Previewing Manchester City vs. Chelsea

Football is an irony, and a very complicated one at that matter in that just because one team started the season well, does not mean they get to have a better season compared to those who had a disaster of season; hence where Manchester City and Chelsea come into the picture.

By all standards, both teams this season share a contrasting fortune on and off pitch to make them campaigns as remarkably different as it is between day and night. While Manchester City is on the verge of winning a 4th consecutive premier league title; an unprecedented one at that matter, Chelsea languish in the midtable spot with little to nothing to get out from the 2023/24 campaign.

But that’s all a lie. A narrative sold to portray Manchester City as being the formidable side that as recent performances have shown this season, are not up to the standards that we know them. Twice they have faced Chelsea, twice Manchester City have failed to get one over them. The Blues in as much as they have faced their own troubles on field, remain the boogey side Pep Guardiola has nothing under. They haven’t lost to them, and they can’t beat them.

A remarkable dilemma that makes their 3rd meeting this season, which comes in a very vital semi-final clash in the FA Cup even more dramatic. Should Chelsea manage to beat Manchester City and eliminate them from the competition, Pep Guardiola will be left to contend with the premier league title race just days after crashing out from the Champions League courtesy of Real Madrid.

It gets even more interesting that despite Manchester City starting the season well and having a better season overall than Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino’s team getting to the final over City and then going on to win the FA Cup will make the Blues’ season a better campaign than City’s if Pep Guardiola goes on to lose the premier league.

In this instance, Chelsea stand a real challenge that could potentially ruin Pep Guardiola’s season in English football for the first time since 2016 if City do not end up lifting any silverware this season.

And on the West London team’s part, winning silverware despite the challenge they have faced in the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign, could ironically better the seasons that the likes of Tottenham Hotspur or Aston Villa may have had if they fail to make Champions League spot.