Pedro Neto and Reece James will return to the Chelsea starting lineup when they take on Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday.
Chelsea will be desperate to return to winning ways and overcome the noise surrounding the club when they lock horns with Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday evening. Calum McFarlane has a new roster issue to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Moises Caicedo is the latest absentee, and he will serve his second suspension of the 2025/26 Premier League season this weekend. Levi Colwill (knee), Romeo Lavia (hamstring), and Dario Essugo (thigh) remain in the treatment room. Meanwhile, Marc Cucurella (hamstring) and Jorrel Hato (knock) face late fitness tests to determine their availability.
However, Mykhailo Mudryk’s suspension continues after he failed a doping test over a year ago. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, McFarlane discussed his whirlwind 24 hours after being appointed as the interim head coach. The Englishman also provided a fitness update on Cucurella.
Chelsea’s interim boss said, “It’s been a crazy 24 hours, a whirlwind as you can imagine, but it’s also been really enjoyable and exciting. I can only be positive about it. We don’t know what the future beyond this game is but right now, the brief is just to prepare the lads for Man City on Sunday. That’s all I’m focused on.”
“We will go there looking to give a good account of ourselves and trying to obtain a good result. That’s the brief and that’s what we are working on. Of course, we know will be facing a good team, in good form and led by a great manager. But we have good players too and we will be going into the game being as positive as possible.”
“With Marc it is positive [that he’s back training] and we will see with him. We’re undecided on that [whether he will play], I don’t have the full information on him as of yet. Otherwise we don’t have any other updates on players at the moment.”
Robert Sanchez is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Manchester City on Sunday. The backline will feature Josh Acheampong, Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile, and Malo Gusto.
As for the midfield unit, Reece James will pair up with Enzo Fernandez in the double pivot. Cole Palmer will reprise the no. 10 role, with Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho being the two wide attackers. Finally, Joao Pedro will lead the line for the away side against Manchester City on Sunday, with Liam Delap dropping to the bench.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Acheampong, Chalobah, Badiashile, Gusto; James, Enzo Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Garnacho; Joao Pedro
