Man City v Chelsea

Man City saw their hopes of reclaiming the title dealt severlt dented as they lost 3-1 at Southampton , with leaders Man Utd now 12 pts ahead even manager Roberto Mancini admitted his side had it all to do .."we didnt play , some players didnt play ..very poor ...only 2 or 3 players played " .



Chelsea made sure there was no hangover from the defeat at Newcastle as they beat Wigan 4-1 at Stamford Bridge and kept in third place , there was another goal for Frank Lampard and he is now just four behind Bobby Tambling's club record of 202.

Did you know that Frank Lampard is aiming to score in five consecutive Premier League appearances for only the third time (did it in 2005 and 2010).

Any comments or predictions?

I'm going for Chelsea to win 2-1 with Lampard to score the first goal and his 200th in total for the west Londoners.

Team news

Vincent Kompany remains a doubt with his calf injury while Gareth Barry also has only slim chance to play with an ankle injury

Frank Lampard should be back in the starting line up for Chelsea after being rested during Thursday nights Europa match.

Any comments or predictions?

With the stress the manager rumours are giving Mancini, I fully expect the unpredictable Chelsea to come away with a win here.

Going for 1-3 to Chelsea.

2-1 to Chelsea. Mata n Lamps 2 score 4 d blues n aguero 2 score 4 city

With Utd winning again today City are now 15 points behind.
This match on Sunday now is all about who finishes in 2nd place.

Roberto Mancini was right today to lay into some of his flops like Samir Nasri who have been well below their best level.

I hope Benitez will drop Torres who has only scored 1 in 14 to the bench and will start with Ba upfront.

Draw will do nicely.

1-1.

I've got 20 bananas on Man City half time, Man City full time in this clash of the mercenaries. However, I'd be quite happy to see a draw or a Chelsea win. A home draw or a loss means bye bye title Man C, and if the Mancs win it gives Spurs a chance to close the gap! I can't lose!

Line ups

MAN CITY:
Hart, Zabaleta, Kolo Toure, Nastasic, Clichy, Garcia, Milner, Rodwell, Silva, Yaya Toure, Aguero...

Subs: Pantilimon, Lescott, Kolarov, Nasri, Sinclair, Tevez, Dzeko.

CHELSEA:
Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole; Mikel, Lampard; Ramires, Mata, Hazard; Ba...

Subs: Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Terry, Bertrand, Oscar, Moses, Torres.

HT

Man City 0-0 Chelsea

Poor first half

Jack Rodwell was the best player on the field.

Scorching goal from Tevez, long journey home Chelsea boys! It's that Rafa effect.....

Fair result, I think City deserved the win. I think Rafa made a mistake taking Lampard off.

FT

Man City 2-0 Chelsea
1-0 Y. Touré 63'
2-0 C. Tévez 85'

Any comments on todays result?

Great goal by Yaya Toure for a man of that size in space of that small getting that beauty off. Shocking defending by Ivanovich for Tevez' goal ,pathetic game all round for him actually. Also though Mata got exposed again in big game without Oscar next to him . Lampard of course offered nothing all game until the penalty which was fantastically saved by Hart. And Davd Luiz was very average in this one. I would have started with Oscar and established a pattern of play that would put Man city on the back foot early .I guess that would have meant Benitez benching Lampard which he obviously doesn't have the bottle to do.
I thought Hazard put in a shift this game though as did Cahill.

I was surprised that Frank Lampard missed that penalty!

If he had scored it would have been his 200th goal for Chelsea.

They were 2 good goals by Toure and Tevez but I thought James Millner was City's best player out there.

Thesooner thye get rid of Terry ,Lampard and A.Cole the better chance Chelsea have of building a team.
Those three are holding that club back without a question of a doubt and another mutiny attempt at the training ground indicates that. I am no fan of Rafa ,but for managers to be at the mercy of these geriatric players who refuse to accept that they are in their 30's and a shadow of their previous self is totally selfish. They got their champions league medal ,they've won everything just move on and let the team grow ffs!