At Stamford Bridge, Manchester City plays Chelsea in an important Premier League game before the two teams meet again in the FA Cup on the weekend.
On Thursday night, Manchester City can cut the gap between them and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League back to five points, but they have a tough game away at Chelsea.
City fell seven points behind Arsenal after a frustrating tie with Everton on New Year’s Eve. However, Arsenal’s tie with third-placed Newcastle on Tuesday gave City a chance to make up for the ground it lost last time. But to do that, they will need three points at Stamford Bridge, where nothing is certain against a Chelsea team that isn’t always good.
Pep Guardiola said that Ruben Dias is still out with a hamstring injury, and that Aymeric Laporte was being checked on Wednesday after missing the Everton game with a minor problem. Phil Foden and Kyle Walker could be brought back into the team after Guardiola praised them this week, even though they haven’t been used in recent games.
After this game, the teams will play again at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, but this time it will be for the FA Cup.
