Who:<\/strong> Chelsea vs Manchester City Second-placed City travel to Chelsea on Sunday as the title race approaches a pivotal moment.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n League leaders Arsenal went into the weekend nine points ahead of City, having played a game more than Pep Guardiola\u2019s team.<\/p>\n That lead would increase to 12 points if Arsenal defeat Bournemouth on Saturday, putting City under intense pressure to take maximum points from their tricky trip to Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n Sixth-placed Chelsea are bidding to put their quest for Champions League qualification back on track after taking just five points from the last available 18.<\/p>\n With five English teams guaranteed to be in European club football\u2019s top competition next season, the Blues begin the weekend a point below fifth-placed Liverpool.<\/p>\n Guardiola said on Friday \u200cthat an inconsistent Manchester City have little room for error in the Premier League title \u2060race, despite a \u2060reputation for strong late-season finishes that has delivered six titles during his near-decade at the club.<\/p>\n The title challengers face a demanding stretch of fixtures, beginning with Sunday\u2019s trip to Chelsea, followed by a home clash against Arsenal on April 19.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully \u2060we can get a lot of points,\u201d Guardiola told reporters when asked about his side\u2019s usual late-season surge.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the situation we are in the Premier League, we need to win all of them, otherwise it will not give us the chance to try until the end.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have not been consistent enough this \u200cseason. We have dropped points that we should have taken, which is why we are now in the position where we cannot do anything differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Bernardo Silva has won six Premier League titles and the Champions League since joining City in 2017 from AS Monaco, but his contract expires at the end of \u2060the season, and he may be set to leave.<\/p>\n Guardiola said he did not know whether the 31-year-old Portuguese international would leave but made clear his desire to keep him at the club.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so grumpy with Bernardo because a month ago I said, \u2018If you take a decision, I have to be the first to [know]\u2019,\u201d said the City boss. \u201cHe didn\u2019t tell me, so I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cHe is not \u2060the tallest one, the most muscular one, or the guy \u2060who scores 50 goals or makes 50 assists a season,\u201d Guardiola said. \u201cThese are the types of players that get the spotlight. But after nine years, I know him quite well and I know what a manager requires.<\/p>\n \u201cAll managers love him because he \u200cis incredibly competitive and has a fire inside him. In the toughest moments and on the biggest stages, he is always there.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has been an incredible signing for us. I love this club \u200cand \u200cI would love for him to stay and finish his career here, but I do not know. He will decide what he will decide. It is his decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior says Enzo Fernandez remains dropped for Sunday\u2019s Premier League clash against City, despite apologising for comments that cast doubt over his future at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s apologised to me, he\u2019s apologised to the club,\u201d Rosenior told reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cHe won\u2019t play on Sunday but hopefully after that he\u2019ll be a massive part of the group moving forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rosenior denied that the club were hurting themselves by omitting Fernandez against City.<\/p>\n \u201cFootball is a team sport, it\u2019s not about individuals,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about shooting yourself in the foot.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are certain values and cultures that I believe in, that this club believes in, that makes the team stronger if you get that right.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosenior said he was confident his side could win as they push for a top-five finish, which would guarantee Champions League football next season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a very good team, we\u2019ve gone through a difficult run, even though in that run we were punished for mistakes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were good moments. When I actually analysed the games that we\u2019ve had, we\u2019ve caused every team we\u2019ve played against problems, but haven\u2019t had the results for that.\u201d<\/p>\n The first encounter between these two clubs was in 1907, when they played out a 2-2 draw in the old First Division at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n Chelsea and City have locked horns 181 times. Chelsea winning 71, City 68, with 42 games drawn.<\/p>\n Surprisingly, Chelsea have not beaten City since meeting in the 2021 Champions League final, when now England boss Thomas Tuchel managed the Blues.<\/p>\n Last 10 encounters:<\/strong><\/p>\n Rosenior \u200csaid centre-back Levi Colwill was back in training after suffering a serious knee injury in August, and that right-back Reece James has been running following a hamstring problem.<\/p>\n \u201cColwill is in full training, but he still needs to overcome some hurdles regarding selection,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Defender Trevoh Chalobah \u200cis still working his way back to fitness after an ankle injury and is set to miss out, while winger Jamie Gittens also remains sidelined.<\/p>\n Predicted starting XI:<\/strong><\/p>\n Sanchez (goalkeeper); Gusto, Fofana, Adarabioyo, Cucurella; Santos, Caicedo; Neto, Palmer, Estevao; Pedro<\/p>\n Ruben Dias is still recovering from a muscle problem so not ready for the Stamford Bridge trip.<\/p>\n Fellow defender Josko Gvardiol is also unavailable, having been sidelined since January with a tibial fracture to his right leg, and is not yet close to a return.<\/p>\n Predicted starting XI:<\/strong><\/p>\n Donnarumma (goalkeeper); Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O\u2019Reilly; Silva, Rodri; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Who: Chelsea vs Manchester CityWhat:\u00a0Premier LeagueWhere: Stamford Bridge, LondonWhen:\u00a0Sunday, April 12 at 4:30pm (15:30 GMT)How to follow:\u00a0We\u2019ll have all the build-up on\u00a0Al Jazeera Sport from 12:30 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream. Second-placed City travel to Chelsea on Sunday as the title race approaches a pivotal moment. Recommended Stories list of 4 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
What:\u00a0<\/strong>Premier League
Where:<\/strong> Stamford Bridge, London
When:\u00a0<\/strong>Sunday, April 12 at 4:30pm (15:30 GMT)
How to follow:\u00a0<\/strong>We\u2019ll have all the build-up on\u00a0Al Jazeera Sport from 12:30 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
City must be perfect after inconsistent season, says Guardiola<\/h2>\n
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\u2018Grumpy\u2019 Guardiola wants Silva to stay at Man City for life<\/h2>\n
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Fernandez remains out despite apology, Rosenior says<\/h2>\n
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Chelsea\u2019s focus all on Champions League<\/h2>\n
Head-to-head<\/h2>\n
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Chelsea team news<\/h2>\n
Man City team news<\/h2>\n
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