Manchester City are looking to make it three wins from three since the Premier League restart, but face a difficult test at Chelsea tonight.
City have easily dispatched Arsenal and Burnley in the past week, but now come up against fourth-placed Chelsea, who are themselves looking to hold on to their grip on the final Champions League place.
Pep Guardiola hinted he may rotate players to prioritise Sunday's FA Cup quarter final at Newcastle, but that could still see the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy and Kevin de Bruyne return to the starting XI. One player who will definitely be out is Sergio Aguero, who underwent knee surgery yesterday following a challenge in the Burnley win.
City's fortunes tonight will be closely followed by Liverpool, who know anything but a win for Guardiola's men will finally secure the Premier League title for the league leaders. If City prevent that tonight, then Liverpool will get another opportunity to seal the title against City at the Etihad next week.
Any hopes that Manchester City would ease up after lockdown with little tangible left to fight for have well and truly been blown away over the first two matches back after the three-and-a-half-month stoppage.
Instead, Pep Guardiola's side look much more like the team that accumulated 198 points over the previous two seasons than the one that has lost seven league games this term.
City have plundered eight goals without reply in their two outings so far, outclassing Arsenal last weekend before thumping Burnley 5-0 on Monday night despite making eight changes to their starting XI.
The five-sub rule and quick turnaround in fixtures appears to lend itself well to the phenomenal strength in depth at Guardiola's disposal, and they will be kicking themselves that they have not put themselves in a position to challenge for the title over the closing stages of the campaign.
How ever impressive they have been in the last two games, after 30 matches of the season they are still a whopping 20 points adrift of champions-elect Liverpool, with that gap growing to 23 courtesy of Liverpool's big win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.
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