Latest team news and potential lineups ahead of the season opener between Chelsea and Man City in the Premier League
Chelsea will host champions Manchester City on Sunday at Stamford Bridge. This is the most intriguing game of matchday 1.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has little to worry about fitness with most of the players fully fit. With an extravagant squad at his disposal Maresca has big decisions to make before the opening encounter. The hosts under new manager Enzo Maresca could offer debuts to a few of their new signings.
On the other hand Pep Guardiola has to worry about fitness of his star players who have recently returned to training. Lot of them were rested against Man Utd in the community shield.
Football express is triying to predict the potential lineups of Chelsea and Man City.
CHELSEA TEAM NEWS
According to prematch press conference given by Enzo Maresca, Reece James is the only player who will be out. James suffered a hamstring injury during the pre season. Anyway he was already out with a three match suspension.
‘We have just one injury, that is Reece James,’ said Maresca in his first Premier League press conference. ‘The rest are fit and they will be available.’ According to london.football.
Maresca has a huge squad to select from. So it is difficult to say who will start and who sits on the bench. One thing is certain that we can see a few of them get their competitive debuts. Their 52 million pound aquisition Christopher Nkunku is expected to start after an injury hit debut season. Noni Madueke is another one who is expected to start after featuring consistantly during the pre-season. While Conor Gallagher, Armando Broja, Romelu Lukaku and Trevoh Chalobah are all left out due to ongoing transfer talks. We hope to see new signings Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Tosin Adarabioyo and Marc Guiu to make their debuts. New signing Pedro Neto is fully fit to play on Sunday. But the manager states that he need to understand how Chelsea play.
Romeo Lavia is fit to play again but Moises Caicedio is expected to start ahead of him. We might see him play a part in the later stages of the game.
MAN CITY TEAM NEWS
Pep Guardiola also has a single injury concern which is Norwegian youngster Oscar Bobb who suffered a training injury. Bobb had a really impressive pre-season featured consistently on the teamsheet. He started against Man Utd and also assisted Bernardo Silva for the late equaliser. Pep also confirmed that he will be out for several months
The Manager has confimed that Euro finalists Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, Jhon Stones and Rodri are all back in training. We don’t know whether they will start the match or not. De Bruyne and Bernanrdo Silva might be back in the eleven for sunday.
After the match against United, Bernardo Silva was highly vocal about how Pep gives rest for the players. So we don’t expect to see the likes of Foden and Rodri in the starting eleven. Savinho might make his first start on sunday. It was confirmed that 21 year old James McAtee will stay at Man City. He played his last season at Sheffield United on loan. It will not be a surprise if we see McAtee on the pitch for a few minutes.
LINEUPS
CHELSEA
Maresca played with different lineups in pre-season. Here we think he will go with a 4-2-3-1 formation. Robert Sanches in goal with a back four of Cucurella, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto. The two holding midfielders will be Enzo Fernandes and Moises Caicedo. Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke in the left and right wings respectively. Cole Palmer in the centre with Nicolas Jackson upfront.
MAN CITY
Pep Guardiola will go with a traditional 4-3-3 formation. Ederson will start in goal, with a back four of Rico Lewis, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji and Gvardiol. Kovacic, De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva in midfield. Jeremy Doku in left wing and Savinho in right wing. Erling Haaland will lead the attack.
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