Chelsea vs Manchester City: Hazard starts for the Blues
Chelsea beat Manchester City 2-1 at home last season and will want to continue their strong form at Stamford Bridge.
Sergio Aguero is out of the City squad today after breaking his ribs in a car crash in Amsterdam on Thursday.
Leroy Sane comes in for the Argentine.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, meanwhile, looks to aid Eden Hazard’s staggered recovery from injury by starting the Belgian.
Last season Hazard scored twice for the Blues against Pep Guardiola’s City.
Alvaro Morata starts over Michy Batshuayi – even though the latter scored the winner against Atletico Madrid in midweek.
Check out all the action from the match below…
Chelsea vs Manchester City LIVE updates
Chelsea 0-1 City 67: GOAL! De Bruyne breaks the deadlock from close range!
Chelsea 0-0 City 66: What a block from Alonso! Silva has tim win the box to shoot low at goal as City weave into the Chelsea defence. But Alonso flings himself in the way. That was a let-off.
Chelsea 0-0 City 62: Yellow card for Fernandinho and Willian has a free-kick in a dangerous area. He smartly plays left to Hazard, who is free on his own. The Belgian shoots but Ederson saves.
Chelsea’s Alvaro Morata (centre) comes off with a hamstring problem
Chelsea 0-0 City 54: Raheem Sterling is unmarked at the far edge of the area from a corner. He controls off his chest and lines up a left-footed volley. It flies into the stands. Poor.
Chelsea 0-0 City 46: We’re back underway at Stamford Bridge. The fans have been pretty quiet so far – maybe an indication of how City have commanded possession. No changes from either side.
Chelsea 0-0 City HT: Glenn Hoddle reckons Morata was carrying his hamstring injury into today’s game.
“The reaction from the bench was that they knew he was going into the game with a bit of a fatigued hamstring,” Hoddle said on BT Sport.
“It’s obviously tightened up and they can’t take a risk.”
Chelsea 0-0 City HT: It’s not been a bad game to be fair but there’s very little splitting these two sides.
Courtois has been the busier goalkeeper, saving off Fernandinho.
A bg worry for Chelsea though is Morata’s injury. It looks like a hamstring problem.
Willian replaced the striker – a bit of a slap in the face for Batshuayi, who actually scored the winner for Chelsea against Atletico Madrid in midweek and is the like-for-like swap.
Chelsea 0-0 City 44: SAVE! Courtois keeps Chelsea in it before half time. Fernandinho comes steaming in for a diving header but the goalkeeper is equal to it. Two mins in the half for Chelsea to hold on.
Chelsea vs Manchester City: Delph lets fly from distance
Chelsea 0-0 City 34: Alvaro Morata looks like he’s coming off. He is! He’s waved to the bench after pointing to his leg. Willian is on.
Chelsea 0-0 City 26: SAVE! Chelsea squeeze in a shot but Ederson is there to block it.
From the resulting corner the goalkeeper triggers a counter attack. Sterling bombs down the right and has Silva in the middle… but the England man overhits it.
Chelsea 0-0 City 19: SMASH! Delph goes for a long-ranger left-footed effort and Rudiger dives to get his body in the way.
From the resulting corner Rudiger and Stones go up for a header and it’s the City star who goes down.
He hits the ground and is in pain. The physio’s looking at his wrist. Stones goes off the field for treatment.
Chelsea 0-0 City 12: CLOSE! What a mess at the back for Chelsea. Courtois passes out from a goal kick but it’s immediately played back to him. Jesus closes down the goalkeeper and gets in the way of his clearance… but the ball goes out for a goal kick. Relief for the goalkeeper.
Chelsea 0-0 City 10: City are enjoying plenty of the ball here. They’re camped just inside the Chelsea half but can’t really get any further forward.
Bakayoko goes down under a strong Otamendi challenge but it was a clean one.
Chelsea vs Manchester City is expected to be a sell-out
Chelsea 0-0 City 5: CLOSE! Morata’s glancing header from Kante’s cross sails over. That was a neat opening attack from the Blues.
At the other end Courtois saves a De Bruyne free-kick with ease.
Chelsea 0-0 City 1: We’re underway at Stamford Bridge! City in their (lovely) plum away kit. The visitors controlling possession in the opening stages.
Pep Guardiola on Sergio Aguero: “I think days off are to be happy. I want the players to be happy.
“I think the players have to rest mentally and physically. They can enjoy their lives. I want my players to have fun.
“If they decide to go there, they decide to go there. It is okay for me.”
Antonio Conte on Eden Hazard and team selection: “If he was able to play one game like the last game against Atletico Madrid it means he’s ready now to play with continuity.
“For us, he’s an important player. Last season he had an important season, he played very well, he performed as a top player. I’m very happy for him.
“It will not be easy to make [selection] decisions tomorrow, because, in my eyes, there is the last performance against Atletico Madrid.
“Every single player performed very well in this game. But I have to check the physical condition for every single player and then to make the best decision.”
Chelsea vs Manchester City: Hazard scored twice for the Blues against City last season
Last time out
Eden Hazard was Chelsea’s saviour the last time these sides met back in April. The Belgian scored either side of Sergio Aguero’s strike to earn a 2-1 win at the Bridge.
Aguero has scored five of City’s last seven Premier League goals at Chelsea. But he misses the game.
Chelsea vs Manchester City teams
So, Eden Hazard is in the Chelsea XI and will be seen as the go-to man heading forward.
Conte has dropped Moses, with Azpilicueta moving to right wing-back. Rudiger and Christiansen are in the centre-back positions alongside captain Cahill.
Guardiola, meanwhile, brings Sane into the side to replace the injured Aguero.
It looks as though Delph will play left-back following Mendy’s knee injury.
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Cahill, Christensen, Alonso, Kante, Bakayoko, Fabregas, Hazard, Morata.
Subs: Caballero, Pedro, Moses, Kenedy, Zappacosta, Willian, Batshuyai.
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Delph, De Bruyne, D. Silva, Sane, Sterling, Jesus.
Subs: Bravo, Danilo, Gundogan, Mangala, Bernardo Silva, Zinchenko, Toure.
Welcome
Welcome to our live coverage of Chelsea vs Manchester City.
Chelsea can leapfrog City with a win at Stamford Bridge.
They have already dropped down the table today thanks to Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Huddersfield at the John Smith’s Stadium.
City will hope to keep apace with Manchester United at the top of the table.
