- Paul Merson predicts Chelsea v Man City
- Expects Citizens to be denied a win
- Highlights City’s poor league form
Paul Merson has logged his prediction for Manchester City’s trip to Stamford Bridge, detailing why the Blues could become a stumbling block to Pep Guardiola’s team.
Manchester City will finally return to Premier League action on Sunday, following an international break, as well as fixtures in three other competitions.
Since last featuring in the English top flight, the Sky Blues have fallen to a 2-1 defeat against Real Madrid.
However, they more recently won the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal, and put Liverpool to the sword in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Now, City’s aim is to deliver a high standard again, in order to take down another of the so called Big Six.
Paul Merson predicts Man City to draw with Chelsea
Even though Man City have found some form, ex-Arsenal forward Paul Merson cannot see them defeating Chelsea.
The pundit has pointed towards City’s underwhelming recent results in the Premier League, while also considering how tough a venue Stamford Bridge can be for visiting teams.
“If Brentford vs Everton is not a draw, the winner of that game will go above Chelsea in the points table,” Merson told Sportskeeda. “That would also mean Chelsea dropping out of the top six.
“Chelsea are on a poor run of form at the moment. This is a tough game, but I don’t expect them to get beat here. Manchester City are drawing too many games in the league and Chelsea away is not an easy fixture for them.
“People are talking a lot about Arsenal bottling the league, but over the last five league games, they have won two points more than City! So I don’t think Arsenal are doing that bad, especially with City also dropping points,” he continued.
“The next two games will define Liam Rosenior’s future at Chelsea. I hope he plays Andrey Santos and Moises Caicedo in midfield. Pedro Neto and Estevao as the wingers and Cole Palmer in the no.10 role through the middle.”
Merson added: “I’ve already said this many times, Palmer should always play as the number 10. I expect Chelsea to give City strong competition in this game. I’m going for a draw here, which essentially means Arsenal to win the league!”
Man City have a good recent record at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea away is supposedly a hard fixture, but Man City won 2-0 there when they last visited in August 2024.
The previous meeting there ended in a 4-4 draw, but City won two successive Premier League meetings at the ground before that.
Plus, Chelsea are only the 12th best performing team at home this season, picking up only 23 points from 15 matches.
Some of their worst results at Stamford Bridge have come recently, such as their 1-0 defeat to Newcastle in March.
Then of course, Liam Rosenior’s men suffered a 3-0 hammering at the hands of PSG in the Champions League.
Man City’s form has improved
There is no denying that Manchester City’s recent Premier League form has been far below Guardiola’s usual high standards.
However, it has been some time since they actually played a game in the division. Since then, City beat Arsenal 2-0, while Chelsea were thrashed by Everton on the same weekend.
Both teams recorded huge victories in the FA Cup quarter-finals, but Liverpool are clearly a superior opponent to Port Vale.
In truth, it feels like Merson’s prediction is partially based on the fact he is desperate for Arsenal to wrap up the Premier League title.
Because based on the facts, Man City really ought to be getting the better of Chelsea when the two teams collide in two days’ time.
