PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: CHELSEA V MANCHESTER CITY
Ex-Chelsea winger Clive Walker joins up with club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton for the second half of their look ahead to Sunday's Stamford Bridge fixture…
TACTICAL BRIEF
On the pitch this Sunday the story is about attempting to take three points from a title rival. Former Blue Clive Walker weighs up what might swing the game Chelsea's way.
Key battles
'This is obviously a massive match for all sorts of reasons even before the developments this week. I feel very sad for Robbie Di Matteo but that's football. He can leave with his head held high.
'Now, with Rafael Benítez as interim Chelsea manager, you have two former Inter bosses facing each other, and both have quite a few questions to answer.
'Roberto Mancini is under a little more pressure because his team have flopped again in Europe at the group stage. Long-term it might help him in the league if they finish last in the group as he won't have the Europa League games to factor in.
'I think City would take a draw before kick off and the onus will be on us, and that can be dangerous.
'City have not really kicked on from what they had last season, even the likes of Yaya Touré and Vincent Kompany, who were absolutely terrific throughout the last campaign.
'As we are finding, as champions of Europe, other teams are upping their game and asking more questions: everyone wants to beat them. Their players and their manager are under more pressure to prove themselves and there's an edge to every game that maybe wasn't there before.
'The first question Benítez has to answer is can he organise Chelsea's defence, which hasn't kept a clean sheet for 10 games and is very un-Chelsea-like; he has to do that against a City side with four top-drawer forwards too.
'I don't think anyone can doubt how much we have really missed John Terry. Without him we don't look anywhere near as organised and Benitez will see that as something he can improve on straight away.
'Next is reproducing the best from Fernando Torres, who didn't have a shot at West Brom.
'Benítez obviously had him on fire at Anfield so can they rekindle the flame at the Bridge? They certainly had a rapport before and you'd like to think he can turn Torres around.
'Kompany was reported to have left on crutches after Man City's draw with Real Madrid on Wednesday and is an injury doubt, and from the Chelsea perspective as a forward you would always prefer to face City without their Belgian skipper.
'This is a match when the respective attacks will be on top and that's why Torres's performance will be so important. Chelsea don't quite have the resources in the striker department that Mancini does. Having Sergio Agüero, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tévez, and an effective sub like Edin Dzeko, is a luxury.
'You can see Mancini is less confident about his back line and he is criticised for not knowing his best 11. He has opted for a back three with wing-backs and I wonder if it's something he wants to move to on a permanent basis, or because he has the players to play that system.
'Maicon, for example, is an attacking full-back, not a defensive one. Kolarov too. It should make sense. I'm not certain the centre-backs are convinced, even if Mancini seems to be.
'That was the system that Juventus used to unpick Chelsea but do City have the same smooth-running operation that allows Pirlo and Vidal to thrive?
'Changing formations can create problems and confusion. You saw that on the Real goal, where City easily outnumbered Madrid's two in the box but Benzema still had a free touch to score their goal.
'Chelsea need to be taking exactly those same kind of chances when they are offered. Had Eden Hazard finished in Turin after Oscar's lovely run we might have had a totally different scenario unfold.
'Top clubs, whichever player it is, put away chances at the right times when the opportunity arises. We're not doing it; a lot of clubs are not doing it either. We have to be a lot more ruthless.
'One warning from midweek is that David Silva seems to be coming into form. He is a world-class player, one of those who pops up in gaps and spaces. Sometimes he drifts out of the fray if you stop the supply to him, and that's something we have to try to do.'
Squad fitness news
Frank Lampard (calf), John Terry (knee) and Daniel Sturridge (hamstring) are the three Chelsea players ruled out through injury.
Man City have to make decisions on Mario Balotelli (back), Gael Clichy (ankle) and Vincent Kompany (knee). Jack Rodwell (hamstring) and Micah Richards (knee) are out.
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