Chelsea v Man City predictions: Title tussle to swing Tuchel's way

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Chelsea v Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Premier League, 12.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Chelsea
1pt 7-4 Betfair

Team news

Chelsea
Edouard Mendy could be ready to return but Christian Pulisic is unlikely to feature.

Manchester City
John Stones and Aymeric Laporte are expected to miss out while Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri and Aleksandr Zinchenko are doubts.

Match preview

Chelsea and Manchester City have been jostling for favouritism in Premier League title betting but the Londoners have won the last three meetings between the two and look a solid bet to land the spoils at Stamford Bridge.

The early-season fixture list looked tough for the Blues, who faced London derbies at Arsenal and Tottenham plus clashes with Liverpool and City in the opening six league games.

However, with five of those out of the way, Chelsea are sharing top spot with Liverpool and even their demanding head coach Thomas Tuchel must be pleased with their progress.

Chelsea built on a position of strength by snapping up Romelu Lukaku and are already reaping the benefits with the Belgian contributing three league goals and the winner in a 1-0 success over Zenit St Petersburg.

Lukaku has returned to the Premier League a far more complete player and he sets Chelsea apart as the team to beat in the title race.

City are holding sway with the majority of bookmakers but their status looks to be influenced more by last season's achievements than anything shown over the last six weeks.

Successes over Norwich and Arsenal by a 5-0 scoreline were achieved with a swagger but City could have no complaints after dropping points in a 1-0 loss at Tottenham and last Saturday's 0-0 draw at home to Southampton.

There have been mitigating factors, including the early-season struggles of Kevin De Bruyne, who has not been fully fit since he was forced off in the 1-0 loss to Chelsea in the Champions League final.

De Bruyne was involved from start to finish in Tuesday's 6-1 EFL Cup success at home to Wycombe and is primed for a Premier League start for the first time in more than four months but it could take a little while longer before he operates at peak performance.

And the boost of De Bruyne's potential inclusion must be weighed up against the expected absence of central defenders John Stones and Aymeric Laporte.

Pep Guardiola's defence looked far from secure against Southampton and City were grateful for a contronversial VAR call when referee Jon Moss was convinced to overturn a penalty decision he had awarded to the away side.

City's display against the Saints was disjointed and lacking in tempo and a huge improvement is needed to give Chelsea a serious test.

Meanwhile, Chelsea were almost faultless in their 3-0 triumph at Tottenham last Sunday and a performance of similar authority could yield three more points this weekend.

Key stat

Chelsea have won their last three matches against Manchester City

Inside info

Chelsea

Penalty taker Jorginho
Free-kick wizard Marcus Alonso
Set-piece aerial threat Romelu Lukaku
Card magnet N'Golo Kante

Manchester City

Penalty taker Kevin De Bruyne/Riyad Mahrez
Free-kick wizardKevin De Bruyne
Set-piece aerial threatRuben Dias
Card magnetFernandinho

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