Chelsea are in better form.

Last updated: February 18, 2016 by Leon Marshal

Guus Hiddink’s players are now showing their real potential on the pitch. The Blues smashed Newcastle 5-1 last weekend, recording their biggest victory of the season. Diego Costa, who opened the score-sheet, has scored 5 goals in Chelsea’s last 7 Premier League matches. He has now 11 goals from all tournaments and is The Blues’ top goal-scorer this season.

Manchester City struggled in their last two Premier League games. The Citizens showed a really bad performance against Leicester City and deservedly lost 3-1. Then in the previous round, Pellegrini’s players were beaten 2-1 by Tottenham and now City’s chances for the title are not good.

Both teams last met each other in The FA Cup on 14th April 2013. Manchester City were victors with a 2-1 victory in the semi-final match at Wembley. Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero gave City a hefty 2-0 lead. Demba Ba scored for Chelsea after the break, but that wasn’t enough for The Blues. Manchester City eventually lost the final to Wigan Athletic (0-1). But that wasn’t the greatest recent achievement in The FA Cup for The Citizens. They won the tournament in 2011, while Chelsea lifted the trophy a year later.

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Team News

Vincent Kompany has recently recovered from his injury. He played against Tottenham, but is still not in his top form.

Guus Hiddink thinks that Chelsea’s new signing – Alexandre Pato is still not ready to make his debut for The Blues. The Brazilian will need at least 1 more week of training, before being selected.

Kurt Zouma is out until the end of the season. The French defender is suffering from ACL knee ligament injury and will be fit in August.

Fabian Delph of Manchester City is suffering from Achilles tendinitis. The Englishman is expected to return to the pitch at the end of March.

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Expected line-ups:

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Comparison

• Chelsea have won 35 of 69 matches against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. There have been 21 draws and 13 victories for The Citizens.
• Man City won the first match of the season between these two teams 3-0. Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho found the net to take the 3 points.
• The Citizens are lying in 4th place of The Premier League standings with 47 points collected, while Chelsea are 12th with 33 points.
• The Blues are unbeaten in their last 12 competitive games. Chelsea’s last loss was on 14th December 2015 (1-2 to Leicester).

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Head to Head