In the 20th round of the Premier League on January 4, Manchester City will play Chelsea at the Etihad. The leaders of the London club yesterday dismissed Enzo Marescu after three consecutive matches without a win. The townspeople lost points with Sunderland in the last round. How will the upcoming meeting go and which reliable bets should I place? - you can find out about this from our betting tip
Command Analysis
Manchester City
Current form
For six rounds, Manchester City has only won the Premier League, got within two points of Arsenal, but still could not withstand the intense race. In the last meeting on the road, the townspeople could not beat Sunderland, weakened by serious losses (0:0). The opponent played reliably defensively, completely covered Holland, who has not scored for two matches in a row. City had chances, but none of the four shots on target led to a goal.
A draw with Sunderland and a victory by Arsenal in their match led to the fact that by the start of the 20th round, Josep Guardiola's team was in second place, but already four points behind the Londoners.
Manchester City have an important home field factor on their side today. At the Etihad, the team has played nine matches since the beginning of the season, in which they have won eight. It is at home that the attack of the townspeople is most effective - 25 goals scored. Only Tottenham managed to take three points from Manchester back in August, winning 2-0.
Disqualifications and injuries
Kovacic, Stones and Bobb are injured. Ait-Nuri and Marmush are in the national team. Nico and Savinho are questionable.
Interesting betting trends
In four of the last five matches involving Manchester City, no more than one goal was scored in the first half.
At least three goals were scored in 9 of the 10 previous matches of the citizens in the Premier League.
Manchester City have won the Premier League in eight consecutive matches on home turf.
Chelsea enters 2026 without Enzo Maresca, who was dismissed. While the search for a new coach is underway, Callum MacFarlane will lead the team in the role of acting coach. In general, if you look at the latest results, the resignation is quite logical. The specialist was not saved by his former achievements – winning the Conference League and the World Club Championship.
After an impressive 3-0 home win over Barcelona in the Champions League, Chelsea have played nine matches in all competitions, with just two wins: over Everton in the Premier League (2-0) and over Cardiff in the League Cup (3-1). At the moment, the Aristocrats are on a three-match winless streak in the Premier League. It is not surprising that, given the recent failures, the Londoners have left the top 4 and are in fifth place by the 20th round, three points behind Liverpool, who are in fourth.
In the last round, Chelsea failed to beat Bournemouth, who are now far from their peak form (2-2). All the goals in that meeting were scored within 27 minutes of the first half. In the second 45-minute match, the Aristocrats had a total advantage in possession of the ball (73% of the playing time), but scored only one shot on target and actually had only one scoring opportunity. Today, the team without Enzo Maresca is waiting for a trip to the Etihad, where they have not been able to win since 2021. Moreover, in the previous four face-to-face meetings, regardless of the venue, the Londoners lost.
Disqualifications and injuries
Colville, Lavia, Essugo and Hato will not play due to injuries. Caicedo has too many yellow cards. Cucurella is questionable.
Interesting betting trends
In five of Chelsea's last seven Premier League matches, there has been an exchange of goals scored.
Chelsea have only one defeat in the six previous away matches in the Premier League.
Chelsea have lost by offside in six of their last seven matches.
Recently, the townspeople have become an inconvenient opponent for Chelsea, as evidenced by four consecutive victories in personal meetings performed by the wards of Josep Guardiola. It will obviously not be easy to break this series of failures today, given that the aristocrats are on the decline and will play without the retired Enzo Mareschi. Manchester City did not cope with Sunderland in the previous round, which played well in defense, it is unlikely that the Londoners in their current state are ready to work in an organized manner in defense. Plus, the citizens have an important home field factor on their side: the series of wins at the Etihad currently stands at eight matches in the Premier League.
Our prediction is that Manchester City will win with an Asian handicap (-1) for a coefficient of 2.02
Will the prediction win?
TipManchester City's IT goals are more than two
Manchester City habitually relies on attacking on its own field, has managed to score 25 goals in the Premier League. Chelsea's defense has not been reliable for a long time, the same Bournemouth scored two goals in one half. In the three previous face-to-face meetings, the townspeople scored at least two goals against the aristocrats, which we are waiting for today.
The second bet is the individual total of Manchester City goals over two with a coefficient of 1.95
A bet on the exact difference in the bill
On their own field, taking into account all the tournaments, Manchester City has won in the last four matches. In three cases, it was possible to form victories with an advantage of two or three goals. Given Chelsea's obvious problems, we expect the townspeople to make a comfortable victory today and there will be no nervous ending.
The betting tip is a victory for Manchester City with an advantage of two or three goals with a coefficient of 3.20
xG (from English "expected goals" translates as "expected goals") is the sum of the probabilities of scoring chances, a mathematical value calculated taking into account the parameters of potential scoring chances, which include shots on goal and dangerous moments without finishing shots.
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