3 Reasons why Chelsea can beat Manchester City on Monday

The title race has heated up as City have overtaken Arsenal after thumping Tottenham 5-1 away while Chelsea and Arsenal both drew their games. Now, Chelsea face the daunting task of travelling to the Etihad stadium to take on a City team which is on a role, and failure to win could see them lose further ground in the title race.

Here are three reasons why Chelsea can secure all three points and stay in the title race.

1. Stable Defense

A strong and settled defense is the hallmark of any Mourinho team, and this current Chelsea team is no different. They have been strong defensively all season, and kept yet another clean sheet against West Ham on Wednesday. In fact, Chelsea have conceded the lowest number of goals in the Premier League this season, and have managed 9 clean sheets so far in 23 matches.

Defensive organization will be of vital importance against City given their outstanding interplay in the final third and ability to pull opposition defenders out of position to create space for their runners. If Chelsea manage a shutout against City, that will be the first step towards a win. After all, you can lose if you don’t concede.

(Stats via Squawka)

2. Absence of Aguero

Aguero is the leading scorer for City with 15 goals in 17 appearances and he managed to get on the score sheet in the time he managed to stay on the pitch. He has the ability to dribble past defenders and get his shot away at the first opportunity he gets. He has scored 14 of his 15 goals from inside the box, showing how dangerous he can be with the ball anywhere near him inside the penalty box.

Fortunately for Chelsea, Aguero is not be able to play on Monday after he injured his hamstring in the game against Tottenham, and had to be taken off. Losing him reduces a lot of the potency City have in the final third, and Chelsea can get close to the other City striker’s without the fear of them squirming past them.

3. City’s weak left flank

Careful analysis will reveal the one glaring chink in City’s armor, their left flank. Both Gael Clichy and Alexander Kolarov, playing at left back, are suspect defensively while David Silva, who is playing as the left sided attacker in City’s 4-4-2 formation, has the tendency to drift infield leaving space behind for their left back to move into.

This presents Chelsea with an opportunity to exploit City’s left flank as any ball played behind the left back is likely to catch him out of position, and give space for Chelsea’s striker/winger to run on to. Demichelis lacks the pace required to cover the space behind the left back, and Chelsea could have very good chance of throwing few long balls towards Eto’o and Hazard on the counter. Samuel Eto’o is at his best when he is able to shake of his markers and get into scoring positions, and this may just the sort of game that he could repeat his heroics of a fortnight back against another Manchester club.