Season-Opening Premier League Blockbuster

Man City Opens Up Another Title Defense

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City’s success over the last few seasons has been unprecedented in English football. Man City has won four straight Premier League titles and opened up another title defense with a blockbuster match at Chelsea on Sunday.

Chelsea have spent ungodly sums of money on their side and will be looking to do better than sixth place in 2024-25.

Ahead of this can’t-miss Premier League match, we’ll give our Chelsea vs Man City betting tips and preview the match.

Chelsea vs Man City Head-to-Head:

One of our Chelsea vs Man City betting tips is to consider Manchester City’s unbeaten run in this fixture.

City is unbeaten in their last nine games against Chelsea, in all competitions. Last season, these teams drew both of their Premier League meetings. The EPL scores were 4-4 at Stamford Bridge and 1-1 at the Etihad.

Still, Man City did defeat Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup semifinals in April. Each of the last seven Premier League fixtures has finished in a draw or been decided by a one-goal margin.

The quest to retain our @premierleague crown begins here! ✊🏆

🤝 #AsahiSuperDry pic.twitter.com/07AWThgFFQ

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 14, 2024

Chelsea: Living and Dying in Transfer Market

2023-24 Season:

• Premier League: 18-9-11 (6th)
• FA Cup: Semifinalists, lost 1-0 at Manchester City
• EFL Cup: Finalists, lost 1-0 (a.e.t.) to Liverpool

Surprisingly, Chelsea let go of coach Mauricio Pochettino after the 2023-24 season. From January 1st to the end of May, Chelsea had the fourth-best record in the league and made the FA Cup Semifinal and the EFL Cup Finals. After finishing in sixth place in the EPL, and qualifying for the Europa League, Chelsea replaced Pochettino with former Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca.

This is Maresca’s first high-profile coaching job and it’s a high-pressure one. The expectations are high after Chelsea have spent almost £200 million trying to improve their squad. Their biggest signings of the Summer have been winger Pedro Neto, midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen.

Since Todd Boehly’s takeover of the club in 2022, Chelsea has spent an absurd £1.2 billion on transfers. The most successful of which has been Cole Palmer, who took the Premier League by storm in 2023-24. The English international scored 22 goals and provided 11 assists in the Premier League and should be a key player for years to come.

Chelsea’s goalkeeper and striker issues are still apparent though, and we’ll see if Jorgensen gets the starting keeper spot from Robert Sanchez in the near future. If Chelsea don’t sign a high-profile striker, expect Nicolas Jackson to lead the line.

To comply with profit and sustainability rules, though, Chelsea has tried to sell former academy players like Trevoh Chalobah, Conor Gallagher, and Mason Mount in 2023.

Alvarez Departs Man City

2023-24 Season:

• Premier League: 28-7-3 (1st)
• Champions League: Quarter-Finalists, lost 4-4 agg. (3-4 p) to Real Madrid
• FA Cup: Finalists, 2-1 loss to Manchester United
• EFL Cup: Third Round, lost 1-0 to Newcastle United
• FIFA Club World Cup: Champions, defeated Fluminense 4-0 in final

Manchester City have won so much in the past few years that it may start to affect their motivation. With a fourth straight EPL title in May, the Cityzens achieved something no Premier League team has ever done.

There are whispers that this could be Pep Guardiola’s last season in charge of City, and an unfavorable ruling in their September hearing for 115 alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play could speed that up.

Guardiola has nothing left to prove in England but he has an insatiable desire for winning and this could be a challenging season for City. Arsenal are incredibly strong and City just let Julian Alvarez, who scored 11 goals and provided eight assists last season, leave for Atletico Madrid.

They’ll likely try to bring in a backup striker before the end of the transfer window but there will be a whole lot of reliance on two-time defending EPL Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland until then. Haaland scored 27 goals in the Premier League last season, while the versatile Phil Foden won the Premier League’s Player of the Season Award.

• City is still as solid as it gets defensively and has a Ballon d’Or candidate, in midfielder Rodri. Bernardo Silva would slot into any team in the world and he scored the equalizer in last weekend’s Community Shield. City ended up defeating Man United in penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Man City enters 2024-25 as +150 favorites to win a fifth straight EPL title but their odds are longer than recent seasons past.

Chelsea vs Man City Odds & Analysis

Last season, Chelsea opened up their season against another title contender, Liverpool, and came away with a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. Last season’s 4-4 draw in this fixture was one of the best Premier League games of recent memory and both teams are capable of scoring again.

In the last five games of 2023-24, Chelsea averaged 2.8 goals per game and Man City averaged 3.2. One of our Chelsea vs Man City betting tips is to consider the possibility of another shootout. Here, over 3.5 goals come in at +115 odds. Meanwhile, Chelsea and a draw both come in at +290.

• Man City are -120 favorites and Chelsea +0.5 sits at -110 odds as well. In one of the can’t miss games of the EPL schedule 2024 we like a Man City win and both teams to score at +190 combined odds.

For EPL predictions, betting analysis, and more visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

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• Will Man City Investigation Lead to Punishment?
• 2024 EPL Roundup: Man City Break English Record
• Richest Match in Soccer Takes Center Stage
• Arsenal Look to Usurp Defending Champions Man City

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