You’ve got to love the Premier League fixture list haven’t you.
Just two weeks into the new 2015/16 season and this Sunday see’s both last season’s champions and runners-up face off against one another at Etihad Stadium as Manchester City play Chelsea.
Now an incredibly important fixture for both club’s given they’re still considered quite some way in front of the rest of the pack, the ‘cash of the clash’ as it’s often billed will be just as intiguing this time around with the likes of Raheem Sterling now on bard with the Citizens, not to mention Chelsea being Eva Carneiro-less on Sunday.
Last term, the two fixtures were dominated by that Frank Lampard goal that he struck against the club he served with such distinction in the first fixture at Etihad Stadium before another awfully tight draw was played out at Stamford Bridge later in the season.
We expect it to be tight this time around, especially considering Jose Mourinho’s smashing record in games against Premier League title rivals.
That said, you do feel as if Chelsea need to win the fixture with the Blues not only having uncharacteristically failed to win a game in a little while, not to mention the fact that bad press has circled around the club this week with Mourinho’s banishment of club doctors Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn.
This is why we’ve devised five reasons why Chelsea must simply grab three points at a difficult venue in Manchester City away on Sunday.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 reasons why Chelsea must beat Manchester City on Sunday.
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To halt a run of no 90-minute wins in six fixtures
While all this time, Chelsea fans have been claiming it’s only pre-season, it’s rather worrying that including last season’s Premier League opener against Swansea City which ended 2-2, the Blues have now failed to win a game inside 90-minutes for six fixtures now.
Defeating both Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona on penalties in the International Champions Cup, Jose Mourinho’s side lost to New York Red Bulls and Fiorentina in the pre-season competition while losing to Arsenal in the Community Shield.
With Chelsea being so used to getting the job done in 90 minutes, they’ll be keen to bag all three points this weekend to prove to everybody that they’re still a force to be reckoned with this season.
To maintain Mourinho’s excellent record in top four battles
While his fantastic record against top four sides stretches back far longer than last season alone, you only have to look at Chelsea’s results against traditional top four sides last term to appreciate how good Jose Mourinho sets up his side against such opposition.
With no defeats away at Old Trafford, Emirates Stadium, Anfield and Etihad Stadium, Mourinho is the expert in knowing when to park the bus while countering his opposition to deadly effect.
Having ensured the Blues give their title rivals no encouragement when facing off against them, this platform has enabled Chelsea to wipe the floor with inferior sides in the division in between big match-ups while ultimately proving the difference come the business end of the season.
Having seen his winning record against Arsene Wenger and Arsenal come to an end earlier this month, Mourinho won’t want to be giving up another one so hastily.
To lay down a marker that they’re still the team to beat
Rather strangely for Chelsea, the Blues didn’t win their opening fixture of the season for once and although it’s far from being so important at this stage, Premier League champions do need to lay down a marker in their second season and potential title defence.
Over the years, Manchester United have been the benchmark in regards to Premier League sides retaining the title but with the amount of money and competitiveness in the game nowadays, it’s a lot harder to achieve in the modern day.
Chelsea have of course achieved back-to-back titles in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons themselves and although you’d imagine Jose Mourinho would take a draw against Manchester City this weekend, a win would get both fans and the media thinking that they’re still the real deal and the team to beat.
To take vital points off a Premier League title rival
As alluded to on our second slide, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side prides themselves on taking points off of their title rivals during the rigours of a Premier League season.
Going for it against the very best sides when playing at home at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are much more cautious when playing the same sides away from home and to achieve a point at Etihad Stadium will be seen as job done in the eyes of Mourinho this Sunday.
While the Portuguese boss would love a win, he knows that such a key fixture is happening so early in the season so has less importance than it might’ve done otherwise.
To get closer to Manchester United
Of course it’s early days but if Chelsea were to lose to Manchester City on Sunday, they’d be trailing Manchester United by five points.
Not an unassailable total by any regard, no Blues fan in their right mind will want to give United any encouragement as Louis van Gaal looks to make a return on his £200 million plus spend since his arrival into English football.
You’d imagine Chelsea could achieve two positive results against United to peg back this total but at the end of the day, we’ve only just started this Premier League campaign and as the cliché goes, there’s a long, long way to go.
