Chelsea face Man City test
LONDON. — Chelsea host champions Manchester City in a stiff test of the leaders’ title credentials today as Liverpool and Manchester United bid to keep pace.
The Blues look well-equipped to end the season as English champions for the first time since 2017 after signing Romelu Lukaku to add a cutting edge to their attack.
But, Liverpool, the 2020 title winners, and Manchester United are matching them, with all three teams locked on 13 points after five games.
Even though the season is still young, former England captain turned TV pundit Alan Shearer predicts Chelsea are going to be difficult to stop.
Thomas Tuchel’s team beat Manchester City three times last season — including in the Champions League final.
Since then they have signed Lukaku from Inter Milan and have also been miserly at the back — conceding just one goal in the league.
“Lukaku is not the only reason they are so formidable,” Shearer wrote in his BBC Sport column.
“They won the Champions League in May without him. But his arrival means they don’t have a weak link in their team, and they have such strength in depth too.”
It is too soon to call the match at Stamford Bridge a title decider, but City boss Pep Guardiola will not want to leave London six points behind one of his main rivals.
Manchester City will have more than just revenge on their minds.
A frustrating 0-0 draw at home to Southampton last week lent weight to the argument that they lack the predatory striker needed to keep pace with a stronger batch of title contenders than they faced last season.
Guardiola’s champions are just three points behind Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool after five games of the season.
But, that gap could easily grow over the course of a demanding week that ends with a trip to face Liverpool at Anfield after a midweek date against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Tuchel denied Guardiola the crowning achievement of his time at City by coming out on top in the tactical battle as the Blues won the Champions League final in May.
Victory in Porto completed a hat-trick of wins for Chelsea over City towards the end of last season that set the foundations for a tilt at the Premier League for the Stamford Bridge side.
Another victory this weekend would mean Tuchel would become the first manager to ever beat Guardiola in four consecutive games.
The German’s near-flawless start to life in English football has continued in the early weeks of this season.
Chelsea have taken 13 points from a possible 15 despite tough away games so far against Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham.
Crucially, Tuchel got what Guardiola did not in the transfer window — a proven goalscorer.
Lukaku, who joined from Inter Milan, already has four goals in all competitions since returning to Stamford Bridge for a club-record £97.5 million ($134 million).
City spent even more in making Jack Grealish the first-ever £100 million English Premier League player.
But the England international only added to an array of creative talents at Guardiola’s disposal rather than addressing the need for a successor to Sergio Aguero.
English Premiership Fixtures Today: Chelsea v Manchester City (1:30pm); Manchester United v Aston Villa (1:30pm); Everton v Norwich; Leeds v West Ham; Leicester v Burnley; Watford v Newcastle (all 4pm); Brentford v Liverpool (6:30pm).
Tomorrow: Southampton v Wolves (3pm); Arsenal v Tottenham (5:30pm).
Monday: Crystal Palace v Brighton (9pm). — AFP.