Chelsea Kepa; Azpilicueta (c), Koulibaly, Thiago Silva, Cucurella; Kovacic, Zakaria; Ziyech, Pulisic, Sterling; Havertz · Subs Bettinelli, Hall, Chalobah, ...
[Cesar Azpilicueta](/en/teams/profile/cesar-azpilicueta), [Kalidou Koulibaly](/en/teams/profile/kalidou-koulibaly), [Thiago Silva](/en/teams/profile/thiago-silva) and [Marc Cucurella](/en/teams/profile/marc-cucurella) in front of [Kepa Arrizabalaga](/en/teams/profile/kepa-arrizabalaga). [Denis Zakaria](/en/teams/profile/denis-zakaria) in midfield, with Ziyech joining [Christian Pulisic](/en/teams/profile/christian-pulisic) and [Raheem Sterling](/en/teams/profile/raheem-sterling) in support of [Kai Havertz](/en/teams/profile/kai-havertz) in attack. [Mateo Kovacic](/en/teams/profile/mateo-kovacic) and [Hakim Ziyech](/en/teams/profile/hakim-ziyech) are the returning duo in place of [Jorginho](/en/teams/profile/jorginho) and [Mason Mount](/en/teams/profile/mason-mount), with the latter missing out on the matchday squad.
Live updates as Chelsea host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, London, in the Premier League today, Thursday 5 January 2022. Kick-off: 3pm ET.
Benoît Badiashile completed his move from Monaco to Chelsea on Thursday. Kovacic and Pulisic start, as does Ziyech. He then went on to establish himself in Argentina’s eleven and won FIFA’s award for Young Player of the Tournament. The two sides meet again on Sunday in Manchester for an FA Cup tie. Ake deals with the Chelsea threat down the right and City recycle it. Now Koulibaly is down. It falls to the German midfielder 20 yards from goal. It's an excellent first touch by Haaland but you would expect him to hit the target. He shoots over with the outside of his left foot after being played in by Gundogan. Kovacic picks up a yellow for taking down Grealish, who had gone on the break. He has to hit the target. Aubameyang only had 14 touches when he came on.
Manchester City closed the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to five points by beating Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
There's a big blow for Chelsea who are without Mason Mount, the midfielder having suffered an injury in training. The Chelsea way. Kevin De Bruyne hangs in a deep cross from the left, Ake gets his head to it in front of Rodri, but the ball comes back off the outside of the post and Chelsea clear. He's not missed a league game for Graham Potter all season, and his absence leaves the home side looking light in midfield. Christian Pulisic is unable to continue and goes off, with Carney Chukwuemeka on in his stead for just his fifth league appearance for the club. That would set a new unwanted record for the City boss. He found Kai Havertz, who slid the ball into the box to tee up Christian Pulisic for a shot, but Stones made a brilliant sliding challenge to intervene. Unfortunately for the Blues, Pulisic seems to be hurt as a result. Suddenly, City have an overload in the Chelsea box: De Bruyne picks out Jack Grealish, and his low cross from the left is tapped in at the far post by Mahrez. The goalkeeper collides with Ziyech and the covering Manuel Akanji, and the ball runs safe for City. and the referee brings the game to an end! Kevin De Bruyne pops up in the right channel this time and fires the ball across goal.
There was plenty going on and off the pitch at Stamford Bridge as Manchester City came away 1-0 victors thanks to Riyad Mahrez's goal against Chelsea.
With more time to work with Potter than most during the World Cup, Aubameyang may have believed he could persuade the Chelsea head coach he was worthy of a start. He gave everything for the team and was fatiguing a little bit. Potter has a group of players who come close to making a very impressive lineup and finds his options for the first team more limited than he would like. Silva and Koulibaly brought plenty of intensity to the meeting and it was present even ahead of the game. Srna has also been [pictured in restaurant with former Arsenal and Chelsea star Willian](https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/transfer-news/arsenal-chelsea-mykhaylo-mudryk-transfer-25906702) and Eduardo Silva. The 20-year-old was once again in attendance, albeit seated elsewhere for the visit of Man City. Chelsea are said to be interested in making a move for Mykhaylo Mudryk, should Arsenal not be successful in their attempts. The Frenchman was sat next to co-owner and intermin-sporting director Todd Boehly. Silva firmly gestured to enforce his points as the team lined up, with Koulibaly equally emphasising his points. Following his performance against Nottingham Forest it would have been a surprise for many to see Kalidou Koulibaly make the cut against Manchester City. That goal was enough to separate the teams with Chelsea unable to breach Ederson's goal as they pushed for an equaliser late on. Man City found their quality in the second period and piled on pressure as
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga - · RB: Cesar Azpilicueta - · CB: Trevoh Chalobah - · CB: Kalidou Koulibaly - · LB: Marc Cucurella - · CM: Jorginho - · CM: Denis Zakaria - · CM: ...
The latest defeat included an impressive performance from Chelsea but, as has been the case this season, it wasn't enough. ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Substituted on and off in the same game (which has been blown out of proportion considering he came on after five minutes), Aubameyang will be keen to prove himself to his critics. CB: Trevoh Chalobah - Unfortunate to find himself out of the team recently, Chalobah will step in and allow Thiago Silva to rest.