Premier League analysis: Five key battles in Chelsea vs Manchester City showdown
The pick of the opening round of 2024/25 Premier League action sees Chelsea welcome four-time defending champions Manchester City to west London on Sunday.
There is a new manager in the home dugout and a living legend in the other, so the match is poised to set the tone for what the two fanbases can expect this season.
And with the margin of error in the race for the Champions League places smaller than ever, both clubs will be keen to start the campaign off on the right foot.
Here, Sports News Blitz’s Michael Davey takes a look at five key battles to anticipate in the Super Sunday showdown at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca vs Pep Guardiola
It is protege up against master as new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca faces off with mentor Pep Guardiola and his perennial champions.
Having recently guided Leicester City back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, Maresca has been brought in by Chelsea owner Todd Boehly to replace the underwhelming Mauricio Pochettino.
Charged with implementing a progressive style of play, Maresca must get the best out of a talented but underperforming, and expensive, squad.
The Italian was previously the Under-23s manager at City. Maresca led them to their first-ever Premier League 2 title in 2021 before enduring a forgettable stint at Parma in Serie B. He then returned to Manchester as part of Man City’s first-team staff prior to a move to the East Midlands.
Very much a Guardiola disciple, Maresca’s Leicester side played an exciting brand of football involving deep build-up moves that started with the goalkeeper and overloaded opponents by passing through the press.
Now in the hot-seat at one of England’s biggest clubs, the pressure is on for Maresca to bring positional play and a possession-based strategy to west London.
Guardiola, in contrast, is a giant of the game. After refining tiki-taka to an artform during his time at Barcelona, he has gone on to perfect a philosophy based on controlling possession and executing a high-press. This has brought the Catalan unrivalled success.
Across eight years in the blue half of Manchester, Guardiola has delivered a total of 17 major honours, including the last four Premier League titles and six out of the last seven.
Quite simply, under Guardiola, City have been nothing short of a winning machine.
And with Maresca and Guardiola never having faced off against each other before, Sunday’s game is set to stage the first act in a new play.
In a fascinating collision of like minds, both managers are expected to emphasise possession, pressing, and aggressive turnovers.
Whichever side deviates the most from their shared philosophy is likely to end up the loser.
One distinct possibility is that Maresca sets up his Chelsea side to mirror City exactly. This reduces the contest to a series of individual one-on-one battles all over the pitch, possibly giving Chelsea the edge against the famously choreographed juggernaut that is the Citizens.
In the end, with former assistant Mikel Arteta having successfully transformed Arsenal into title-challengers, Guardiola is no doubt intrigued to see what another one of his pupils can produce on the biggest stage.
Maresca, for his part, is up to the challenge.
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Cole Palmer vs Josko Gvardiol and Nathan Ake
After his breakthrough season last time out, all eyes are on Cole Palmer as the talented playmaker seeks to hit the ground running in his second season at Chelsea.
In what is now considered a rare misstep, Guardiola jettisoned Palmer to the Blues for £40million a year ago after 41 appearances and six goals across three seasons at City.
The 22-year-old followed that up with 25 goals and 15 assists in 45 games for Chelsea, second only to Erling Haaland for goals and Ollie Watkins for assists. That haul included a stoppage-time equaliser the last time these two teams met in west London.
In the end, Palmer picked up the Premier League Young Player of the Season award as well as a nomination for the Premier League Player of the Season and the FWA Footballer of the Year.
He then went on to star for England at UEFA Euro 2024, scoring in the final defeat to Spain, before recently extending his Chelsea contract to 2033.
Now firmly in the spotlight, Palmer is considered a brilliant passer and dribbler of the ball who is also known for his calmness under pressure and supreme penalty-taking ability.
He is likely to encounter Josko Gvardiol at left-back for City. The second-most expensive defender in history, signed from RB Leipzig for £77million at the start of last season, Gvardiol is a highly physical marker and robust tackler.
Unless Guardiola springs a surprise, Gvardiol’s partner at left-centre-back will be former Chelsea youth player Nathan Ake. Strong in the air and a brilliant reader of the game, the Dutchman was signed from a relegated Bournemouth in 2020.
Typically deployed on the right wing, the left-footed Palmer often cuts inside to devastating effect.
The City defence, in particular Gvardiol and Ake, must decide how best to contain him.
Pushing the Blues’ talisman out wide would isolate the danger while stretching City’s shape.
Corralling Palmer down the inside right channel, however, allows City to remain compact but brings his influence closer to the middle of the park where he is so lethal.
Another factor is Gvardiol’s penchant for progressive play as he likes driving into space down the touchline. This attacking inclination runs the fatal risk of affording Palmer too much space.
Ultimately, how Gvardiol and Ake choose to deal with Palmer will go a long way to determining how much influence ‘Cold Palmer’ exerts on Chelsea’s attack at Stamford Bridge.
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Erling Haaland vs Chelsea defence
Two-time Premier League Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland arrives at Stamford Bridge with his sights set on disrupting Chelsea’s unproven defence.
Signed for £51million from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, Haaland broke the record for most goals in a Premier League season by scoring 36 in his Treble-winning debut campaign.
With 52 goals across all competitions, the most for a Premier League player, he won both the Premier League Young Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season awards.
