Chelsea and Manchester City will play each other twice in the space of less than three days with their first fixture coming in the Premier League on January 5.
The Blues find themselves struggling in 10th place and have won just one of their past five league games.
City, meanwhile, have been in patchy form of late and drew 1-1 last time out against a desperate Everton as Arsenal increased their lead atop the table.
Both Graham Potter and Pep Guardiola need to start building momentum in the right direction with three points in this clash vital for either side.
Man City triumphed 2-0 when they met in the Carabao Cup in November and on paper, Guardiola’s side look like they should have the edge again with Chelsea missing a number of key players.
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Chelsea vs Manchester City lineups
With the January transfer window now open, a lot of the focus this week has been on the players Chelsea could soon add to their squad.
Argentina’s World Cup sensation Enzo Fernandez has been heavily linked with the Blues and could prove a shrewd addition, but Potter is remaining focused on the players he does have at his disposal.
“The problem is that if I answer it and I’m specific with the answer then every single player in that area will be linked with Chelsea so I have to dodge it,” Potter said when asked which areas of the squad needed particular reinforcement.
“I’m the head coach so my responsibility is to the players that are here and then we’ll try to improve in every window. January is a complicated one because it’s the middle of the season and in the meantime we have to deal with all the noise of Chelsea being linked with everybody.
“I won’t comment on anyone who isn’t a Chelsea player but always my job is to help the players that are here and then support the club in terms of decisions they make in trying to improve.”
Unfortunately for Potter, a number of key players remain unavailable for the Blues as they look to reignite their season.
MORE: Watch every Premier League match live with fuboTV in Canada
Chelsea starting 11
Regular starters Edouard Mendy, N’Golo Kante and Reece James are all out injured, along with Armando Broja.
Ben Chilwell also remains under an injury cloud, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek looks close to a return to action.
Mateo Kovavic and Hakim Ziyech both started on the bench last time out against Nottingham Forest and could be in the frame to start.
Kai Havertz has been leading the line for Chelsea of late with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang predominantly used off the bench
(4-3-3, right to left): 1. Kepa (GK) — 28. Azpilicueta, 26. Koulibaly, 6. Silva, 32. Cucurella — 8. Kovacic, 5. Jorginho, 19. Mount — 17. Sterling, 29. Havertz, 10. Pulisic
- Injured: Kante, Mendy, James, Broja, Chilwell
- Suspended: N/A
Set for City. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/zBDuQTvrnJ
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 4, 2023
Man City starting 11
Unlike Potter, Guardiola has a near full-strength team to pick from.
While Ruben Dias remains out injured, Aymeric Laporte is nearing a return with a call on his availability to face Chelsea made after training on Wednesday.
World Cup winner Julian Alvarez returned to action off the bench against Everton and will be available for this match.
Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips, Joao Cancello, IIIkay Gundogan and Phil Foden all didn’t start last time out with a number of those likely to return to the lineup.
(4-3-3, right to left): 31. Ederson (GK) — 2. Walker, 5. Stones, 6. Ake, 7. Cancelo — 17. De Bruyne, 16. Rodri, 8. Gundogan — 47. Foden, 9. Haaland, 10. Grealish
- Injured: Dias, Laporte
- Suspended: N/A
@PepTeam on Chelsea 🗣#ManCity | @okx pic.twitter.com/pxFOh9VXeK
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 4, 2023
Premier League 2022/23 TV channels, live streams
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| Canada | — |
fuboTV |
| Hong Kong | — | Now TV |
| India | Star Sports | Disney+, Hotstar, JioTV |
| Malaysia | Astro SuperSport | Astro Go |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport | Sky Sport Now, Sky Go |
| Singapore | StarHub | StarHub TV+ |
| UK | Sky Sports, BT Sport | NOW TV, Sky Go, Amazon Prime |
| USA | USA Network, Telemundo, Universo | fuboTV, Peacock |
UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and BT Sport streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.
USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on fuboTV. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.
Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streaming exclusively via fuboTV in Canada.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.
India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).
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