Former Liverpool player, Mark Lawrenson, has backed Manchester City to beat Chelsea when both teams clash in the English Premier League, EPL, on Saturday evening at Etihad.
Chelsea and Man City faced off in the FA Cup semi-final just weeks ago, with the Blues emerging victorious to knock Pep Guardiola’s men out and end their quadruple hopes.
Thomas Tuchel’s side will hope to pick up a win against Man City and maintain their lead over West Ham United and Liverpool in the race for the EPL top four.
Man City, on the other hand, will look to seal the Premier League title as a win against Chelsea will ensure they are not mathematically catchable.
Providing his prediction, Lawrenson wrote in his column for Bioreports, “Usually I would be thinking City will want to wrap the title up, but their manager Pep Guardiola might decide he wants to revamp his team. I don’t think Guardiola should rest people on a day where they can win the league, but, also, that runs the risk of Chelsea beating them for a second time in the space of a few weeks – after they knocked them out of the FA Cup.
“It’s difficult to second-guess Guardiola’s team selection, but I would expect Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel to pick a strong side.
“Chelsea are still fighting for fourth place – to make sure they are in the Champions League next year, as well as trying to win it this season. Tuchel’s side fully deserved their win over City at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final last month, but a stronger City line-up should come out on top at Etihad Stadium.”
The kick-off time for Man City vs Chelsea is 5.30 pm.
