After a third successive Premier League title and fifth in six seasons was sealed on Saturday due to Arsenal’s defeat at Nottingham Forest, Guardiola has rung the changes at the Etihad Stadium.
SHOP THE PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS’ RANGE
Kyle Walker and Manuel Akanji are the only players to keep their place from Wednesday night’s Champions League victory over Real Madrid.
In midfield, Kalvin Phillips makes his first Premier League start for City.
Stefan Ortega Moreno replaces Ederson in goal while Aymeric Laporte and Sergio Gomez will play in defence.
Rico Lewis, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez also come into the side.
Teams
CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Walker (C), Akanji, Laporte, Lewis, Phillips, Foden, Palmer, Mahrez, Gomez, Alvarez
Subs: Ederson, Dias, Stones, Gundogan, Haaland, Grealish, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo
CHELSEA XI: Kepa, W. Fofana, Silva, Chalobah, Azpilicueta (c), Loftus-Cheek, Fernandez, Gallagher, Hall, Sterling, Havertz
Subs: Mendy, Pulisic, Felix, Mudryk, Ziyech, Koulibaly, D. Fofana, Chukwuemeka, Madueke
Tactics
Stefan Ortega Moreno will be protected by a defence of Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji, Aymeric Laporte and Sergio Gomez.
Kalvin Phillips will play in midfield with Rico Lewis and Phil Foden expected to flank him. Further forward, we expect Riyad Mahrez and Cole Palmer to support striker Julian Alvarez.
FRESH LEGS
It’s been a gruelling schedule in the last couple of months that has seen us to Premier League glory and into the final of the FA Cup and Champions League.
That’s why it’s no surprise to see Guardiola make a raft of changes now the pressure is off in the league.
This afternoon will be a great opportunity for several players to impress the boss, not least Kalvin Phillips in midfield.
The No.4 struggled with injuries in the first half of the season and hasn’t been able to displace the excellent Rodrigo in recent weeks.
Party time
While there’s still a match to win this afternoon, many Blues will be excited about seeing the Premier League trophy after the game.
City in the Community ambassador and former goalkeeper Alex Williams will present it to captain Ilkay Gundogan later this afternoon.
Gundogan, in his first year as club captain, will then lift the trophy and the squad will take it on a lap of honour around the Etihad.
After three successive titles and five in the last six seasons, the Premier League trophy just looks right in blue and white ribbons now!
Match stats
● We have won our last three Premier League games against Chelsea, all by a 1-0 scoreline. We’ve never won four in a row against the Blues in our league history.
● Since beating us in the 2021 Champions League final, Chelsea have lost their last five meetings with City in all competitions without scoring a single goal. The last team they lost more consecutively against was Blackburn (7 between 1993 and 1996), while they’ve never lost six in a row against a team without scoring.
● Manchester City have won all three of our meetings with Chelsea in all competitions this season – the only side to beat the Blues four times in a single campaign are Manchester United, who did so in 2010-11.
● Manchester City have won our final home league game in eight of the last nine seasons, with the exception being a 2-2 draw with Arsenal in 2015-16. Our last such defeat came against Norwich in 2012-13.
● Since the start of last season, Chelsea have won none of their 14 Premier League games against sides starting the day above them in the table (D4 L10), losing each of their last three.
● City have scored 59 home Premier League goals this season – on only three previous occasions has a side netted 60+ in a campaign: Chelsea in 2009-10 (68) and Man City in both 2013-14 (63) and 2017-18 (61).
● Since our last Premier League defeat in February against Spurs, Manchester City have trailed for just 10 minutes and 56 seconds in the league, doing so in the first half of an eventual 4-1 win over Liverpool in April. In total, City have trailed for 228 minutes in the Premier League this season, the fewest of any team.
● Riyad Mahrez has scored four goals in Man City’s three games against Chelsea in all competitions this season, opening the scoring in each match. The last Man City player to score in four games against an opponent in a single season was Dennis Tueart against Norwich City in 1975-76.
● Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne has only scored more Premier League goals against Arsenal (8) than he has against former side Chelsea (5), with those five goals being the most any player has scored against the Blues having previously played for them in the competition.
● Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is one of only two managers to avoid defeat away at Manchester City in the Premier League this season, drawing 1-1 with Everton in December. The last manager to manage away at Man City twice in a single league campaign and avoid defeat in both was Gordon Lee in 1976-77, drawing with both Newcastle and Everton.
