Phil Foden to return to line-up, Bernardo Silva on the bench – Predicted Team: Chelsea vs Manchester City (Premier League)

Manchester City will look to take advantage of Arsenal’s dropped points when they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night. 

Pep Guardiola’s side are licking their wounds after winning just one of their previous three Premier League games, but the Gunners’ draw has opened the door for Erling Haaland and co. to close the gap. 

A win for City would offer some much-needed momentum ahead of an FA Cup tie at the weekend, also against Graham Potter’s men, while another disappointing result would be a serious boost for Pep’s padawan Mikel Arteta. 

Here’s how we predict City will line up at Stamford Bridge…

Predicted Team

Ederson and John Stones are almost certain to start at the back, but the rest of the defence is much less certain.

Ruben Dias is certainly absent through injury, and Aymeric Laporte will be assessed ahead of the game, so we expect Nathan Aké to partner Stones. Not only is the Netherlands defender arguably in better form than Manuel Akanji, his left-footedness also ticks an important box in the Pep Guardiola playbook. 

After the hurt of the Everton result, we think Pep Guardiola will revert to his most reliable full-back combination, so Kyle Walker will play on the right and Joao Cancelo slots back in on the left.

Rico Lewis hasn’t done anything to deserve being dropped, of course, but those two more experienced stars will have to come back into the side at some point. 

Rodri is, mercifully, another player guaranteed to start every big game when fit and his defensive contributions will be vital in London.

Kevin De Bruyne surely must start too – despite a poor performance against Everton, the Belgian is having a great season and reliably shows up almost every time the dark blue meets the sky.

It’s almost a coin-toss to complete the midfield, but we think Ilkay Gundogan just about edges it for this one thanks to the control he offers in the centre of the park. 

Let’s get Erling Haaland out of the way – there’s no way the striker, save a late injury, won’t star against Chelsea. But who will be supporting him on the wings?

A lot of Manchester City fans are crying out for a Foden/Alvarez partnership, but we think they’ll only get half of that wish. Phil Foden surely needs to start after an inexplicably dry run of minutes, while Riyad Mahrez is our pick to start on the right after a great assist last weekend. 

Starting XI: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Aké, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Haaland, Foden.

Substitutes: Ortega, Lewis, Akanji, Laporte, Phillips, Bernardo, Grealish, Palmer, Alvarez.