It’s an encounter which marks a return after the Christmas break for Patrick Vieira’s men who haven’t been in league action since their 2-1 defeat to Spurs on 1 December.
Despite that loss, City are well placed to challenge for the title, knowing that victory over Chelsea will see them leapfrog the visitors into first position for 24 hours at least.
The sides met on the opening night of the season back in August when the boy Blues were unfortunate to go down to a 2-1 defeat, due to a last minute winner from Charly Musonda.
Vieira’s side are eyeing a double dose of revenge at Hyde FC’s Ewen Fields as it was against this opposition that their challenge for last season’s title came to an end in the play-off semi-finals.
Chelsea are unbeaten at u21 level since October and are riding high in the league standings, following their 3-0 win over Sunderland before Christmas.
Kick-off at Hyde is at 19:45 where entry is £3 for adults and £1 for concessions.
Seasoncard holders can attend the game for free.
We’ll have live goal updates on @MCFC and we’ll bring you a match report and highlights here on mcfc.co.uk.
The match will also be broadcast live on BT Sport in the UK.
