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Manchester City vs Chelsea live updates: Premier League team news, line-ups and predictions. Follow all the action as Manchester City aim to continue their title charge with the visit of Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium
Guardiola's pre-match comments raised a few eyebrows as, in typical style, he was very complimentary of his side's upcoming opponents.
"It's an exceptional team," he said. "Exceptional in all departments. (This will be) one of the toughest games we have until the end of the season.
"The last games, they played really good. They have everything: intensity, quality. Most of the teams are fine if they are able to not lose the ball and it's difficult to find a player who doesn't lose the balls.
"They are a really good team."
Chelsea’s impressive dismantling of Aston Villa in their FA Cup replay was a timely boon for head coach Mauricio Pochettino, but the performance may have been an even greater source of relief for the two men above him.
Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley have maintained low public profiles since being announced as the co-sporting directors at the end of January 2023.
Yet their names are the ones increasingly raised by disgruntled supporters when dark days such as the 4-2 home defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers raise bigger questions about the promise of the lavish youth investment project at Stamford Bridge.
At such times, when even some of the flagship signings of the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital ownership do not look good enough, who better to hold to account than the two men tasked with leading Chelsea’s recruitment?
How Haaland’s ‘incredible’ physique has powered him to the very top
Erling Haaland is back in the Manchester City squad and, unsurprisingly, back in the goals.
A photo of the Norwegian caused a stir recently as there seemed to be more defined muscles in his quadriceps than most people have in their whole body!
The Athletic's Sarah Shephard spoke to several experts in the sports conditioning industry to find out just how Haaland keeps himself in such good nick — give it a read below.
It is a busy Saturday in the Premier League and, after Liverpool's early win, there are six more matches to enjoy today.
The last of them is the one we are covering here: Manchester City vs Chelsea.
The early kick-off in the Premier League has just finished and it went very much to the script for Liverpool.
An excellent first-half chip from Nunez was followed up goals for Alexis Mac Allister, the returning Salah and Cody Gakpo.
Ivan Toney scored for the home side to make it 3-1 in the second half, but it never looked like they would take anything from the game despite a bright start.
The bad news for Liverpool, though, is that Jota and Jones went off injured in the first half to add to Klopp's injury woes.
"I think [Raheem] is doing really well," said Pochettino. "I am not going to compare (to last season) but I think this season he is doing really well for the team.
"The good thing is whether he plays or doesn’t play, he is always positive and helpful. That is the most important thing for an experienced player like him given this project where we have young players.
"He is adding to the team goals and good performance, but also helping when he needs to wait, such as in the last two games."
High praise for Palmer from Pochettino
And Palmer will dominate a lot of the pre-match talking points at the Etihad Stadium later. Pochettino claimed the 21-year-old has nothing to prove on his return to Manchester.
"Everyone told us [Cole] was an amazing player with the potential to be top," said the Chelsea boss. "But like all young players, there is a question mark about how they arrive and adapt to a new team and new environment. I have to be honest, he surprised everyone.
"Always when you sign a player, you expect something, but perhaps not so quickly. After two weeks, he was playing like an experienced player here.
"I don’t believe they (Palmer and Sterling) have to prove anything. I think they are both grateful for the period that they were there and always they talk very highly about the coaching staff and Pep Guardiola. Raheem and Cole both talk very highly about Manchester City."
It was two former Man City players that came back to haunt them in that reverse fixture as Palmer and Sterling were both on the scoresheet.
They could make history today as no ex-City player that played for them in the Premier League has come back to score against them home and away in the same season.