Meeting for the third time in two months and second time in the space of four days, Manchester City and Chelsea renew hostilities for Sunday's FA Cup third-round encounter.
Pep Guardiola's outfit travelled to Stamford Bridge for Thursday's Premier League battle and ran out 1-0 winners, despite coming under the cosh for large portions of the match.
Match preview
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Refusing to make any alterations until the 87th minute of his side's draw with Everton, Guardiola had seemingly learned his lesson as he rang the changes early doors at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea's periods of promise failed to bear fruit.
Only three minutes after both men were introduced into the fray, Jack Grealish found fellow substitute Riyad Mahrez to tap home at the back stick and settle the close contest in the champions' favour, allowing them to close the gap on leaders Arsenal back down to five points.
Playing catch-up to old student Mikel Arteta is at the forefront of Guardiola's mind right now, but there should be scope for the Catalan coach to steer his side all the way to FA Cup glory, having only got his hands on the trophy once since taking over in 2019.
Three years on from demolishing Watford 6-0 in that final, the Premier League champions have three successive semi-final exits on their record, going down 3-2 to eventual winners Liverpool in the final four last season after previous eliminations at the hands of Arsenal and Chelsea.
Also working around an imminent EFL Cup fourth-round tie with Southampton and tackling Manchester United in what promises to be a fiery derby on January 14, a third successive win over the Blues would surely scratch Guardiola off of Graham Potter's Christmas card list.
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Not one, not two, but three injuries were added to insult for Chelsea as their European aspirations suffered another damaging blow in Thursday's defeat to City, where Mason Mount (before the game), Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic all joined the ever-growing infirmary.
Nevertheless, Potter could take encouragement from what his side displayed versus the English champions, who often struggled to deal with Chelsea's slick play through the middle, but such niceties counted for a grand total of zero points in West London.
A fourth defeat from six Premier League matches has left some Blues fans fearing for their spot in the top half never mind a European berth, with Potter's men now lying smack-bang in the middle of the table in 10th place, but those concerns can wait as Chelsea seek to end a painful spate of FA Cup final losses.
During Man City's three successive semi-final finishes, Chelsea have reached the final on each occasion, only to lose to Arsenal, Leicester City and Liverpool, and they travel to the Etihad winless in four successive away matches in all competitions.
Prior to victory at Stamford Bridge, Man City overcame Chelsea 2-0 in the third round of the EFL Cup on November 9, but the Blues have won both of their last two FA Cup meetings with the English champions, and as the old saying goes, the third time is the charm.
Team News
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Unlike their counterparts in blue, City should once again only be working without two players for the third-round match in Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias, who are nursing back and hamstring injuries respectively.
Laporte could even push to return from his problem in time for this game but is unlikely to be risked from the off, while World Cup hero Julian Alvarez should also be considered for some minutes here.
Super subs Mahrez and Grealish could also benefit from some much-needed rotation, as might Kalvin Phillips, although Guardiola may opt to save the bulk of his changes for the imminent EFL Cup showdown with Southampton.
In contrast, Chelsea have no fewer than 10 players sidelined at the time of writing, with Sterling and Pulisic both coming off early in the defeat to Man City with a hamstring injury and knock - which Mount also sustained prior to the game - respectively.
None of the trio should feature here, as Potter also remains without Reece James, Armando Broja, N'Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy, and it remains to be seen if Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell and Ruben Loftus-Cheek can make their comebacks in this one.
Up-and-coming starlets such as Carney Chukwuemeka, Omari Hutchinson and Lewis Hall should no doubt take advantage of their stricken teammates' woes here, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will hope for another chance after being brought on for Sterling before subsequently being taken off again on Thursday.
The transfers of David Datro Fofana, Benoit Badiashile and Andrey Santos have all been finalized, but it is difficult to see any of them - barring possibly Badiashile - being ready for their debuts here.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Cancelo; Gundogan, Phillips, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Alvarez, Grealish
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Kepa; Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Koulibaly, Cucurella; Jorginho, Zakaria, Chukwuemeka; Ziyech, Havertz, Aubameyang
We say: Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea
As encouraging as Chelsea's performance was in Thursday's defeat, mounting injury problems, a poor streak of form and lack of goals away from home should cost them dear once more.
Guardiola possesses far more senior options for change, and we are struggling to envisage anything other than yet another miserable afternoon for Chelsea against Man City, who ought to advance to round four with minimal difficulty.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
