Man City v Chelsea Tip

The reason why Manchester City will finish above Chelsea this season is that the champions under Mancini handle adversity a great deal better than Chelsea do under Benitez.

This may seem like a bold assertion but when I look at recent results I think it’s borne out. City were widely castigated for their performance in losing 3-1 at Southampton, and rightly so, but you could say that really it was a one-off. Their results since 29 December have actually been very good (W7 D2 L1). Only the relentless excellence of United has seen the gap at the top really stretched.

Compare that to Chelsea who have wobbled repeatedly since the turn of the year. The London Blues lost at home to QPR, at home to Swansea, scraped a draw with Brentford and lost at Newcastle. They also blew 2-0 leads to both Southampton and Reading. The European champions have never put a really positive run together under Benitez.

The Etihad remains something of a fortress for the Citizens and I think they will show their superiority on Sunday. A victory with daylight between the sides by the end seems likely so I’ll take the hosts to win by two goals at best odds of 5/1 with Skybet.