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The main event at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon is the 175th meeting between Chelsea and Manchester City, the current Premier League champions.
Last Monday, in a wild match that saw Nicolas Jackson score a hat-trick and Spurs reduced to nine men, Chelsea defeated their London rivals 4-1 to resume their winning ways and hand erstwhile league leaders Tottenham Hotspur their first loss of the year.
Man City, on the other hand, took advantage of Tottenham’s collapse to overtake them as the top team in the Premier League standings after crushing Bournemouth 6-1.
On Tuesday, they easily defeated Young Boys 3-0 in the Champions League to guarantee their spot in the round of 16.
Pep Guardiola’s team will be eager to start the international break on a high note by defeating Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea team, who are currently 10th in the table and nine points out of the top four.
If Spurs defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday lunchtime, they could drop to second place ahead of Sunday’s trip to the capital.
Before the thrilling match at Stamford Bridge, Sports Mole examines the teams’ head-to-head record in more detail.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
Matches: 174
Chelsea wins: 71
Draws: 40
Manchester City wins: 63
There have been 40 stalemates between Chelsea and Man City over the years, and it took place at Stamford Bridge with a 2-2 tie to start their first-ever match one century and sixteen years ago.
Chelsea has a slight advantage in the overall head-to-head record between the two teams, having defeated the Citizens 71 times, while the Citizens have triumphed 63 times against the Blues.
Chelsea has defeated Man City on 27 occasions in 52 meetings during the Premier League era (since 1992–1993), losing 18 and drawing just seven. However, the Citizens have won three of the four EFL Cup matches against the West Londoners, including one that ended in a penalty shootout in the 2019 final.
The most well-known matchup between these two teams occurred in Istanbul in May 2021 when Chelsea defeated Man City 1-0 in the first half of the Champions League final, a competition the Citizens eventually won for the first time in their history the previous season to cap off a historic treble.
In the first half of the Premier League era, Chelsea dominated this matchup with Man City, winning 18 of the 24 games and scoring 45 goals along the way. Their greatest winning streak over the Citizens was eight games, which spanned from December 2005 to March 2009.
In recent times, though, the odds have steadily shifted in City’s favor. Over the last 28 top-flight meetings, they have won 16, drawn three, and scored 42 goals; the Blues have won the other nine games.
Ever since Chelsea’s Champions League victory over Man City more than two years ago, the West Londoners have lost all six of their meetings with the Citizens in all competitions by an overall score of 10-0, with their last four Premier League matches ending in 1-0 losses.
In the previous campaign, Cole Palmer, who moved from Manchester City to Chelsea in the summer, set up Julian Alvarez for the game-winning goal in a close victory by the same score at the Etihad Stadium in May.
Palmer also scored the game’s only goal in a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in January of last year.
It’s interesting to note that in his management career, Pochettino has met Man City (20) more times than any other opponent, whilst in Guardiola’s coaching career, he has only faced Arsenal (29) more times than Chelsea (25).
While Pochettino has won six, drawn three, and lost eleven of his twenty meetings with the Citizens while in charge of former clubs Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham, and Southampton, Guardiola, formerly of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, has won 14, drawn three, and lost eight of his 25 meetings against the Blues, including 13 wins and seven losses as Man City manager over the last seven years.
With 13 goals in 21 games, including two historic Premier League hat-tricks (his first in a 3-0 away win in April 2016 and his second in a commanding 6-0 home triumph in October 2019), Man City icon Sergio Aguero is the all-time leading scorer in this matchup.
Next on the list with eight goals, including seven for Chelsea, is former Blues forward Jimmy Greaves, and former Citizens Carlos Tevez and Francis Lee each have six goals. Frank Lampard, who played for both Chelsea and Man City, is next on the list.
