Chelsea Team News: Injuries, Suspensions and Alignment against Manchester City

Chelsea's 5-0 win against Huddersfield last weekend was the tonic for recovering from a bad Premier League record that had cast doubt on Maurizio Sarri's future and his chances of placing in the top four. .

The Blues reached fourth place with Manchester City's home victory over Arsenal last weekend, but now face the same trip to Etihad Stadium as the competition ends.

Sarri will face his friend Pep Guardiola on Sunday, but he can not hope for any favor, as the Premier League champions aim to retain the title and eliminate their main opponents, Liverpool.

Chelsea are in good shape before moving to Manchester and have left Antonio Rudiger aside for last week's win against Huddersfield.

Rudiger had a knee problem, but he will probably come back for Sunday, with Andreas Christensen taking over from Huddersfield. It is thought that Chelsea does not have any other injuries, and new rookie Gonzalo Higuain will still have a week to train with his teammates.

Gary Cahill and Davide Zappacosta went missing for most of January due to speculation about their future, but could be reintroduced now that the transfer window is closed.

Neither Chelsea nor Man City have suspensions for Sunday's game.

Chelsea will continue to play what Sarri considers to be his strongest team as he tries to be consistent after his team has failed to reach his best form in winter.

Emerson Palmieri seems to be competing with Marcos Alonso after some prestigious debut in front of the Spanish international. However, Alonso returned in the victory over Huddersfield.

Willian and Pedro fight for a place, Higuain and Eden Hazard appearing to be the two main options in attack. Mateo Kovacic could be preferred to Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the middle of the field, because of his defensive qualities and his experience in big matches.

Sarri's team selections were largely predictable, as they lined up on a 4-3-3, with N Golo Kante, Cesar Azpilicueta and Kepa Arrizabalaga having started every league match. Alonso, Jorginho and Rudiger started all their league games.

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Benjamin Mendy is about to make a comeback for Man City, but it's unlikely he's immersed in such an important match without having developed his form against lesser opposition.

Vincent Kompany certainly doubts as he strives to overcome a series of setbacks throughout his career. Claudio Bravo spent the whole season with an Achilles problem.

The match at City of Manchester Stadium will start at 16:00 GMT (11:00 ET) on Sunday and will be broadcast on SkySports in the UK. In the United States, the game is available on NBC Sports.

• Man City have lost three of their last five Premier League matches against Chelsea (W2), scoring only four goals and never more than once in this round.

• Chelsea are without a win in their last six Premier League away games against "the big six" opponents (D2 L4), losing the last four games in a row.

• Manchester City have scored at least twice in each of their last 14 home games in the Premier League, winning 13 of those (L1). If they score twice here, they will set a new competition record for having scored more than once in consecutive home games.

• Chelsea are undefeated in seven league games against defending Premier League champions (W4 D3), winning all three of their last three games in a row. Only two teams have already won four consecutive games against defending champions Liverpool (4 between 2000 and 2002) and Manchester City (6 between 2011 and 2016).

• Pep Guardiola, the boss of Man City, has lost more league games against Chelsea than any other team in his managerial career (3).