Manchester City face Chelsea in Ohio on Saturday.
The match is City’s last warm up before they face Manchester United in the Community Shield. As for Chelsea, they face Real Madrid next, so a stern test will be welcome ahead of a match against the current champions of Europe.
Manchester City vs Chelsea odds
Find the latest match odds for Manchester City vs Chelsea. All odds are provided by our best-reviewed football betting sites. Odds are subject to change.
⚡Quick Manchester City vs Chelsea betting tips
Manchester City vs Chelsea predictions
Man City and Chelsea meet in their opening fixture in the Premier League.
Saturday’s friendly is not likely to offer much insight into that fixture, especially given City’s disjointed preparations.
City’s tour has been hard to figure out.
They are without practically all their regular first teamers with the exception of Ederson, Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish.
Furthermore, Pep Guardiola has practically already announced to the rest of the Premier League that he is not going to rush his stars back due to the upcoming year of football that his City squad has ahead of them.
City started their pre-season with a 4-3 loss to Celtic. They followed with a 3-2 defeat to AC Milan
The defending Premier League champions ended their losing run with a 2-2 draw against Barcelona on Tuesday.
Goals from Nico O’Reilly and Jack Grealish secured the draw. But City lost 4-1 in the subsequent penalty shootout.
Chelsea warmed up for the showdown against City with a 3-0 win over Club America on Wednesday.
Goals from Christopher Nkunku, Marc Guiu and Noni Madueke secured a much needed win for Enzo Maresca after a 2-2 draw with Wrexham and a 4-1 defeat to Celtic.
Things don’t get much easier for Chelsea. After the City match they complete their US Tour with a midweek fixture against Real Madrid in Charlotte, North Carolina.
They then return home to face Inter Milan in a friendly at the Bridge before they start their Premier League campaign against City the following weekend.
Manchester City vs Chelsea betting tips
Manchester City look short of where they need to be this close to the Community Shield. But it’s hard to judge where Chelsea are given the weakness of opposition they faced in Club America on Wednesday. Goals could be the best way to go for our tips in this encounter.
Both teams to score and match to end in draw – 18/5 (bet365)
Pep’s facing his former assistant, he won’t want to lose.
But he has a shadow squad to pick from, so we can see a draw being the best City manage from this fixture.
Given the footballing philosophies of both managers, the focus will be on attacking football. And it’s hard to see either team not scoring.
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It’s also hard to pick a winner. And with Chelsea stepping up their preparations, we expect them to present City with a challenge.
City ended their pre-season losing streak with a draw against Barcelona. And we can see them getting a scoring draw against Chelsea as well.
⚽ Bet on both teams to score and match to be a draw at 18/5 with bet365 ⚽
Over 3.5 goals – 6/5 (bet365)
All three of Manchester City’s friendlies have had over 3.5 goals.
The match with Celtic produced seven goals, with a further five in the 3-2 defeat to AC Milan, and four in the 2-2 draw with Barcelona.
Chelsea matches have also produced plenty of goals. There were four shared out in the 2-2 draw with Wrexham.
And the back of net was found five times in the match against Celtic.
The only time over 3.5 goals wasn’t reached was in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Club America.
But with all due respect to the Mexican Liga MX team, they are not Manchester City.
They are probably not even a match for the current watered down version of the English league champions. And they certainly don’t have an Erling Haaland to call upon.
Both teams will likely find the net in this fixture. And the chances are they will both score more than once each.
⚽ Back Over 3.5 goals at 6/5 with bet365⚽
Christopher Nkunku – 6/5 (Sky Bet)
One of Chelsea’s biggest issues last season was finding a reliable striker who could regularly put the ball into the back of the net.
A guy who could turn draws into wins.
Nicholas Jackson showed flashes of being able to do this. But on the whole he was too erratic, and he looks more like one for the future than the here and now.
Chelsea did have a top-class striker on their books in Christopher Nkunku. The problem was, he was missing for most of the season with injury.
Nkunku is now fit and firing.
He has scored in three successive matches for Chelsea, and he will go into the match against Manchester City full of confidence.
Nkunku did suffer with cramp against Club America. We expect him to play against City, and at 6/5 he looks a good value bet to be on the scoresheet.
⚽ Back Christopher Nkunku to score any time at 6/5 with Sky Bet ⚽
📺 How to watch Manchester City vs Chelsea
- Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio.
- Date and time: Saturday 3rd August 2024, 10.30 pm BST.
- How to watch: Chelsea TV and City+.
About the author
Dean Etheridge
Dean Etheridge is an experienced freelance sports betting writer who specialises in football. He predominantly covers the Premier League and Champions League but can turn his hand to all aspects of the beautiful game. You can follow Dean on LinkedIn (@deanetheridge)
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