FREE-SCORING Manchester City take their goals
hunt to the Stanford Bridge as they confront defending English Premier League champions Chelsea today at the Stanford Bridge. Just last season, Chelsea did the double over Pep Guardiola’s side, Eden Hazard scoring three times over two games and the Belgian will make just his second Premier League start of the season in the evening kick-off with Nigeria’s
Victor Moses ready for action. The Blues were unable to break down a resolute Arsenal side at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago but have scored 15 goals in the three games around the visit of the Gunners.
Such a goal record is only beaten by Guardiola & Co., who already have 21 goals to their name in their six league games with Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling sharing 15 between them already.
Eden Hazard is likely to start after coming through Wednesday’s trip to Atletico Madrid un- scathed.
There remains slight doubts over Pedro’s involvement but Antonio Conte was more positive over the Spaniard in midweek af- ter naming him on the bench.
David Luiz is suspended meaning captain Gary Cahill will likely come in despite concerns over his form seeing him lose his place recently.
Alvaro Morata was seen limp- ing through the mixed zone after the win over Atleti, and his condition is unclear.
Manchester City suffered a setback in midweek with Benjamin Mendy expected to face
lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury in the 5-0 win over Crystal Palace.
The summer signing will now fly to Barcelona to be assessed by a specialist, with Fabian Delph deputising well at Selhurst Park and Shakhtar Donetsk.
David Luiz completes his 3-match ban for the Blues, hav- ing been dismissed for a reck- less challenge on Arsenal’s Sead Kolašinac earlier this month.
Manchester City have been blazing the goal trail of late, so Guardiola has the unenviable task of choosing between all of the at- tacking options at his disposal.
Danny Drinkwater is still ruled out following his deadline day move from Leicester City, while Eden Hazard is pushing for a start after being eased back into first team action. Willian could be the man to make way, in Conte’s preferred 3-4-3.
Álvaro Morata proved that there is much more to his game than just an aerial threat when he bagged a hat-trick against Stoke City last weekend in Chelsea’s 4-0 romp.
The early signs suggest that he is more than capable of filling the sizeable void left by Diego Cos- ta’s departure, so the City game should provide more clues as to just how good he is.
Guardiola will be hoping that Vincent Kompany is fit enough to be involved but the short term prognosis does not look good for Benjamin Mendy who is flying out to Barcelona to have his knee assessed by a specialist.
The big question mark is whether or not Gabriel Jesus gets the nod to start alongside Agüero up front.
