Manchester City and Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. A game that has been pivotal in many a title race before and will be key for years to come. A fixture developing its own back catalogue of classic moments and particular rivalries. This weekend’s fixture could be the most significant in some time. With both teams enjoying the rare luxury of a fully-rested week to prepare for the game, there are no excuses for anything other than a top performance from both sides.
For all the hype that Sky Sports have given other fixtures this season, this is the game they should be putting on a plinth. This is the match that will be the example of how good the Premier League can be and allow us to really judge the standard of the football being played.
[ffc_insert title="The most important chart this Christmas" name="Top at Christmas" image="https://www.footballfancast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2016-11-19T165554Z_122576154_MT1ACI14676732_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-SOU-LIV.jpg?admin" link="https://www.footballfancast.com/premier-league/being-christmas-no-1-is-more-important-than-ever-in-the-premier-league" link_text="Christmas Number One" ]
That is all an expectation, of course, but there are unlikely to be any changes in approach from Pep Guardiola or Antonio Conte for this match, either. Chelsea have won seven straight in the league, while Guardiola’s devout commitment to his philosophy has made him the enormously successful managerial icon he is today.
These two clubs boast wealth, glamour and recent success. It is a fixture that has the makings of a modern classic and, this season particularly, could be a match we look back on as being decisive at the top of the Premier League table. That is not to underestimate the challenges of Liverpool and Arsenal for the title, but the consequences of this match could reverberate far beyond this weekend.
Currently split by a solitary point at the top of the table, defeat will be hurtful for either side; but it would be particularly harmful to Manchester City, considering their difficulties producing flowing football of late and their home advantage this weekend.
Chelsea’s humiliatingly poor 2015/16 season is now cast into the annals of history, just as Manchester City have quickly forgotten their own disappointments of last season. The Premier League has taken a step forward this season because of it: the strongest clubs have shown a renewed ambition, and a renewed desire to fight to remain at the top. A cohort of outstanding managers have joined the league and two of the most inspiring in the world will lead their teams at the Etihad on Saturday lunchtime. Conte and Guardiola will be as much a factor in the outcome as anyone else, but it is their tactical nous that has reinvented the Premier League this season and brought a crushing tidal wave of fresh thought patterns to the league.
Managers have the ability to change the way people think about the game. Players have the ability to inspire people with individual moments. Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off sees some of the world’s most inspiring, gifted players led by two of the game's very best managers. It is a welcome cocktail, compared to the relative monotony of previous Premier League seasons. This match is a Michelin star dinner with a round of flaming Sambucas to finish. It has everything and, without the easy excuses, this game is one to truly become excited about.
The Premier League is the most heavily promoted sports competition in the world, watched on every continent and hyped beyond belief: but this is its pinnacle. This is where two goliaths meet with everything on the line. All the investment from television companies, multi-billionaires and advertisers is for this. This game should be the showcase of what the Premier League is meant to be. So much rides on the results and performances in this fixture, but we can only hope that both sides do themselves justice and gift the world a sporting spectacle.
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