The Premier League is a changing landscape. Having fallen away from the pinnacle of European football in recent years, it is awakening with the force of galactic investment and several of the world’s best managers. Recovering to perhaps even greater than its former glories, the top of the English game is now an altogether more cultured environment: actually a place of tactical nuances and intelligent footballers, these days.
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This weekend, we will be fortunate enough to see two of the very best go head to head at the Etihad Stadium. The endlessly flexible Pep Guardiola hosts the system-first Antonio Conte with two points separating Manchester City and Chelsea at the top of the table. It’s the sort of fixture that can easily slumber into a low-scoring game, without the sort of excitement that it is so often billed.
Even if this is not a repeat of Swansea and Crystal Palace’s encounter last weekend, this match will be intriguing. A battle of intensity from both sides, with each manager demanding his side work harder out of possession than they do with the ball. We may expect Manchester City to dominate possession, but we do not expect a one-sided match. Guardiola tends to adapt his shape to the opposition often, enabling his side to dominate the ball. How will he attack Chelsea’s back three? Will he play an extra central midfielder to swamp N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic?
The intricacies of this match will be as fascinating as the dramatic moments. Tactically it will be a duel between two of the best, with fully-rested squads who have had a sufficient period of time to understand the ways of their respective managers. The scene is perfectly set, it will be a game of unrivalled intensity this season – or so you'd like to think. Both will aim to build through their defence, both will quickly stamp on any poor passes and touches from the opposition's central defenders; there are indicators this could even become a stalemate.
Stalemate is not a word often associated with Guardiola, nor does anyone look capable of stopping the force of nature that this Chelsea team currently represents. For all the quality that will be on show on Saturday, this will be a match of energy both on and off the pitch. We can be sure that Sky will spend half the time showing us the reactions of the managers, who live through their team, bouncing around on the touchline like a child who's just drunk two litres of Coke.
Intensity is an overused word, but it is most fitting for these two characters. Often becalmed in interviews, we can be sure that intensity will be demanded from Guardiola and Conte before this game. It really does have mouth-watering potential, English football has a lot to thank Conte and Guardiola for already.
For all the darkness around world football at the moment, this fixture makes you remember why we all love the sport. Why we pay a fortune to tune in, why we get so impassioned for some blokes kicking a ball around – its not all bad in the Premier League. This game, thanks to the two managers, will be a breath of fresh air to any football lover.