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ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER — Chelsea and their rookie interim manager Calum McFarlane will try to disrupt Manchester City's Premier League title bid in a blockbuster early January clash.
Arsenal's hard-fought win at Bournemouth on Saturday put the Gunners seven points ahead of City, having played a game more. Pep Guardiola's men will be keen not to lose any further ground after a frustrating 0-0 draw at Sunderland on New Year's Day.
As recently as a month ago, after impressive performances against Barcelona and Arsenal, Chelsea looked well-placed to enter the title conversation themselves.
But form collapsed as relations between head coach Enzo Maresca and the club hierarchy disintegrated. The 2-2 midweek draw against Bournemouth proved to be Maresca's last at the helm, closing out a year when he led the Blues to UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup glory.
Life moves fast at Stamford Bridge under Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, and this could be McFarlane's only game in charge as Strasbourg boss and fellow BlueCo employee Liam Rosenior reportedly waits in the wings.
The Sporting News is following the Manchester City vs. Chelsea match live, providing score updates and commentary
Man City vs. Chelsea score
Pregame Goalscorers
Man City _ _
Chelsea _ _
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Referee: Michael Oliver
Predicted lineups:
Man City (4-2-2-2 right to left): 25. Gianluigi Donnarumma (GK) — 27. Matheus Nunes, 3. Ruben Dias, 6. Nathan Ake, 24. Josko Gvardiol — 20. Bernardo Silva, 16. Rodri —10. Rayan Cherki, 47. Phil Foden — 9. Erling Haaland, 11. Jeremy Doku
Chelsea (4-2-3-1 right to left): 1. Robert Sanchez (GK) — 27. Malo Gusto, 29. Wesley Fofana, 23. Trevoh Chalobah, 3. Marc Cucurella - 8. Enzo Fernandez, 24. Reece James — 7. Pedro Neto, 10. Cole Palmer, 49. Alejandro Garnacho — 20. Joao Pedro
Keep track of every game and every goal via SN's live Premier League scoreboard
MORE:Why did Chelsea sack Enzo Maresca?
Man City vs. Chelsea live updates, highlights, and commentary
1 hr 40 mins before kickoff: Manchester City's prints are weirdly upon this latest episode of the Chelsea managerial psychodrama. One aspect of Enzo Maresca's Stamford Bridge unravelling was a batch of stories linking him to the Etihad Stadium job as Pep Guardiola's successor, should the Catalan leave City this summer. Guardiola then said he had more or less no intention of doing any such thing, relations between Ex-City assistant Maresca and his Stamford Bridge bosses continued to deteriorate and here we are, with former City academy coach Calum McFarlane leading his first senior game in the visiting dugout.
Guardiola Maresca
Getty Images
2 hours before kickoff. Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Manchester City vs. Chelsea from St James' Park.
Man City vs. Chelsea kick off time
The Premier League match kicks off in Manchester, UK at 5:30 p.m. local time.
Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories:
Date Kickoff time
USA Sun, Jan 4 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT
Canada Sun, Jan 4 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT
UK Sun, Jan 4 5:30 p.m. GMT
Australia Mon, Jan 5 4:30 a.m. AEDT
India Sun, Jan 4 11:00 p.m. IST
Man City vs. Chelsea lineups, team news
City suffered a couple of injury setbacks at Sunderland last time out, with Nico Gonzalez and Savinho forced out of the action. Rodri and Jeremy Doku impressed when they replaced their stricken teammates at the Stadium of Light, but it remains to be seen how long each will be able to feature for here, given their own recent spells on the sidelines.
Nathan Ake was an assured presence on his first start since mid-October. If Guardiola retains the Dutchman alongside Ruben Dias, expect Josko Gvardiol to return at left-back to give Nico O'Reilly a breather.
John Stones (thigh), Oscar Bobb (hamstring) and Mateo Kovacic (Achilles) all remain sidelined, with Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri on Africa Cup of Nations duty.
****Man City predicted starting XI (4-2-2-2, right to left):****Donnarumma (GK) — Nunes, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol — Silva, Rodri — Foden, Cherki —Haaland, Doku
Man City subs: Confirmed 1 hr 15 mins before kickoff
Moises Caicedo's fifth booking of the season means the influential midfielder is suspended for this one, compounding Chelsea's pre-match woes.
Captain Reece James or Andrey Santos are most likely to play in midfield alongside Enzo Fernandez in Caicedo's absence.
Marc Cucurella faces a late fitness check but is expected to start at left-back. Fellow defender Levi Colwill is out for the season with an ACL injury.
Chelsea predicted starting XI (4-2-3-1 right to left): Sanchez (GK) — Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella — Fernandez, James — Neto, Palmer, Garnacho — Joao Pedro
Chelsea subs: Confirmed 1 hr 15 mins before kickoff
Man City vs. Chelsealive stream, TV channel
Here is how to watch the match in some of the world's major regions:
Region TV Streaming
USA NBC Sports Network Peacock
Canada — Fubo, DAZN
UK Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League Sky Sports website, Sky GO
Australia — Stan Sport
India Star Sports Select 1 JioHotstar