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There are no new signings in Chelsea's starting XI, although there are five on the bench, including Pedro Neto. Savinho is a starter in attack Manchester Citywhose four Euro 2024 finalists are either on the bench or, in Rodri's case, not involved at all.
Chelsea (possible 4-1-2-3) Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia; Caicedo, Enzo; Palmer, Jackson, Nkunku.
Substitutes: Mudryk, Dewsbury-Hall, Veiga, Jorgensen, Madueke, Neto, Guiu, Adarabioyo, Badiashile.
Manchester City (possible 4-1-2-3) Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Kovacic; De Bruyne, Bernardo; Doku, Haaland, Savinho.
Substitutes: Grealish, Nunes, Foden, McAtee, O'Reilly, Ortega, Walker, Ake, Stones.
Referee Antonio Taylor.
Preamble
When is the best time to play? Manchester CityTrick question: There isn't one. When the fixture list was published, I thought it might be a good time for Chelsea to face City, who will be missing several players for one reason or another. Then I looked at City's Premier League record in August under Pep Guardiola: 24 games, W19, L4, D1, 72, 17 points.
There has been speculation that this will be Pep's last August as City manager. All he really cares about is April, May and, occasionally, June, when the celebratory cigars come out. He and City are aiming for a record fifth consecutive title and a seventh in eight years.
It's only been three years since Chelsea Chelsea have beaten City in the Champions League and are now living on different planets. Chelsea are starting over, again, under Enzo Maresca, with the same concerns about what he is doing and whether he will be given enough time. In the past 20 years, only Jose Mourinho has lasted more than two seasons at Stamford Bridge.
“My advice is to give him time and he will work,” said Guardiola, who worked with Maresca at City. “All coaches need time. I don’t know if Chelsea is the place to do it, but it will work if you give him time. That’s my feeling.”
Chelsea caused City as much trouble as anyone last season, drawing both league games and losing a tight FA Cup semi-final 1-0. We'll soon find out if that counts for anything now that they have a new manager.
Kick off 16.30 hours.
