Manchester City vs. Chelsea (PL) 16/08/15 KO 16:00 BST

[Amputechture]

We'll smash 'em.

3-0, won't say I told you so.

[jdb_thc_cfc]

City looks good against West Brom, but I'm sure Jose got a plan to destroy them. 

 

I'd like to see this XI:

 

Begovic

 

Ivanovic

Zouma

Terry

Azpi

 

Matic

Fabregas

 

Willian

Oscar

Hazard

 

Costa

 

We've to win this! After our last game must come an improvement. We have to prove that we're still the champions of England, I'm fully motivated for this match and ready for the battle. COME ON CHELS!

Against City there is no way Mourinho isn't playing Ramires if I'm honest. A midfield 3 of Rambo, Fabregas and Matic would make sense. Could see us being dominated in midfield as Cesc isn't good enough defensively to be there with Matic in the big games. I'm a bit worried about Sterling up against Ivanovic after the bumming he got from Montero on Saturday but we will see.

Edited August 10, 2015 by jdb_thc_cfc

[salfordcarl]

city do look the business tonight

[coco]

Anyone watching the city game, they look head and shoulders above us 

 

Wish I could disagree.

[Izanagi]

Afraid we're going to get turned over here.

 

4-0 to City.

[Coxy15]

Mourinho will be drilling us for another 'park the bus' masterclass against a side that are currently better than us. 0-0 draw is my prediction, with us having little possession, and very few chances.

And we will inevitably get slammed in the press for not rolling over and letting them beat us...

 

[Scott Harris]

Afraid we're going to get turned over here.

 

4-0 to City.

 

Have a little faith, jeez.

[General]

if they win next weekend it will open up a 5 point gap

 

I'm sure TSO will not want that outcome, even 2 matches into the 38

 

so he will do his usual stifle the game and hope for a bit of counter attacking magic

 

better the devil you know........

 

leopard wont change his spots.....

 

boring boring Chelsea   

[coco]

Since the end of last season, through pre-season to our first game against Swansea, apart from Hazard showing glimpses of top form, nobody else has shown any signs of decent form, compared to last seasons start it feels very flat.

 

Our season needs igniting.

[Nibs]

Since the end of last season, through pre-season to our first game against Swansea, apart from Hazard showing glimpses of top form, nobody else has shown any signs of decent form, compared to last seasons start it feels very flat.

 

Our season needs igniting.

 

Totally agree and have said as much elsewhere. We haven't become a bad team overnight but there has been a gradual "decline". Jose must have seen that and one can only hope he has a plan!!!

[the special one]

Park the bus....

 

Begovic

Ivan -- Cahill -- JT -- Azpi

Mikel -- Zouma -- Matic

Ramires -- Willian

Diego Costa

Edited August 10, 2015 by the special one

[MANoWAR]

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/premier-league/man-city-v-chelsea/winner

 

odds atm

[axman2526]

Yeah 5 point gap to them and potentially Liverpool and United would be rather different to last season. Would be the chaser rather than the chased.

[Carefree92]

Park the bus....

 

Begovic

Ivan -- Cahill -- JT -- Azpi

Mikel -- Zouma -- Matic

Ramires -- Willian

Diego Costa

Really, no Hazard?

[Carefree92]

I'd back us to keep a clean sheet here. However, if we go behind and the game plan goes out the window, it will be a very long afternoon.

[Snedger]

We'll get beaten comfortably. Doesn't necessarily mean we won't win the league but I'm not putting money on us. We are crying out for a game changer but the days of that kind of investment are over.

[CFC_RFC_TID!]

said in a thread in the rumours section that I think we will get absolutely tonked in this one.

harbinger of doom I am!! just not confident at all and they looked fantastic tonight against a pulis side that humped us 3-0 at the end of the season.

fingers crossed for a draw. we are far from ready for this.

[icecoolguy22]

I expect Jose will deploy the same game plan as the past 2 seasons, wouldn't be surprised if Zouma play midfield , Cesc further up the field, and Oscar out. I hoe Oscar starts again, would be disappointing to see him dropped because this the game we need to play 'safe'. No doubt it will be a tough game, but I usually feel more confident about game like this, than a trip to Newcastle or Crystal Palace.

[PL2]

A defeat on Sunday may convince the board to spend big before the end of the transfer window.

[Oneclubinlondon]

I don't think you can make such statements after watching 45 minutes against West Brom. On top of us being down to 10 (which we deserved) We can only carry on guessing. 

 

My guess is that we will defend and poach. 

 

We cannot just write ourselves off so early on. If we are still struggling after 5 then we (and MR A) will assess. 

They did look better than us by a margin but it was more of  comical reference to Joe hart doing head and shoulders ads, the good news is we looked 10 times better than we did against Florentina so hopefully we will take that jump up in sharpness again this week, plus we have a fully fit squad so it could be happy days ahead if we take teh three points it makes a statement, I'm not worried about Arsenal or Man U just like I wasn't last season, our only real rivals are city I feel. 

[Carefree92]

A defeat on Sunday may convince the board to spend big before the end of the transfer window.

I would seriously doubt it.

[icecoolguy22]

I would seriously doubt it.

 

I agree, think we have planned this out by July. It's either  a calculated gamble, or we just ran out of money to spend (new stadium?) God forbid if we lose heavily on the weekend, there will be a front page picture of Roman's frowning face and titled Jose is facing the sack 

 

It's only August for god sake.

[mad_mac]

Chelsea are appealing the Tibo Red Card.

[mad_mac]

I think it'll be a 1-1 draw (maybe I'm being hopeful here).

 

......................Begovic

Ivan......Zouma......Terry......Dave

.............Matic.....Fabregas

Ramires.......WIllian.......Hazard

......................Costa

[Nichollz]

We'll probably play really defensively and this will mean Ivan is well protected and unlikely to see a repeat of Saturday. Unfortunately Rami will come in meaning any hope of passing it around a bit and having at least 40% of the ball is unlikely. Game will probably be decided on how good a day Azpi, Terry, Matic, and Costa have.   Need at least 2 of them to have a 9/10 kind of performance to have any hope.