The Champions league final is upon us with Premier League clubs Manchester City and Chelsea vying for the prestigious UCL cup. It is first timer Manchester City facing experienced Chelsea in the 2020/2021 Uefa Champions League Final.
Team Information
Pep Guardiola has a full squad for undoubtedly the greatest game in Manchester City history. This is way big than their first EPL triumph that got Martin Tyler screaming Aguero. The Spaniard has the luxury of a fit squad and won’t hesitate to use them to great effect.
Thomas Tuchel is currently sweating over the fitness of Edouard Mendy and N’Golo Kante. Both players are in a race to get fit for the UCL final and is a huge source of concern for the German. They are the only key players in doubt for this crunch fixture that may determine Thomas Tuchel fate.
Match Preview
Manchester City are the favourite on paper to win this important fixture on footballing calendar but matches aren’t played on paper.
Manchester City have been solid in the UCL this season. They have played 12 matches so far conceding just 4 goals and keeping 8 cleansheets in the process. The Duo of Ruben Dias and Stones have turned the Manchester City defense into a rock with little or no penetration. This is where Pep Guardiola will focus on to nullify any threat posed by the Chelsea attackers.
Manchester City goal scoring record in the UCL shows a sort of dominance as they only failed to score atleast 2 goals twice against Olympiacos and Porto. The rest has been a minimum of 2 goals then dominating the game to see out the match. This has been the case in the premier league where they average 2.18 goals per match. The strategy is simple, dominate the game, score couple of goals and relax. This doesn’t mean they can’t bang in goals. The 5 nil drubbing of Everton and 4-3 defeat of Newcastle shows the response of a wounded Lion. Those victories came after their loss to Brighton and Chelsea. This shows that Guardiola’s boys can go all the way to 5 goals if needed.
Chelsea season took a new turn immediately Thomas Tuchel took over. They now dominate proceedings and play the Guardiola’s style. The problem is just lack of goals.Tuchel has overseen 29 Chelsea matches and only scored more than 2 goals once in a 4-1 victory against Crystal Palace. That’s 37 goals in 29 matches which is an average of 1.27 goals per match.
That’s where the problem lies and he will need a bit of luck such as a Aguero panenka miss to see out today’s fixture. After going 25 matches with just 2 losses, the Roman Armies have now lost 3 out of their last 4 matches. Arsenal, Leicester, and Aston Villa have all defeated the blues with Chelsea failing to score in 2 of those matches. They are finding it hard to get the goals and that’s what matters in football.
Prediction
Chelsea have beaten the citizen twice this season and will hope to get a third victory over Manchester City. It looks possible only if Thomas Tuchel works on his attack line. Manchester City is not a team you play and fluff opportunities presented to you. This makes the final to be keenly contested and one that might go to Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola shows the kind of firepower he has in the 5 nil defeat of Everton. Manchester City has scored 17 goals alone this May in just 6 matches which is an average of 2.83 goals per match compared to Chelsea 9 goals in 7 matches an average of 1.28 goals per match.
The match is up for grab by Manchester City. It won’t be easy but it is doable.
Tip
Manchester City will score atleast 2 goals to win this match.
Manchester City 2 – 0 Chelsea
