the gates for Jackson to grab his first ever Premier League hat-trick and end Tottenham’s unbeaten run.
Man City, on the other hand, sit top of the Premier League. In 11 games, City have nine wins and two losses, leaving them on 27 points, one point above Tottenham and three points above Liverpool and Arsenal.
In their last five games in all competitions, City have five wins. Julian Alvarez opened the scoring in the seventh minute and Erling Haaland doubled the lead before halftime. Ansu Fati got Brighton on the scoresheet and Manuel Akanji was sent off, but City held on for the 2 - 1 win. In the Champions League, City took on Young Boys. Akanji was on the scoresheet this time and Haaland grabbed another brace as they beat Young Boys 3 - 1.
In the Manchester derby against Manchester United, Haaland was the star of the show. The Norwegian grabbed yet another brace to give City the 2 - 0 lead and Phil Foden scored late on to secure a 3 - 0 win in the derby for City. Jeremy Doku, Akanji, Foden and Ake all scored along with a brace from Bernardo Silva gave City the 6 - 1 win over Bournemouth.
The most recent outing for City was back against Young Boys in the Champions League. Sandro Lauper was sent off for Young Boys and another Haaland brace and Foden goal grabbed another 3 - 0 win for City.
Chelsea and Man City have met 175 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in 1907. Despite recent form, Chelsea have the better record in the fixture with 71 wins in comparison to City’s 65 wins, with the other 39 games ending in a draw.