Man City vs Chelsea LIVE: FA Cup team news, line-ups and more from thid round today – Erling Haalands rested

Manchester City have already eliminated Chelsea from the Carabao Cup this season following a 2-0 win in November.

This could be the second consecutive season that Chelsea are knocked out of both the Carabao and FA Cups by the same team after Liverpool eliminated them from both competitions in 2021/22.

Chelsea have lost five of their last six away matches against Manchester City in all competitions. Their one win during this run was a 2-1 Premier League victory in May 2021 under Thomas Tuchel.

Will they pcik up another away win under Graham Potter this time out?

Pep Guardiola joked he was “a genius” after a double substitution inspired Manchester City to victory against Chelsea and kept them on Arsenal’s tail in the Premier League title race.

Riyad Mahrez fired City to a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, cutting the deficit to the leaders back to five points.

Less than three minutes after coming on as second-half substitutes, Jack Grealish teed up Mahrez for the winner which keeps Arsenal firmly in their sights.

After spells being in and out of the Manchester City team the enduring quality of centre-back John Stones has seen him force his way back into the defensive line and impress boss, Pep Guardiola.

In current form Stones is indispensable when City play in the Premier League meaning that he has to sit out of cup games as the manager looks at other players.

“He played an incredible World Cup,” Guardiola said when asked about Stones’ upturn in form. “He was one of the first signings when I joined here seven years ago.

“I know when he goes well, I know when he’s happy and stable, what a player. He’s had ups and downs in the past and injuries but this is part of the process to realise what he needs, to be consistent.”

Since he joined Man City in 2018, Riyad Mahrez has scored more Premier League goals as a substitute than any other player (9).

He scored the winner against Chelsea last time out, assisted by Jack Grealish, just 3 minutes and 43 seconds after both players had been subbed on.

Despite his status as a super sub, the 31-year-old starts for Pep Guardiola’s side this afternoon.

Pep Guardiola keeps just four players in the starting XI from the team that defeated Chelsea 1-0 last Thursday. Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker and Rodri are the ones who keep their places.

There are six changes for Graham Potter’s Chelsea team. Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Marc Cucurella are all taken out for the back line to be replaced with Bashir Humphreys, Trevoh Chalobah and Lewis Hall.

Christian Pulisic and Raheem Sterling are both injured so drop out with Denis Zakaria starting from the bench. In come Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount and Jorginho.

Man City XI: Ortega, Walker, Akanji, Laporte, Gomez, Rodri, Bernardo, Palmer, Mahrez, Alvarez, Foden

Chelsea XI: Kepa, Humphreys, Chalobah, Koulibaly, Hall, Jorginho, Kovacic, Gallagher, Ziyech, Mount, Havertz

It was revealing that so many of the tributes following the death of Gianluca Vialli focused not on his career, but on his character.

The stories were touching and humorous in equal measure, like the time Vialli and fellow Italian Gianfranco Zola wanted to thank Chelsea’s player liaison officer, Gary Staker, for helping them adjust to English life. They told Staker they were taking him out to dinner, and he drove his old Ford to the restaurant where he was persuaded to hand over his keys to a waiter for parking. After the meal, Staker became flustered when he couldn’t find his car outside, and he was even more confused when the Italians pointed at the gleaming new BMW sitting in the car park. When he eventually got his head around their gift, he wept.

During those early days at Chelsea, Vialli worked hard on his English with a little help from his mischievous captain, Dennis Wise. Wise would teach him a new phrase each week and Vialli would endeavour to crowbar this latest nugget into media interviews. Vialli was in on the joke of course, and in his unique blend of Italian Cockney he told a reporter after one defeat: “Well, ‘ats off to them.”

The teams have arrived at the Etihad for this afternoon’s FA Cup clash between Manchester City and Chelsea. The official starting XIs will be coming out shortly too.

This is the eighth meeting between Manchester City and Chelsea in the FA Cup.

City have won four and the Blues have won three of the previous seven ties including each of the last two fixtures (5-1 in 2015/16 fifth round and 1-0 in 2020/21 semi-final).