We sit up for Sunday’s Premier League sport at Stamford Bridge with
our Chelsea vs Manchester Metropolis prediction and preview. Will the champions begin
with a victory?
Chelsea vs Manchester Metropolis Stats: The Key Insights
- The Opta supercomputer is predicting that champions Manchester Metropolis will begin with a win on Sunday, giving them a 59.6% probability of beating Chelsea.
- Enzo Maresca would be the fourth Chelsea boss to face the reigning champions in his first Premier League sport in cost. Not one of the earlier three – Claudio Ranieri, Avram Grant and Rafael Benítez – began with a victory.
- Erling Haaland may grow to be the primary participant in Premier League historical past to begin three totally different seasons with a brace, having scored twice versus West Ham in 2022-23 and in opposition to Burnley in 2023-24.
One other new season, one other new head coach at Stamford Bridge. Enzo Maresca may hardly have been handed a harder project as he leads Chelsea within the Premier League for the primary time, with champions Manchester Metropolis the guests to SW6 on Sunday.
Maresca is about to grow to be the fourth Chelsea boss to face the defending champions in his first Premier League sport on the helm, with not one of the earlier three beginning with a win.
Claudio Ranieri oversaw a 3-3 draw with Manchester United in September 2000, Avram Grant’s tenure began with a 2-0 defeat to the Pink Devils in September 2007 and Rafael Benitez’s Blues held Metropolis to a goalless draw on his November 2012 bow.
Regardless of main Leicester Metropolis to the Championship title with a formidable haul of 97 factors final season, Maresca – who beforehand served as supervisor of Metropolis’s Elite Growth Squad in 2020-21 – was a considerably left-field appointment by Todd Boehly, and banking some early credit score, one thing his predecessor Mauricio Pochettino did not do, may show essential.
As a coach straight out of the Guardiola college, Maresca is predicted to instil a heavy urgent, possession-based fashion in West London, however one thing totally different is likely to be so as on Sunday with Metropolis certain to dictate proceedings.
Maresca may hand a Chelsea debut to former Wolves winger Pedro Neto, whose €60 million (£51.4m) arrival earlier this week made him the costliest of 9 new acquisitions at Stamford Bridge.
He may threaten Metropolis on the break, having travelled, on common, 14.5 metres per carry within the Premier League final season, rating third within the division behind Chiedozie Ogbene (15.13) and Anthony Elanga (14.54).
Solely 12 gamers, in the meantime, managed extra assist-ending carries than Neto’s three in 2023-24, regardless of the jet-heeled winger being restricted to only 1,518 Premier League minutes by harm.
Neto’s choice for a right-wing position may lead Cole Palmer to be shifted inside, and he might be determined to make extra recollections in opposition to his former membership on Sunday, having scored a stoppage-time penalty as Chelsea salvaged a 4-4 draw on this actual fixture final season.
That was one among 33 Premier League purpose involvements (22 objectives, 11 assists) he recorded in 2023-24 – greater than some other participant. Sixteen of his objectives got here in dwelling video games, the joint-most a Chelsea participant has ever netted at Stamford Bridge in a single marketing campaign, alongside Didier Drogba in 2006-07 and Frank Lampard in 2009-10.
Whereas it has been a busy low season for the Blues, Metropolis boss Pep Guardiola continues to place his religion within the group that delivered an unprecedented fourth straight title final season, with the arrival of former Girona loanee Savinho and the sale of Julián Álvarez to Atlético Madrid the one main transfers sanctioned by Metropolis.
Guardiola faces a significant situation as he begins his ninth marketing campaign on the helm, although, with star midfielder Rodri dominated out having solely returned to coaching on Wednesday, after being named Participant of the Event as Spain received Euro 2024.
For the reason that begin of the 2022-23 season, Metropolis have solely misplaced six of the 102 matches they’ve performed with Rodri of their beginning lineup, struggling as many defeats in 18 video games with out the Spaniard throughout this span.
Within the Premier League final time period, they boasted a file of 27 wins, seven attracts and no defeats when Rodri appeared, however misplaced three of 4 video games (one win) when he was absent.
Metropolis conceded the joint-most objectives from quick breaks within the Premier League final season (seven, alongside Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion) regardless of giving up the seventh-fewest quick breaks in whole (26). With their midfield enforcer lacking out, that would supply actual encouragement to Chelsea.
The Blues will, nevertheless, should be cautious of the menace posed by two-time Premier League Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland, who has garnered a popularity as a quick starter since his 2022 arrival on the Etihad.
The Norwegian has began each of his Premier League seasons with a Matchday 1 brace, scoring twice versus West Ham in 2022-23 and Burnley in 2023-24, and he may grow to be the primary participant in Premier League historical past to realize that feat in three totally different seasons.
Chelsea vs Manchester Metropolis Head-to-Head
Man Metropolis’s final journey to Stamford Bridge resulted in what was absolutely the sport of the 2023-24 season, as Metropolis academy graduate Palmer scored a last-gasp penalty for Chelsea in a 4-4 draw final November.
The Blues are winless of their final six Premier League conferences with Man Metropolis, nevertheless, recording two attracts and 4 defeats since Thomas Tuchel led them to a 2-1 victory on the Etihad Stadium in Could 2021.
That consequence was swiftly adopted by one other victory within the 2021 Champions League closing, however Metropolis have since gone unbeaten by way of 9 conferences with Chelsea in all competitions (seven wins, two attracts), the joint-longest run with out defeat in opposition to the Blues of their historical past (additionally 9 between 1936 and 1949).
Chelsea vs Manchester Metropolis Prediction
The Opta supercomputer is firmly behind the champions forward of Matchday 1, with 10,000 simulations of Sunday’s sport leading to Man Metropolis being assigned a 59.6% probability of victory.
The probabilities of the factors being shared are rated at 20.8%, with Chelsea solely triumphant in 19.6% of eventualities.
It’ll come as a shock to no one to listen to Metropolis are overwhelming favourites to defend their title in 2024-25, the supercomputer giving them an 82.2% probability of topping the pile.
In the meantime, fourth is Chelsea’s commonest place in our season simulations, the Blues scraping UEFA Champions League qualification in 20% of eventualities.
Chelsea vs Manchester Metropolis Predicted Lineups
Chelsea: Filip Jørgensen, Marc Cucurella, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto, Roméo Lavia, Enzo Fernández, Raheem Sterling, Kiernan Dewsbury-Corridor, Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku.
Manchester Metropolis: Ederson, Josko Gvardiol, Rúben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Rico Lewis, Mateo Kovacic, Nico O’Reilly, Jérémy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Erling Haaland.
Opta Energy Rankings
The Opta Energy Rankings are a world staff rating system that assigns a capability rating to over 13,000 home soccer groups on a scale between zero and 100, the place zero is the worst-ranked staff on this planet and 100 is the most effective staff on this planet.
Forward of kick-off on Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge, right here is the Opta Energy Rating for each side.
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