Monday December 12, 2011 Kick off: 20:00 Day 15 Stamford Bridge
Chelsea v Manchester City
Countdown: Today - 20:00
Live Stream Links :
Chelsea will be without the suspended David Luiz. Defender Luiz picked up his fifth domestic yellow card of the season in Saturday's 3-0 win at Newcastle and serves a one-match ban. Right-back Jose Bosingwa has therefore made a timely recovery from the adductor strain that caused him to miss Tuesday's Champions League success against Valencia. Josh McEachran is back in training after an ankle knock while fellow midfielder Michael Essien is expected to return from knee surgery early next year.
Manchester City right-back Micah Richards looks set to miss out. Richards was ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League win over Bayern Munich with a calf injury and may not shake off the problem in time. Central defender Stefan Savic played in his position in midweek but Pablo Zabaleta is now fit and could slot back in. Left-back Aleksandar Kolarov (groin) remains out.
Andre Villas-Boas: "For us, it's either we continue to challenge for the Premier League if we win or if we draw, (but) our Premiership becomes extremely difficult if we lose. There is no quitting and there will be no quit belief. But 13 points will be a massive gap."
Roberto Mancini: "We have done well but the season is long. Now we have two difficult games against Chelsea and Arsenal. I have said before the next two months will be important months. Yaya is an important player for us - we don't have any other players like Yaya. We will probably lose an important man for one month at a crucial moment [for the African Nations Cup]. For this reason I think if we do well in January, and we are top after January, it will be difficult to lose."
In the last 13 Premier League meetings with Chelsea, the Citizens have failed to score in nine.City have failed to score in eight of their last nine league visits to Stamford Bridge.The Londoners have scored a 90th-minute goal in three of their last four home Premier League games against Manchester City.Chelsea have scored in their last 14 Premier League home games and scored more than once in 10 of the last 11, but the clean sheet against Wolves ended a run of eight without a shut out on home soil.Manchester City are unbeaten in their last eight Premier league away games, winning six.Juan Mata has now assisted seven goals in his last nine Premier League appearances for Chelsea – only David Silva (8) has more assists this season.David Luiz has been booked in four of his five Premier League appearances this season.Man City have made the best ever start to a Premier League season with 38 points from their opening 14 matches.Sergio Aguero has scored 11 goals in 13 Premier League appearances this season.Mario Balotelli has scored seven goals in his last nine Premier League appearances.
Chelsea will be without the suspended David Luiz. Defender Luiz picked up his fifth domestic yellow card of the season in Saturday's 3-0 win at Newcastle and serves a one-match ban. Right-back Jose Bosingwa has therefore made a timely recovery from the adductor strain that caused him to miss Tuesday's Champions League success against Valencia. Josh McEachran is back in training after an ankle knock while fellow midfielder Michael Essien is expected to return from knee surgery early next year.
Manchester City right-back Micah Richards looks set to miss out. Richards was ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League win over Bayern Munich with a calf injury and may not shake off the problem in time. Central defender Stefan Savic played in his position in midweek but Pablo Zabaleta is now fit and could slot back in. Left-back Aleksandar Kolarov (groin) remains out.
Andre Villas-Boas: "For us, it's either we continue to challenge for the Premier League if we win or if we draw, (but) our Premiership becomes extremely difficult if we lose. There is no quitting and there will be no quit belief. But 13 points will be a massive gap."
Roberto Mancini: "We have done well but the season is long. Now we have two difficult games against Chelsea and Arsenal. I have said before the next two months will be important months. Yaya is an important player for us - we don't have any other players like Yaya. We will probably lose an important man for one month at a crucial moment [for the African Nations Cup]. For this reason I think if we do well in January, and we are top after January, it will be difficult to lose."
In the last 13 Premier League meetings with Chelsea, the Citizens have failed to score in nine.City have failed to score in eight of their last nine league visits to Stamford Bridge.The Londoners have scored a 90th-minute goal in three of their last four home Premier League games against Manchester City.Chelsea have scored in their last 14 Premier League home games and scored more than once in 10 of the last 11, but the clean sheet against Wolves ended a run of eight without a shut out on home soil.Manchester City are unbeaten in their last eight Premier league away games, winning six.Juan Mata has now assisted seven goals in his last nine Premier League appearances for Chelsea – only David Silva (8) has more assists this season.David Luiz has been booked in four of his five Premier League appearances this season.Man City have made the best ever start to a Premier League season with 38 points from their opening 14 matches.Sergio Aguero has scored 11 goals in 13 Premier League appearances this season.Mario Balotelli has scored seven goals in his last nine Premier League appearances.
