Chelsea V Manchester City Preview: New Money Squares Up to Old Money

Ahead of Chelsea’s upcoming fixture against Manchester City, I’ve decided to start what I hope will be a regular feature on Bleacher Report.

I’ll try to preview Chelsea’s league fixtures throughout the season, providing some thoughts, team news, quotes from both sides, recent form, and a prediction of how I think the game will pan out.

Let me know what you think.

Initial Thoughts and Points of Interest

Usually, clashes between Manchester City and Chelsea don’t set the footballing world alight. They’re not bitter rivals, and for the last couple of years haven’t been contesting trophies.

All that has changed.

The takeover of City by the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), has elevated the status of the game and given it an extra edge alongside the already numerous sub plots that could make the newspaper headlines.

Shaun Wright-Phillips will make come up against his former club, having been sold back to Manchester City during the summer. Wright-Phillips never did cement his place at Chelsea following his £21 million move in 2005, and he could feel as if he will have something to prove to Luiz Felipe Scolari on Saturday evening.

Nicolas Anelka will also be facing one of his (seemingly infinite) former clubs. The brooding Frenchman played for the club between 2002 and 2005, and scored a winner against Chelsea for City in 2004, handing Jose Mourinho his first defeat as Chelsea manager.

However, all eyes will be on Brazilian winger Robinho after his shock move to Eastlands on transfer deadline day for a British record fee of £32.5 million. After seemingly being destined for Chelsea all summer, Robinho will take to the field against Chelsea wearing a slightly lighter shade of blue.

Team News

Manchester City: Martin Petrov will sit this one out having picked up a knee injury. Mark Hughes hopes to have the Bulgarian back for the next game against Portsmouth. Hughes is hopeful that Micah Richards and Michael Johnson can shake off injuries and figure.

Team from: Hart, Schmeichel, Richards, Kompany, Zabaleta, Dunne, Onuoha, Ben Haim, Ball, Garrido, Fernandes, Hamann, Ireland, Johnson, Elano, Evans, Sturridge, Caicedo, Jo, Benjani, Robinho.

Chelsea: Michael Essien will miss out having ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament on international duty with Ghana. The Ghanaian is expected to be out for several months. Didier Drogba and John Obi Mikel could both return from injury for the Blues, Drogba will play 45 minutes at most, according to Chelsea boss Scolari. Joe Cole could miss out after sustaining a nasty knock in England's 4-1 win over Croatia in Zagreb.

Team from: Cech, Cudicini, Hilario, Bosingwa, Terry, Carvalho, A Cole, Belletti, Obi, Lampard, Deco, Anelka, Drogba, J Cole, Bridge, Alex, Ferreira, Kalou, Malouda, Di Santo, Ivanovic.

Squad Listings courtesy of BBC Sport.

Quotes

Mark Hughes has said that he doesn’t think Shaun Wright-Phillips will feel anxious ahead of the meeting with his former club:

“I don’t think they have anything to prove,” Hughes declared.

“Everyone knows that Shaun is an exceptionally talented footballer, and we are delighted that he is back.

“He made a huge impact against Sunderland, and you could not have written that script any better. It was great for him, and I know that he is really excited about going up against Chelsea at the weekend, as we all are.

“He is going to get a fantastic reception, his homecoming in the media has possibly been overshadowed a little bit by the Robinho transfer, but come Saturday I think you will see Shaun get an outstanding reception.”

Chelsea boss Scolari has played down the significance of Robinho’s decision to choose Manchester City.

He is one more player for Manchester City, nothing different," said Scolari.

"Robinho is one player who I said was very good.

"He was in Brazil, then with Real Madrid and now Manchester City. He is a player for Manchester City—it's finished."

Meanwhile, Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has turned up the heat ahead of the clash, claiming that him and his team mates want to show Robinho that he made a mistake in signing for City.

“In the morning he says he loves Chelsea and he wants to be part of Chelsea and a few hours later he signs for another club,” said the Cech.

'“It was his decision. He needs to play well for Manchester City and we want to show him on Saturday he made a decision that is not perfect for him really.

“He is a great player and the sort of player who can entertain people so for the Premier League maybe he is good, but we will see how he is going to cope with the pressure now.”

Recent Form

Chelsea sit atop of the table after two wins and a draw from their opening three games. After playing so impressively against Portsmouth on the opening day, Chelsea’s last two performances have been stuttering and lacking in fluency.

After a disastrous start to the season—they lost to FC Midtjylland and Aston Villa—City's form has picked up and they have put three goals without reply past both West Ham and Sunderland. They sit in third position in the table, a point behind Chelsea and Liverpool.

Prediction

I think this is just set up to be banana skin for Chelsea. My gut instinct is that Shaun Wright-Phillips and/or Robinho will score, to send the home faithful into raptures. Chelsea must improve on the second half performance against Tottenham, otherwise a first defeat of the season could be on the cards.

My prediction is a very exciting 2-2 draw.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know how you think the game will go in the comments section below.