There is a lot riding on tonight’s match between Manchester City and Chelsea for both clubs. With their good home record, Manchester City are the favourites to win the game. Betfair are offering odds of 1.94 for Manchester City, 4.5 for Chelsea and 3.7 for the draw. Football betting tips are available for other matches.
There is a lot riding on tonight’s match between Manchester City and Chelsea for both clubs. With their good home record, Manchester City are the favourites to win the game. Betfair are offering odds of 1.94 for Manchester City, 4.5 for Chelsea and 3.7 for the draw. Football betting tips are available for other matches.
City currently trail Manchester United by four points at the top of the table but if they can win tonight and then beat Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium (where their record is poor), they will be two points ahead of United by the time the champions play Fulham at Old Trafford on Monday.
Chelsea have lost their last four away games in the league and they need to secure Champions League qualification. Currently in fifth place, they need to displace either Spurs or Arsenal and make sure they stay ahead of Newcastle United, currently two points behind.
Both teams have injury worries in defence. John Terry picked up a calf injury in the match against Napoli last week and Manchester City are likely to be without their two first choice central defenders, Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott.
Quite apart from questions of prestige, there is a much broader agenda to this game. Chelsea and Manchester City are the two clubs most under threat from Uefa’s financial fair play rules and the risk of exclusion from European competitions which would be a devastating blow in both financial and morale terms.
Both clubs have been bankrolled by benefactors and have had difficulty in coming anywhere near balancing their books. For Manchester City a lot depends on whether their sponsorship by Etihad is deemed to be too generous. For Chelsea, continuing participation in the Champions League is essential if they are to get their finances under control.
It has always seemed likely that any excluded club would challenge the decision in court. However, one possible line of legal attack has been closed off by a joint statement just issued by Commission Vice President Joaquin Almunia and Uefa President Michael Platini.
In it they declare that the financial fair play rules are in line with the EU’s stringent state aid policy. Almunia makes clear his backing for the rules by stating, ‘Both EU state aid rules and UEFA objectives help introduce discipline and rationality in football club finances.’ No one had ever really thought of EU state aid rules having an impact on football finances in the past, but this high level backing by the EU is an important boost for Uefa.