The Norwegian Terminator then followed that up with 27 goals in 31 appearances last season.
Standing at an imposing 6ft 4ins, with the aggression and speed to match, Haaland is the quintessential elite striker.
The 24-year-old is a lethal finisher inside the penalty box, capable with both feet, and often utilises small, sharp movements to shake off defenders.
In the wake of Thiago Silva’s retirement, Chelsea’s most likely centre-back pairing is Levi Colwill and Axel Disasi.
Both players have only been part of the first-team set-up for a single season, although Colwill did come through the Blues’ academy.
France international Disasi was the man of the match when Chelsea drew 1-1 with Man City at the Etihad last season.
At right-back, fans can expect another Frenchman in Malo Gusto. Also a recent signing, from Lyon a year ago, Gusto has fared well in the injury absence of club captain Reece James.
As Ben Chilwell is rumoured to be considering a move to City, Maresca should install Marc Cucurella at left-back. Often criticised due to poor form in a Chelsea shirt, it is hoped the Spaniard has turned a corner after helping his nation to the Euro 2024 title in the off-season.
Rounding out Chelsea’s defensive stocks are forgotten man Trevor Chalobah, the bit-part Benoit Badiashile, and Wesley Fofana who was injured all of last season.
Given the muddle that is the Blues’ backline, Haaland and his City team-mates will be licking their lips in anticipation of Sunday’s game.
Maresca must produce something cohesive from a group of players that are relatively new to the club or in questionable form.
Much comes down to teamwork and how much space the Chelsea defence affords Haaland in particular.
Intimidation is the key: whoever wields it is likely to emerge the winner.
So, while the future is certainly bright, the first step for Chelsea’s promising defenders is in dealing with the visit of an elite forward line led by the unstoppable Haaland on Sunday.
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Todd Boehly’s attacking flops vs Chelsea fans
Since taking over at Stamford Bridge in 2022, the Boehly-led consortium have shelled out well over £1billion on more than 30 signings with precious little success to show for it.
In just two seasons, Chelsea bolstered their forward line with Mykhaylo Mudryk (£62million from Shakhtar Donetsk), Christopher Nkunku (£53million from RB Leipzig), Raheem Sterling (£50million from Man City), Nicolas Jackson (£32million from Villarreal), Noni Madueke (£31million from PSV Eindhoven), Deivid Washington (£17million from Santos), Carney Chukwuemeka (£16million from Aston Villa), and David Fofana (£10million from Molde).
Furthermore, Joao Felix was loaned from Atletico Madrid at a cost of £10million.
Recently, the Blues have added Pedro Neto (£51million from Wolverhampton Wanderers), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£30million from Leicester City), and Omari Kellyman (£19million from Aston Villa) to that incredible list.
It is also worth mentioning that big money has been spent on central midfielders Enzo Fernandez (£107million from Benfica), Moises Caicedo (£100million from Brighton), and Romeo Lavia (£53million from Southampton) in the last two years.
All of these players are still on the books at Chelsea, and all have largely flattered to deceive.
With the new signings serving up uninspiring performances, a poor injury record, and no trophies, Chelsea fans have grumbled their way through the unprecedented spending spree that heralded a new era of ownership after the departure of Roman Abramovich.
On Sunday, in front of the Stamford Bridge faithful, the Blues’ forwards will have nowhere to hide. After all the money spent on their exorbitant transfer fees and ridiculously long contracts, they need to start justifying their place in west London.
Chelsea’s opening game of the season, against the defending champions no less, is therefore shaping up to be just as much about gaining the adoration of the fans as it is about getting the three points, especially if you happen to be one of Boehly’s many recent additions.
Phil Foden vs Enzo Fernandez
Another fascinating battle involves the midfield tussle between reigning Premier League Player of the Season Phil Foden and British-record transfer signing Enzo Fernandez.
Foden, who has been at City since the age of four, was the youngest-ever recipient of a Premier League winner’s medal in 2018 and has since added five more.
Still only 24 years old, he has made 41 appearances for England, including at UEFA Euro 2020, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2024.
With Belgium maestro Kevin De Bruyne’s injury problems last term, Foden stepped up with 19 goals in the league and 27 across all competitions for the Citizens.
A left-footed winger by trade, Foden now forms part of Guardiola’s favoured central attacking options.
Known for his tight control of the ball and ability to seemingly drift through opponents, Foden also brings an ambitious passing game to City’s progressive attacking play.
Opposite Foden is the Argentine Enzo. At 23, he has already helped Argentina to both the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2024 Copa America, starting in both finals.
Formerly of the famed River Plate academy, Enzo was signed from Benfica in 2023.
After a slow start to life in a Chelsea shirt, his promising partnership with Moises Caicedo has many Blues fans excited.
A combative and versatile player, Enzo offers incisive vertical-passing capabilities and an ability to dictate the tempo.
In particular, he has a knack for anticipating and disrupting opposition attacks, contributing as much out of possession as he does in it.
Crucially, Enzo’s position near the base of Chelsea’s midfield and Foden’s position at the top of City’s means that both players will play an important, and oppositional, role in providing the necessary platform for their respective teams to dominate the midfield battle.
Whoever ends up controlling the middle of the park at Stamford Bridge is likely to walk away the winner and take three important points from the contest.
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