Who: Manchester City vs Chelsea
What: English Premier League
Where: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, United Kingdom
When: 5:30pm (17:30 GMT) on Saturday
Follow Al Jazeera’s live build-up followed by our text and photo commentary stream of the match.
Manchester City’s next two games, in the Premier League and the Champions League have been compared to “finals” for the beleaguered English champions by their manager Pep Guardiola.
Chelsea arrive at Etihad Stadium on Saturday with holders City 12 points off league leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in the chasing pack.
Guardiola’s side, who are fifth and two points behind the Blues, then face a must-win game at Club Brugge of Belgium or face elimination from the Champions League at the first hurdle.
“The next two games are really really important, finals with us,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday “Our people will support us. We are very close in the table [to Chelsea] even with the big big problems we had in the recent past.”
What has happened to Man City?
Despite a recent climb up the Premier League table, City are yet to fully emerge from their surprise slump which saw Guardiola’s side register only one win in nine matches in all competitions at one stage.
The 4-2 defeat at Paris St Germain on Wednesday, when they squandered a two-goal lead, has left them one place outside of the Champions League’s playoff places with one game of the league phase remaining. It caps a run of two wins in seven European games.
When pushed on whether City will qualify for next season’s Champions League – which can be achieved by winning this season’s competition or finishing in the top four in the Premier League – Guardiola replied: “We can make it. Why should I think differently? We’re going to make it. I think it is going to happen. I am very very positive.”
Who are Man City’s new January transfer window signings?
In an attempt to reverse the travails of a team that secured an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title last season, City have embarked on a January spending spree in the transfer window. Vitor Reis, Abdukodir Khusanov and Omar Marmoush have all been acquired at a cost of more than $150m.
“Vitor is young, he has a huge personality, needs time. If he’s here with us, of course, he can start,” Guardiola said.
“Khusanov has already settled for the fact that he played in the French league, handling tough, quick, fast players. But he doesn’t speak much English so communication will be one of the situations that we have to deal with.
“Marmoush will adapt quick. They will make us strong and I’m pretty sure that the club decided for this prospective players for the future and many years.”
Introducing @ManCity‘s three new signings 🆕
Which player will make the biggest impact for Pep Guardiola’s side? pic.twitter.com/lAXxra2YNU
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 23, 2025
Friends reunited in the dugout as Man City entertain Chelsea
Chelsea are managed by Guardiola’s former assistant Enzo Maresca, who spent a season alongside the Spaniard in 2022-2023.
This isn’t the first meeting between the pair this season, however. City won 2-0 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic.
The Blues ended a five-game streak without a win in the league, in which they lost twice, by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 in their last outing. The barren run, prior to Monday’s win at Stamford Bridge, dented an incredibly strong start to life in London for Maresca, whose side had unexpectedly become title contenders.
“I recognised his [Maresca’s] team from day one, even when we played them in the summer camp in the States,” Guardiola said. “Many things I started to see that we spoke about many, many times in the last years together. Really good.”
Chelsea manager backs Guardiola to bounce back
Maresca, meantime, has rallied around Guardiola and said the struggling City boss needs support. “Pep is strong enough in this kind of thing. But for sure, like any human being, he needs support in this moment, for the last eight or nine years, they were always on top,” Maresca told gathered media at Chelsea’s training ground.
Maresca said that Chelsea will find it difficult to beat City, despite their hosts’ poor form. “With this club and these players, when they are in a difficult moment, they want to show how good they are. I don’t think there is ever a good moment to play City,” he said.
“It is normal in football to live moments like they are in. For sure, they will be back to winning trophies soon.”
The Premier League table after Matchweek 22 👀 pic.twitter.com/SprwFXd21F
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 21, 2025
Can Maresca’s Chelsea take the Premier League title from Man City?
Maresca has a long history with City having worked as a coach at the club before leaving to take on the manager’s job at Parma.
After being sacked by the Italian side, he returned to City to work as an assistant to Guardiola during their treble-winning and said he was eternally thankful to the club.
“My relationship with Pep and the club, is fantastic. I will always be thankful to City for the trust they showed in me, because they called me back after an Italian club sacked me after two or three months,” he added.
On whether Chelsea are good enough to be regarded as genuine title contenders this season, Maresca responded: “No, not for the title. If you look over December and January, we are having a tough moment.”
Will Chelsea sign Garnacho from Man Utd?
The Blues have themselves been linked with a move for Manchester United forward Alejandro Garnacho in the current transfer window, which shuts on January 31, and Maresca admitted his is “always looking at situations”.
A move for Garnacho in particular, however, was completely rebuffed: “No, no. I’m happy with the ones we have in this moment,” Maresca said.
“We’ve said many times on the right side, it’s Pedro [Neto] and Noni [Madueke] and left side is Jadon [Sancho]. Misha [Mudryk] was with us and is now not with us. Tyrique [George] is a young profile that can help us so at this moment, we are OK.”
Chelsea team news
Levi Colwill and Enzo Fernandez are expected to be ready despite missing the win against Wolves.
“Romeo Lavia is absent with an injury that is expected to keep him out for a couple more weeks.
Man City team news
Ruben Dias and Jeremy Doku will both miss the match. The former was replaced at half-time in Paris on Wednesday with an abductor injury.
City’s three new signings: Marmoush, Reis and Khusanov are all in the squad for the game.
Head-to-head
This is the 177th meeting in a fixture that dates back to 1907 and a 2-2 draw in west London.
City are unbeaten in 10 matches against Chelsea, winning eight. Blues last win was in the 1-0 victory in the Champions League final in 2021.
That capped a three-game winning streak for the London-based club, which included a Premier League away win and an FA Cup home win that season.
Ready? 🫵 pic.twitter.com/SUMSGwyFLT
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 24, 2025
