EFL Cup final: Man City v Chelsea match odds, form, team news & stats

TV: Sky Sports Football/Main Event, 4.30pm Sunday

Match odds

7-12 Man City 188Bet
5-1 Chelsea BoyleSports
7-2 Draw bet365

Form

Those who like their head-to-head form fresh will no doubt be all over odds-on favourites Manchester City, who destroyed Chelsea 6-0 at the Etihad in a Premier League walkover earlier this month.

Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick on that occasion and the pressure intensified on Blues boss Maurizio Sarri with a 2-0 FA Cup loss to Manchester United on Monday.

Sarri is a short-priced market leader in the betting on the next Premier League manager to leave his current position and some reports have suggested he will be sacked should the Carabao Cup final go City's way at Wembley.

That result appears likely with the Premier League champions on a run of 13 wins in their last 14 matches and they were able to recover from a 2-1 deficit away to Schalke in the Champions League on Wednesday despite Nicolas Otamendi's second-half dismissal.

Tactics

Sarri has sent the Chelsea fans into a meltdown over his refusal to budge on his preferred 4-3-3 formation and for a lack of invention when it comes to substitutions.

Before the Malmo Europa League tie on Thursday evening, he had made 124 changes and 20 of them involved swapping midfielders Ross Barkley and Mateo Kovacic with another 14 seeing Pedro and Willian swapping places.

The Italian has explained he will continue to use Jorginho as his deep-lying midfielder because he wants "fast passes" in that area but City ruthlessly exposed Chelsea between the defensive lines in the 6-0 game with Kevin De Bruyne having his best match of the season.

Pep Guardiola left David Silva, Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez on the bench for the last meeting, which may be a clue to his thinking.

Team news

Pep Guardiola needs to check on Gabriel Jesus, John Stones and Benjamin Mendy. Vincent Kompany made his first appearance on Wednesday since the win over title rivals Liverpool on January 3.

Chelsea went into their Europa League tie against Malmo with no serious injuries.

Verdict

City were market drifters before the 6-0 win over Chelsea, so they are roughly the same price to win at a neutral venue as they were with home advantage for the Premier League, but the shift in stance is probably justified.

Aguero, who recently scored in the first minute of successive Premier League matches, loves facing Chelsea and should star again. City to win 2-0.

Key stats

• City have scored the first goal of the game in their last 18 matches.
• Sergio Aguero has notched 15 goals in his 18 appearances against Chelsea.
• Chelsea have not won more than two matches in a row since early November.
• There has been at least one first-half goal in 14 of the last 16 meetings between City and Chelsea.

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