Overview
The away match against a team that is declining in League One has become a necessary medicine for coach Liam Rosenior and Chelsea. Previously, The Blues entered an international break after a series of 4 consecutive disappointing defeats, raising doubts about Rosenior's future.
Chelsea, in the absence of Enzo Fernandez, quickly regained their spirit with a 7-0 victory over Port Vale at Stamford Bridge, thereby winning a ticket to the FA Cup semi-finals against Leeds United.
However, defeating a weaker opponent is not enough to reduce pressure on Rosenior, especially after the scandals related to Fernandez - who continues to be absent due to internal disciplinary action.
In the Premier League, Chelsea is currently 6th and only 1 point behind the Champions League group (before round 32). However, the worrying form of losing to Newcastle United and Everton without scoring makes them face the risk of setting a sad record: for the first time since 1998 losing 3 consecutive matches without scoring.
In stark contrast, Man City is showing a strong resurgence under coach Pep Guardiola. The 2-0 victory over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final, with the mark of Nico O'Reilly, helped Guardiola become the first coach to win the league 5 times.
Not stopping there, Man City continued to defeat Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals, with Erling Haaland's 12th hat-trick since joining the club in 2022.
Despite being 9 points behind league leaders Arsenal, Man City still has 2 unmatched matches and will face their opponent directly at the Etihad Stadium. With their current form, Guardiola's team has every reason to nurture hopes of reversing the championship race.
In particular, April is always the time when Man City explodes, when they have won 28/31 recent matches in the Premier League in this period.
In the most recent encounter in January, Chelsea drew 1-1 with Man City. However, that result only caused The Blues to extend their winless streak against the opponent to 12 matches in all competitions, since winning the Champions League final in 2021.
Personnel situation
Rosenior confirmed that Enzo Fernandez will be absent in the match against Man City, although affirming that the relationship between the two sides is still stable.
Chelsea's injury list has not had positive changes as Reece James, Levi Colwill, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Filip Jorgensen and Trevoh Chalobah continue to be absent. The rare bright spot is Benoit Badiashile's ability to return after recovering.
With a force that is not too thick, Rosenior is likely to still keep the frame from the victory against Port Vale, but Moises Caicedo and Marc Cucurella are expected to return to the starting lineup.
On the other side, Pep Guardiola also faces personnel issues, mainly in defense. Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol continue to be absent due to injury.
John Stones' case is still unclear. The center-back withdrew from the England national team due to a calf injury, but Guardiola revealed that he could participate in part of the pre-match training session.
A notable highlight is Bernardo Silva. This midfielder will become the Portuguese player with the most appearances in the Premier League (297 matches) if he participates, in the context that he will leave Etihad after this season.
Expected lineup:
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Adarabioyo, Cucurella, Santos, Caicedo, Neto, Palmer, Estevao, Pedro.
Man City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O'Reilly, Silva, Rodri, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland.
The match between Chelsea and Man City takes place at 10:30 p.m. on April 12 (Vietnam time).
