Premier League 2019/20: Manchester City vs Chelsea – tactical preview

This Saturday, the Premier League will see third place holders Chelsea visit the champions, who are currently in fourth place, Manchester City.

Although it is still early in the season, no one expected that Manchester City would be down in fourth place. Some key injuries, as well as some tactical ignorance from Pep Guardiola, has seen the club lose three matches, and draw one already. The club has set expectations so high the past couple seasons, accumulating 198 points in two seasons, that it is shocking to see them drop points to teams like Norwich City, and Wolves. It begs the questions as to whether Guardiola has one eye on the Champions League and has put the league on the back burner, while his key players regain fitness. That being said, Manchester City have still had incredible matches this season, and to overlook them for this match, and the title, in general, would be naive.

On the other hand, not many expected Chelsea to start as well as they have. After a horrendous showing against Manchester United in the first game of the season, they managed to pick up their form, suffering only one other loss, and two draws in 11 matches. Frank Lampard has done an admirable job with Chelseas youth players, with youngsters like Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, and Fikayo Tomori all shining for club level. A win against Manchester City would be huge for the club for two reasons. The first being the fact that it would be Chelseas first win against a top-six side this season, and what a statement it would be if it was against the reigning Champions away from home. The second would be the slim chance of a title challenge. It is yet to be seen whether Chelsea will be able to maintain their form, especially with a busy Christmas period, but a win against Manchester City could catapult their potential title challenge.

This tactical analysis will be a preview that will use analysis to look at the tactics that both teams are likely to employ, and how both teams can get the better of each other.

Manchester Citys likely set-up

Manchester City usually set up in a 4-3-3, that looks like a 2-3-5 when they are on the attack and have possession (which is often, they have averaged 65% possession in the league this season).

The 2-3-5 sees the two wide most forward midfielders join the two wide wingers and the striker to form a front five. The defensive midfielder will remain in his position, but alongside him will be the two fullbacks, who have become inverted, tucking inside. The back two consists of the two centre-backs.

While Guardiola usually uses the 4-3-3, utilizing it 43% of the time in Premier League matches, he has experimented with other formations that have had mixed results. The 4-2-3-1 has come up against mostly lower-tiered opposition, but with little success. Manchester City dropped points in three out of the five matches the 4-2-3-1 was used in the Premier League. They were their familiar free-flowing selves in attack, even more so than usual sometimes, but lacked defensive stability, which cost them.