GLOBAL SOCCER
fter losing to Liverpool last time out, Manchester City will be tested once again as they welcome an inform Chelsea side. Frank Lampard’s men are full of confidence and they will pose a real test to the City defence which they will be confident of breaching.
After 12 Premier League matches, not many Chelsea fans would have expected to be above Manchester City in the table
Last season, City clinched the league title, and even though the Blues finished third, they were still 28 points behind Pep Guardiola’s team.
Once again Chelsea went through a change of head coach, and instead of experience they went for Blues legend Lampard, who had just a year of managerial experience under his belt. Add to that, the Blues were slapped with a two-window transfer ban, meaning that they were unable to bring in any new players over the summer. And then the cherry on top of the cake, they lost their best player, Eden Hazard, to Real Madrid.
Combine all of that together and many were predicting a pretty disastrous start to the campaign.
After the 4-0 opening game defeat to Manchester United as well, that looked like it was going to come true.
However, those early fears have been put to one side and with six league wins in a row, Chelsea are in a really good position going into the Christmas run.
Currently being third in the table and a point above the current champions is above the expectations set.
But this weekend’s trip to the Etihad Stadium will be the greatest test of just how far this young team have come.
One can’t take away from the fact that six wins in a row is an excellent achievement from Lampard’s side, but Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton, Newcastle, Burnley, Watford and Crystal Palace are teams, who on paper, the Blues should be beating.
It’s one thing being the favourite and then actually going out and beating them, but it was a run of fixtures that Lampard would have eyed a big number of points.
However, Chelsea’s record this season against the traditional ‘big six’ has not been good and it is the next step on the way to Lampard’s development of his team.
This season, the Blues have lost twice to Manhester United, that heavy defeat at Old Trafford and then the Carabao Cup loss at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues have been beaten twice by Liverpool, once in the league and then in the Super Cup on penalties.
In fact, the 1- 1 draw against