Chelsea vs Manchester City - Preview

[Strike 7,183]

Chelsea Football Club enter the permanent Roberto di Matteo era this weekend on the back of a roller coaster summer that followed the club’s greatest season in history. Without talismanic striker Didier Drogba this season, di Matteo moved swiftly to snap up the world’s top youngsters early in the window. The initial excitement of the new signings was dampened by the torrid pre-season in the States (and back home) but in spite of the setbacks, Chelsea head towards a promising new campaign where we are in contention for 7 trophies.

The first of them is the FA Community Shield this weekend that pits the Premier League winners against the FA Cup (and Champions League) winners. The Community Shield or the Charity Shield as it was called back then, was played for the first time in 1908 at Stamford Bridge. Manchester United defeated Queens Park Rangers 4-0 after a replay, again played at the Bridge. That remains the only Shield game to be replayed. The Charity Shield stayed at the Bridge till 1911 and would return to Fulham Road sporadically in the coming decades. Stamford Bridge has hosted the Shield eleven times, the most by any stadium excluding Wembley.

The Venue - Villa Park

This time around, the customary curtain-raiser to the Premier League season moves away from its annual home of Wembley, which is busy hosting the Olympics, to the much less intimidating surroundings of Villa Park in Birmingham. Roughly the same size as Stamford Bridge, Villa Park was built over 115 years ago and has been home to Aston Villa since 1897. Despite last season’s 4-2 win there, Chelsea have a worrisome record at Villa Park having failed to win 8 of the last 10 games. Even in the Premiership winning seasons, Villa Park was not a happy hunting ground for the Blues. The last time the Community Shield was played outside Wembley or the Millenium Stadium was in Maine Road in 1973, the home of our opposition tomorrow – Manchester City.

Manchester City, similar to Chelsea, head into this game on the back of a historic season. The last-gasp title win in May sparked wild celebrations up in Manchester and despite not adding anyone to the squad in the summer, City have a formidable team. A strike force of Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero is as good as it gets while David Silva and Yaya Toure in midfield is a lethal combination. With Vincent Kompany (probably the best defender in the world right now) at the back and Joe Hart in goal, Man City have an arsenal of players (excuse pun) that could hurt Chelsea.

Despite a shaky start to pre-season, City won 5 games on the trot to end the pre-season convincingly. The 4-0 wins over Wolfsburg and Limerick included predatory performances from Aguero and Dzeko. The Chelsea defence will have to be much better to keep out City tomorrow. Vincent Kompany may as well be rested but looking at our attack in pre-season, I don’t think City will be troubled much.

Man City (probable XI) – Hart, Zabaleta, Lescott, K Toure, Clichy, Y Toure, de jong, Milner, Johnson, Aguero, Tevez

Mancini bullish ahead of the game

I am confident in my players because we won the league and also because we beat a fantastic team like Manchester United last season

Chelsea’s pre-season went from bad to worse with the three consecutive defeats against MLS All-Stars, AC Milan and Brighton, highlighting the work needed to be done to catch-up with the top teams in the country. Despite winning the Champions League, let’s not forget that Chelsea finished a lowly 6^th position in the Premier League. As paradoxical as it may seem, I think Chelsea are more suited to facing the top teams rather than the Wigans and the Liverpools of the Premier League. The attack is just not potent enough to force their way through 6-7 defenders

The problems for Chelsea are innumerable. Torres looked his usual jaded self in pre-season while Eden Hazard, despite some neat turns and dribbles, did not influence the game as much as expected. The midfielders Mikel, Essien and Meireles managed to prove once again that they are not meant to be played in an attacking team. Even the usually compact defence was breached with ease throughout pre-season. Unless the players step up their game and gel into the new system, this could turn into an embarrassment for the club.

The only positive aspect of pre-season was that the squad stayed injury-free (Marin exempted) and with Oscar, Mata and Sturridge coming into the squad, we will only get better. di Matteo has to use the pre-season as a wake-up call to rouse the players for the new season

Chelsea (probable XI) Cech Ivanovic Cahill Terry Cole Mikel Lampard Ramires Hazard Malouda Torres

di Matteo speaking about the youth movement at Chelsea

We have a lot of experienced players and the new players coming in are bringing fresh energy. We are looking to them for the future, to be the next spine or platform for the success. We have to be patient but I believe good players can play together. We will find the right way.

Players to Watch

Yaya Toure - The engine of Man City's midfield, Yaya Toure is like a fit and in-form Essien. He drives City's attacks from deeper positions and acts as the perfect foil to Aguero and the other quick footed players. To control the midfield tomorrow, Chelsea have to watch out for Yaya Toure's runs

Eden Hazard - Easily the most fouled Chelsea player, Hazard showed off his array of skills to get around the opposition defenders although the end product was lacking. It will be interesting to see whether he is played in behind Torres tomorrow.

Foot Notes

- Last time in the Community Shield, Chelsea were beaten 3-1 by Manchester United in 2010.

- Manchester City were beaten 3-2 in last year's Community Shield by Manchester United

- Head to Head vs Man City - last 5 games - W 2 D 0 L 3

- Silva, Barry, Richards, Balotelli, Marin are all ruled out while Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge may be rested