Man City v Chelsea predictions: Youthful Blues may enjoy Etihad experience

Citizens may struggle to justify favourites tag

Chelsea are hopeful Mason Mount will be fit to face Man CityCredit: Trevor Ruszkowski/ISI Photos

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester City v Chelsea in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.

Where to watch

BBC One, 4.30pm Sunday

Best bet

Chelsea or draw double chance
1pt 21-20 Betfair, Power

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Team news

Manchester City
Ruben Dias is ruled out and Aymeric Laporte is a doubt.

Chelsea
Mason Mount could return but N'Golo Kante, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana and Armando Broja are out while Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic are major doubts.

Match preview

Manchester City moved 14 points ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League with their 1-0 victory on Thursday but the contest at Stamford Bridge was evenly matched and there may be value in siding with the Londoners to avoid defeat in their FA Cup third-round clash at the Etihad.

Favourite-backers were ultimately satisfied by City's midweek success which trimmed the deficit to leaders Arsenal to five points, but it was far from a polished performance from the Citizens, who mustered just three shots on target.

City's total shot tally of 12 was their lowest in their last nine matches and they had a few shaky moments at the back as Chelsea frequently found a way through the high press.

Chelsea's loss left them tenth and ten points adrift of the top four to increase the pressure on Graham Potter, who has endured a difficult four months in the job.

However, Potter was right to speak positively after the narrow defeat and must have been particularly pleased by the impact of youthful substitutes Carney Chukwuemeka, Omari Hutchinson, Conor Gallagher and Lewis Hall, who brought lots of energy and a dash of quality to the Blues' performance.

Chelsea started and finished the game on the front foot and even if Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic end up added to their long list of absentees, they did not look like a mid-table team.

Potter has some decent options to freshen up his midfield with Jorginho sufficiently rested and Mason Mount expected to be free from a minor injury. If his team can compete as well as they did on Thursday, they might achieve a better result.

City's squad strength was demonstrated by the impact of their substitutes, including Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez, who combined for the winning goal.

However, there are others such as Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Erling Haaland who are much more difficult to replace and it seems likely that all three could be rested after their busy recent workloads.

Defensively, City continue to be impacted by the absence of Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte.

Their midweek shutout was their first in five matches and it might not have been achieved had Chelsea shown a slightly more clinical touch with their final pass or finish.

Guardiola's search for perfection continues and any issues arising from the Chelsea game should eventually be ironed out.

However, training-ground time is going to be limited in the short term with City facing a further five fixtures in the next 15 days.

Guardiola is desperate to succeed in every game but he might have to lean heavily on his shadow squad and that could afford Chelsea just enough encouragement to keep themselves in the competition.