Chelsea vs Manchester City Match Preview
Brian Moore, Feb 27th 2010
Two guys from Italy square up against each other on Saturday as former AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti, now Chelsea’s boss, and former Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini, now in charge at Manchester City, meet for the first time in English Premier League action.
Chelsea possess the top spot in the English Premier League but it’s only by a point over Manchester United. Chelsea have a game in hand, however, so United have more ground to make up than would appear at first glance. The Red Devils are clearly a capable side so Carlo Ancelotti’s men will have little room for error against United’s cross town rivals.
The injury to Goalkeeper Petr Cech, however, is just the latest in a series that threaten to erode Chelsea’s potential.
Chelsea Injuries and hanky panky affecting the club
Cech was stretchered off with a torn calf muscle in Wednesday’s Champions League Round of 16 match against Inter Milan at the San Siro. He’ll be out for a month. He joins a number of other injured Blues stars. Michael Essien, Deco and Jose Bosingwa are all out.
Ashley Cole, England defender and ladies’ man is, ahem, laid up also. His ankle, broken in the match against Everton two weeks ago, looks to keep him sidelined for three months. This has to be worrisome for another Italian gentleman, Fabio Capello, manager of England, who will be preparing his World Cup squad and undoubtedly counts on Cole being in his defensive line up.
Cole’s injury may be the least of his problems though. His alleged affairs with various persons of the
opposite gender had become Chelsea’s latest sexually induced scandal, following revelations of John Terry’s extra-marital fling. The scrutiny on the club has been intense as a result and may have been affecting their focus.
For Ancelotti, however, the main objective is to keep Manchester United at bay as the season climbs toward its climax. Going into Saturday’s match Ancelotti can be comforted by the fact that Didier Drogba is on fire. With 19 goals to his name the big Ivorian appears unstoppable. Nicholas Anelka has eight goals on the season and midfielder Frank Lampard 10.
Come in Number 32, your time's up!
Manchester City have some fellows who can score too, though. Argentine international Carlos Tevez has 13 goals for City this season. Emmanuel Adebayor has nine and Craig Bellamy six.
Tevez, however, has been away in Argentina for over a week to take care of family matters, much to the annoyance of his boss Roberto Mancini, who bemoaned the absence of Argentinean international striker following his team’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool last weekend. Mancini struck an odd, almost pleading tone early in the week as he revealed he didn’t actually know Tevez’s whereabouts but that he hoped to see him back in “two days.” As the week wore on Mancini’s frustration turned toward aggravation. At press time Tevez’s agent had reported that the diminutive striker will be back for the Chelsea clash.
Unrest among the players again?
Yet Mancini may have bigger issues to deal with. Reports in the press suggest that the players have become unhappy with the Italian’s training regimen. The manager has called the claims “incredible.” It’s the second time in Mancini’s brief reign that reports of unrest have surfaced.
Mancini’s surprising appointment at City caused consternation among some players early on. Craig Bellamy was said to be particularly bothered by Mancini’s replacement of Mark Hughes. But consecutive wins under Mancini apparently healed the sores. Yet City have now gone four games without a win; perhaps the sores are opening up again.
City’s quest for silverware this season ended on Wednesday with an extra time 3-1 defeat in their FA Cup Fifth Round replay away to Stoke City. Their quest for fourth place hasn’t waned, however. The Citizens currently hold fifth in the table, but they share the same number of points with fourth place Tottenham. Goal difference alone separates the two sides.
The stakes are high for both clubs
For Carlo Ancelotti a win on Saturday gains ground on both Manchester clubs. Just out of pride he’ll want to avenge the loss to Manchester City last time out at the City of Manchester Stadium. But out of practicality he’ll want to put an additional three point cushion between his squad and Manchester United. For Roberto Mancini a win at Stamford Bridge on Saturday would be a sweet and sour meal. It would be a second scalping of the Londoners this season, sweetened further by three points on the table. But a Chelsea loss is a Manchester United gain, and that would have a sour taste indeed.
