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[VIDEO] Man City vs Chelsea: EPL highlights, scores, blog

21st September, 2014
Kickoff: 1:00 AEST, Monday September 22 2014
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Head to Head: Played 148, Manchester City 50, Chelsea 61, Draws 37
Betting: Manchester City $2.30, Chelsea $3.00, Draw $3.40

Last Five Meetings:
Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea (English FA Cup – 15/02/14 – Etihad Stadium)
Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea (English Premier League – 03/02/14 – Etihad Stadium)
Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City (English Premier League – 27/10/13 – Stamford Bridge)
Chelsea 1-2 Manchester City (English FA Cup – 14/04/13 – Stamford Bridge)
Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea (English Premier League – 24/02/13 – Etihad Stadium)
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero has continued his incredible run of form. (AFP PHOTO / IAN MACNICOL)
Roar Guru
21st September, 2014
53
2665 Reads

MATCH RESULT:

Chelsea drop their first points of the 2014/15 English Premier League season following a 1-1 draw with Manchester City.

Both teams now look at the League Cup knockout games midweek, where they are likely to enforce mass changes.

Chelsea are at home to Bolton Wanderers, while City remain at the Etihad to greet Sheffield Wednesday.

Following on from that, Chelsea meet Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge, while City travel to Hull City.

FINAL SCORE:
Manchester City 1
Chelsea 1

MATCH PREVIEW:

The battle for English Premier League supremacy is underway, as champions Manchester City host Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Monday morning. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 1:00am (AEST).

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Once last season’s Premier League trophy got adorned with the sky blue ribbons of Manchester City last May, Chelsea fans could only bemoan what may have been had their giant-killing ways applied to other opposition.

The champions, after all, came unstuck against Jose Mourinho’s team twice last season, before gaining a victory of little consequence in last season’s FA Cup.

But in the scheme of things, Chelsea know the difference between them and their Mancunian opponents was their strikers’ inability to capitalise against the weaker teams in the league in the manner that Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko regularly did.

Enter Diego Costa.

Despite Chelsea’s home blip in the Champions League midweek, they have begun the Premier League season in scintillating fashion.

Central to that has been the form of their new frontman Costa, with seven goals in his four appearances. It is the cutting edge that Jose Mourinho desired last season that in the end cost Chelsea their chance of success.

While the spotlight will shine firmly on Costa, who is likely to start following his bench appearance in the Champions League, it is the form and influence of Cesc Fabregas that has truly set Chelsea’s motor purring in a way seldom seen at Stamford Bridge during the Abramovich era.

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Yet Mourinho is likely to revert to the tactics of yore, in trying to nullify and frustrate Manchester City’s plethora of attacking talent.

Memories of Chelsea’s smash and grab last season still linger for Manchester City. Though they would still win the grand prize, Manuel Pellegrini was guilty of underestimating Jose Mourinho’s ability to knuckle and eke out a result – regardless of the means.

Should last season’s lessons be absorbed by the City boss, it is likely the hosts will start with a formation similar to Chelsea, with Aguero starting up top, with David Silva in support.

In a game likely to be defined by its defensive qualities, Pellegrini will likely opt to start James Milner alongside Fernandinho to keep quiet the threats of Fabregas and Eden Hazard.

Expect the contest to be well fought out in the middle of the park, with both Fernandinho and Nemanja Matic having plenty of work to do.

The prospect of Frank Lampard featuring against his former club is also highly appealing, but so is the knowledge that another loss against Chelsea may truly cost Manchester City this season, courtesy of Diego Costa.

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