17:07
In total, Manchester City have met Chelsea FC 173 times. The Londoners lead the direct comparison with 71 wins (39 draws, 63 defeats), but since the memorable 1-0 win against the Sky Blues in the Champions League final in 2021 they have all lost the subsequent four competitive games against the Citizens and have done so not scored a single goal against the reigning national champions.
17:02
The Citizens only returned from the World Cup break with a 3-2 home win over Liverpool in the EFL Cup and then also collected seven out of nine possible points in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola is opting for maximum rotation this afternoon compared to the recent 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge. With Walker, Rodri, Silva and Foden, only four players are back in the starting lineup. Among the seven newcomers is substitute keeper Stefan Ortega, who came from Bielefeld last summer.
16:56
The two teams just faced each other in the Premier League last Thursday. Chelsea lost 1-0 to the Sky Blues at London’s Stamford Bridge after Riyad Mahrez’s golden goal. In the FA Cup duel at the Etihad Stadium, Graham Potter therefore changes his starting lineup to six positions: Chalobah, Jorginho, Mount, Humphreys, Hall and Gallagher are preferred to Thiago Silva, Zakaria, Azpilicueta, Cucurella (all four benches), Pulišić and Sterling (neither in the squad).
4:50 p.m
Although things initially went up for Chelsea under Graham Potter, the successor to Tuchel, and the pensioners were even fourth in the table for a while, the situation at Stamford Bridge is tense. The Blues have won just one of their last six competitive games in all competitions (one draw, four defeats) and after the Winter World Cup they only picked up four out of a possible nine points in the Premier League.
16:42
In the Premier League, only Manchester City has done well so far. Pep Guardiola’s side are five points behind Arsenal, but are second in the table with 39 out of a possible 51 points. Chelsea are 14 points behind in a sobering tenth place. The transfer offensive in the winter is correspondingly large for the Londoners. With Benoît Badiashile, David Datro Fofana (both are on the bench for the first time today) and Andrey Santos, the first three new winter signings have already been announced. Other players could follow.
16:36
Manchester City last won the premier English football trophy in 2019, while Chelsea are the overall winners of the 2017/18 season. The Blues were also in the FA Cup final last summer, but lost to Liverpool on penalties. The Citizens and the Blues last faced each other in a direct duel in the 2020/21 season in the FA Cup. At that time, the Londoners managed a 1-0 home win against the Sky Blues.
4:30 p.m
Good day and welcome from Etihad Stadium. Here at 17:30 Manchester City and Chelsea face off in the third round of the FA Cup.