Man City vs Chelsea predicted lineups and team news | OneFootball

It’s a crucial battle in the race for the Premier League top four as Manchester City host Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday at 5:30pm.

Man City vs Chelsea predicted lineups

Man City (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Nunes, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Gundogan, Kovacic; Foden, De Bruyne, Doku; Haaland

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Dewsbury-Hall, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson

Man City vs Chelsea team news

The big news for Man City this week is that Kyle Walker has left the club on loan, joining Serie A side AC Milan for the remainder of the season.

In recent weeks, Matheus Nunes has been Pep Guardiola’s starting right-back, getting the nod over Rico Lewis. That appears likely to be the case again this weekend, giving Man City something extra on the flank.

Ruben Dias came off at half-time in Man City’s Champions League defeat to PSG, and Guardiola has revealed it was due to injury. The Portuguese centre-back isn’t expected back for a few weeks now, with Jeremy Doku and Nathan Ake also out.

Oscar Bobb has returned to training but is still not ready to return to the first team. Rodri, of course, is out for the rest of the season.

Levi Colwill and Enzo Fernandez both face late fitness tests to see if they can start against Man City. During the week, Colwill appeared closer to returning and he’ll likely start in defence alongside Trevoh Chalobah. If Fernandez isn’t fit enough to start, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is Chelsea’s only other midfield option to partner Moises Caicedo.

Romeo Lavia remains out injured and is joined on the sidelines by Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana.

Kevin De Bruyne ready to haunt Chelsea

Kevin De Bruyne missed a chunk of the season due to injury, and Man City were doing well enough without him. Their struggle coincided with his return to fitness, though he was rarely being used.

Now the Belgian is back to full fitness, it’s no coincidence that Man City are on the up. De Bruyne has provided four assists in his past three league games for Man City, and they’ve won two of them.

He leads the Premier League for assists in 2025 with four, one more than Eberechi Eze. De Bruyne sits second on chances created (13), but again leads for big chances created (four).

But his threat this weekend may come from finishing goals rather than creating them. De Bruyne is up against his old team Chelsea, having famously struggled as a young player at Stamford Bridge. And he’s been making them pay ever since.

De Bruyne has scored five Premier League goals against Chelsea, only netting more against Arsenal (8) in the competition. It’s worth noting, though, that he hasn’t scored in his past four Premier League appearance against Chelsea, starting three of those.