Chelsea’s prospects of inflicting a defeat on champions Man City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday were dealt a hefty blow with the news that Diego Costa has received a three-match ban.
The striker was charged with violent conduct for stamping on Emre Can during Chelsea’s midweek victory over Liverpool. Claims that the incident was accidental were presumably brushed aside in view of the fact that Costa had produced a very similar challenge on Martin Skrtel later in the match, although the Liverpool player was also guilty of retaliation.
The ban will provide further for conspiracy theorists, Jose Mourinho among them, who believe that there is a campaign against the Premiership leaders. The loss of Costa is a big blow for Saturday’s late kick-off but it could be even worse if Cesc Fabregas also fails to recover from his hamstring injury. The Spaniard is on course to break all records for assists in Premiership football this season and the Blues would undoubtedly miss his creativity in midfield.
Chelsea currently hold a five-point advantage over the champions and there must be an increasing likelihood that they would view a point as a good result. The Blues have won all ten home games so far this season and were only pegged back in the 85th minute in the reverse fixture by a certain Frank Lampard. Allowing Lampard to play in a City shirt this season via New York must go down as a case of neglect by Chelsea. It has already cost them dearly with Lampard rescuing City on several occasions, not just in that 1-1 draw at the Etihad.
City are not exactly on fire at the moment having been beaten by Arsenal in Middlesbrough in their last two games. They will take the FA Cup loss on the chin but they were below par against Arsenal and still do not have Yaya Toure back from the Africa Cup of Nations. The more I look at this match, the more I fear a dour stalemate. If the name of Mikel features in the Blues line-up it seems to safe to assume that Chelsea would settle for a point. It is more a match that neither side can afford to lose than one that they have to win.
Chelsea v Man City DRAW @5-2 Bet365
Chelsea 1 Man City 1 @6-1 Bet365*
*Bet365 will refund correct score bets if the game ends in a 0-0 Bore draw
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