Chelsea F.C. vs. Manchester City F.C. Prediction on August 18, 2024

Match info

There’s always a lot of excitement leading up to the English Premier League (EPL), the top division of English men’s football, opening weekend. This Sunday’s match between Chelsea F.C. and Manchester City F.C. (August 18 at 4:30 p.m. local time at Stamford Bridge, West London) in 2024–25 looks to be a very interesting one.

Meeting statistics

Even though it was just preseason, these two teams squared off a few weeks ago. Chelsea were nearly at full strength, while City entered the game with just four or five players who were regular first-team members the previous season, and they still won handily (4-2). This was a reason for the best EPL betting sites to mark City as an overwhelming favorite in the upcoming game.

Off the field, Chelsea are unkempt and unorganized, and the club is being handled in a very dubious way. It’s difficult to have high expectations for them this season, as City will undoubtedly compete for the league championship. One simply can’t ignore them in this situation with the aim of a straightforward ultimate triumph.

The current form of Chelsea F.C.

For the “Blues”, it has been yet another summer of drastic transformation. They chose to go into the new season under the leadership of Enzo Maresca, the man who guided Leicester to the championship title a few years ago, rather than Mauricio Pochettino, despite completing the previous campaign strongly and winning five straight games to sneak into sixth place.

On the field as well, everything is changing. There’s a significant leadership hole in the team following the departure of veteran defender Thiago Silva. Conor Gallagher, Romelu Lukaku, and Trevoh Chalobah are also expected to leave. The arrivals of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Marc Guiu, Filip Jörgensen, and Pedro Neto are certainly not the last, and the “Blues” may need some time to gel, just like they did last season.

Due to Pochettino’s struggles brought on by the large number of new players, Chelsea played poorly for much of the previous season. Maresca may experience similar difficulties this time around. The Italian, who worked with Pep Guardiola at City, is a protégé of the Spanish manager, and he’ll have extra motivation to triumph on Sunday.

The current form of Manchester City F.C.

The “Citizens” have a stable roster heading into the new season, in contrast to Chelsea. Manchester City made history in May when they became the first team to win the Premier League four times in a row. They’ll try to make it five straight titles starting on Sunday when they go to the capital. Although Julián Álvarez has left to join Atlético Madrid, Savinho, a new signing from Brazil, should take over right away, as he scored nine goals and assisted 10 more last season for Girona in Spain.

The two teams drew their two league encounters last season, but in their most recent official meeting—an FA Cup semifinal in April—City prevailed 1-0, and they should do so again. The “Citizens” finished the previous season with a ridiculous 33 goals scored in their final nine games. They had a terrifying finish to the season and given that Guardiola has won seven of his eight Premier League opening weekend games, history indicates his team will probably play at that level on Sunday.

Head-to-head

Manchester City and Chelsea have played each other in 50 Premier League games. Of these 50 games, Chelsea have won 27, while City prevailed in 16, most of which in recent years. Seven games resulted in draws.

Match analytics

Preseason games shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but Chelsea’s defense has shown weaknesses, most notably when they conceded four goals against Celtic. Additionally, their American trip showed some concerning indications. Maresca will have a difficult time balancing his team, and the “Blues” will need some early victories in order to have a successful season. On the other hand, the champions, who remained untouchable to Chelsea in 10 previous encounters (eight wins and two draws), are likely to visit and win at Stamford Bridge given the rival’s glut of new arrivals and porous defense. What can worry Guardiola’s side is defense, as they conceded 13 goals in the last five matches (also got four from Celtic) this summer and lost three of those meetings. Yet, we’re sure they’ll win, and the match will be marked by a lot of goals overall.

Tip: Result and Total – Win2 and Over (2.5), with odds of 2.2 on DRIP Casino.