ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - MANCHESTER CITY V CHELSEA

English Premier

2012-03-21 - Manchester City vs Chelsea

A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser

Match Preview :

Manchester City welcomes Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night knowing this is a must win clash if they are to close the gap to Manchester United as they are now four points behind after the defeat to Swansea.

They could even unleash striker Carlos Tevez at some point in this match despite the striker not playing for Manchester City since the now infamous falling-out with manager Roberto Mancini during a UEFA Champions League clash with Bayern Munichin September.

Since returning back from his homeland, he has spent weeks to regain his fitness and could be welcomed back into the side tonight. For the record, Tevez has scored six times in his last five top flight appearances against Chelsea and Mancini will be tempted to unleash his South American striker on the Blues in this clash.

However, City have failed to find the target in 13 of their last 19 league games against Chelsea, but have scored in four of the last five. Mancini's men have also taken maximum points from their last 19 top flight fixtures at the Etihad Stadium and will set a new Premier League record if they are successful tonight.

And looking at Chelsea's away record, it does suggest that Manchester City could achieve that tonight. This is because The Blues have won only one of their last seven league games away from home, picking up just seven points during that run.

They are, however, yet to be beaten under the guidance of Roberto Di Matteo with the Italian having guided the club to four straight wins in all competitions since taking over the side on an interim basis on the back of Andre Villas-Boas' departure.

If Chelsea were to win tonight,k Chelsea could also keep pace with the top four and they could come back into the Champions League hunt if other results goes their way.

Team News :

Manchester City Team News :
Manchester City are expected to name Tevez among their substitutes tonight, with the Argentine forward having been back in training for five weeks now. With Joleon Lescott

(groin) out and Vincent Kompany (calf) very doubtful, City do have problems in defense. But the good news is that right-back Pablo Zabaleta (hamstring) and midfielder Gareth Barry (back) are fit.

Chelsea Team News :
John Terry will miss this clash for sure. Blues captain Terry has been feeling the strain of playing twice in four days following his remarkable recovery from knee surgery and

will not be risked here. Nevertheless, Caretaker manager Di Matteo is confident the defender will be fit for Saturday's game with Tottenham.

Possible lineups

Manchester City : Hart, Richards, Savic, K Toure, Clichy, Milner, Barry, Y Toure, Silva, Aguero, Balotelli.

Chelsea : Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Cahill, Cole, Lampard, Essien, Ramires, Mata, Drogba, Torres.

Predictions :

Manchester City has to win here and Di Matteo's four match winning streak could come to an end here.

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Take Manchester City to win.