Manchester City vs. Chelsea Prediction: Top-Four Contenders Butt Heads

• Manchester City’s hopes of winning the Premier League title are over

• Chelsea, like their upcoming opponents, are focused on a top-four finish

• Who will come out on top in this heavyweight clash at the Etihad Stadium?

Manchester City vs. Chelsea Odds

The odds for Manchester City vs Chelsea are provided by the bet365 sportsbook, which offers a $1000 safety net bet or $150 in bonus bets.

Manchester City vs. Chelsea Pick

Back a Chelsea win or a draw in the double chance market. Manchester City’s recent record in big games leaves a lot to be desired, and the Blues can take advantage.

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Manchester City Suffered Another Setback in Midweek

Up until this week, it looked like Manchester City had turned a corner. Five consecutive Premier League games without defeat stopped the rot for Pep Guardiola’s side, who had previously seen their title hopes evaporate after an extraordinary downturn in form. City also advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup with an 8-0 victory over Salford City earlier this month.

On Wednesday, it appeared that City were on their way to righting a few wrongs in the Champions League too. Goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland gave their team a 2-0 lead against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes. City seemed to be on their way to their most impressive victory for some time.

PSG had other ideas. Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Bracola brought them level by the hour mark, before Joao Neves and Goncalo Ramos completed the comeback to give PSG a 4-2 win. It was a remarkable collapse from City, who were powerless to resist as their opponents surged forward time and time again.

The manner of the defeat could prove to be just as damaging as the loss itself. City will still reach the knockout play-offs if they beat Club Brugge next week, but going from 2-0 up to 4-2 down in a little over 30 minutes must have had an adverse effect on the players’ confidence. That potentially bodes ill for this weekend’s clash with Chelsea.

"We scored the first goal, we could not control it,” Guardiola said when asked to assess his team’s performance in Paris. “In that moment we were knocked out and they were lifted and then they were better. They were quicker, faster, stronger in the duels. They had control in the middle and we could not cope with that.”

City must dust themselves down quickly because this is an important game in their quest for a top-five finish (fifth place should be enough to reach the Champions League this term).

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Chelsea Are Flawed but This Team Is Ahead of Schedule

Like Manchester City, Chelsea saw their title chances come to an end in the final month of 2024. An unanticipated winless streak encompassing games against Everton, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth bumped Enzo Maresca’s men down the Premier League table, although Chelsea did return to winning ways against Wolves on Monday.

That 3-1 triumph saw the Blues climb above City and into fourth place. The duo are separated by just two points, which means City can retake the final guaranteed Champions League qualification spot with a win at the Etihad Stadium. With both clubs targeting the same objective, this match could be decisive come the end of the campaign.

Chelsea are out of the title race, but no one expected them to be in it at the start of the campaign. That is a key difference between Maresca’s side and City. A top-four finish would be an excellent outcome for Chelsea, whereas it would represent a disappointing season for City, who have won six of the last seven titles.

Chelsea are a work in progress. To some extent that is to be expected; theirs is the youngest squad in the Premier League. Moreover, Maresca is still in his first season at the helm, and it will take more time for him to shape the side in his image. 

There have been plenty of promising signs up to now and Chelsea are very much ahead of schedule. They will be determined to show how far they have come since a 2-0 home loss to City on the opening weekend of 2024/25.

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Which of These Champions League Contenders Will Triumph?

It is true that Manchester City have not lost any of their last six domestic encounters, but their opponents in that time were Everton, Leicester City, West Ham United, Salford, Brentford and Ipswich. 

Conversely, their record in recent big games leaves a lot to be desired. City have lost to PSG, Manchester United, Liverpool, Juventus, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur over the last couple of months. When they have faced stronger sides, City have tended to come unstuck.

That could be the case again on Saturday. Chelsea are capable of taking the ball away from City for periods of the game, but perhaps their best chance of success is via the counter-attack. The champions look extremely vulnerable in transition, a weakness which Maresca (who formerly worked as an assistant to Guardiola at City) will be keen to exploit.

We should not underestimate the psychological effect that the defeat by PSG must have had on City’s squad. The Etihad crowd is likely to grow nervous if things start to go against the home team, and that will not help the players’ belief either. All in all, Chelsea should be able to pick up at least a point in this crunch clash.

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How to Watch Manchester City vs Chelsea

• Teams: Manchester City vs Chelsea

• Location: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England

• Date and Time: Saturday, 25 January 2025, 12.30 PM ET 

• How to Watch: Peacock Premium