They may come into the Champions League final in stuttering form, but Chelsea have shown they have what it takes to beat Manchester City.
Despite an emphatic defeat to City in the twilight of Frank Lampard’s tenure as manager, Chelsea have got the better of their meetings under Thomas Tuchel.
Not only did they emerge victorious when the two sides met at Wembley for the FA Cup semi-final in April, they won 2-1 at the Etihad in early May thanks to second-half goals from Hakim Ziyech and Marcos Alonso.
They have already lost one final this month, however, with Leicester denying Tuchel his first trophy in England. They also ended the Premier League season with defeats to Arsenal and Aston Villa either side of a crucial win against the Foxes which, as well as avenging their FA Cup failure, saw them edge into the top four at the expense of their opponents.
Tuchel will want more to show for his first four months at the club than just Champions League qualification. Having led Paris Saint-Germain to the final last year only to lose to Bayern Munich, he now has another chance to become European champion for the first time in his career.
There has been some good news for Chelsea on the injury front, with N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy in contention to feature. “N’Golo is looking good and I hope he stays like that for Saturday,” Tuchel said in his pre-match press conference.
“Edou made a huge improvement with the management of pain from when the injury happened, which is good. We hope to have him back. If he is fit, then Edou will play.”
Tuchel has already named his 25-man squad for the trip to Portugal, with both Kante and Mendy included. They were both photographed in training earlier this week.
Otherwise, Tuchel has a full squad to choose from. Pep Guardiola has also had an injury scare, with Ilkay Gundogan picking up a knock – not thought to be serious – in training on Friday afternoon.
Tuchel is expected to go with a 3-4-2-1 formation, just like he did at the Etihad a few weeks back.
With that in mind, here’s how Chelsea are expected to line up at the Estadio do Dragao.
Defence
Tuchel seems fairly confident that Mendy will be able to play so, barring any late setbacks, he will start ahead of Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Antonio Rudiger and Thiago Silva are likely to fill two of the three centre-back spots, but Tuchel has more of a conundrum on the right side of defence.
While he has deployed Reece James as a right-sided central defender in Chelsea’s last three games with Cesar Azpilicueta at right wing-back, James has played the wing-back role in both of their wins against City this season.
That could see him swap positions with Azpilicueta, who has often played centrally in recent months.
Tuchel will then have Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen as options on the bench.
Midfield
Presuming that Kante stays fit, the intensity of his running game could be crucial to the outcome of the match.
He started as Chelsea beat City at Wembley and then at the Etihad, so it would be a surprise if he missed out on merit.
Jorginho also played in both of those games, swapping in as a substitute for Kante in Manchester. While Mateo Kovacic is an option, they seem like a more logical partnership.
Out wide, Ben Chilwell is likely to feature at left wing-back with Marcos Alonso as cover on the bench.
Again, it will be one of James or Azpilicueta at right wing-back. Whoever Tuchel chooses in the wide positions, they will have to put a massive shift in to counter City’s pace and width.
Attack
Up top, Timo Werner has been preferred to Kai Havertz recently.
His finishing may have left much to be desired this season, but the former RB Leipzig man runs and presses aggressively and will help the team to defend from the front against City.
Either side of him, Tuchel has an enviable range of options including Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Ziyech started the two wins against City and scored at the Etihad, so Tuchel may be tempted to give him the nod.
Pulisic and Mount have started Chelsea’s last two games, however, and continuity at the sharp end of the season makes sense.
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