On the last matchday Chelsea continued their recent run of stellar form by defeating Spurs 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. This match was the club's seventh league win in a row and despite going 1-0 down to a fantastic Christian Eriksen strike, they have conceded only one goal over those seven matches.

This run of good form has seen Chelsea rise up to the top of the table and is widely seen as a result of a change in system. When Antonio Conte first took charge of the side prior to this season, he initially seemed content to keep the same system as his predecessors and play a variant of 4-3-3 with a single holding midfielder (N’Golo Kante) behind two more traditional number 8’s.

When the season started badly and the press started reporting that Conte was under threat of the sack, the Italian took matters in to his own hands. A switch to a 3-4-3 system reaped immediate rewards, in part because the system suits the personnel at the club perfectly, but also because the rest of the league was so unfamiliar to the spacing of the system.

This weekend Conte will take his side and their winning record to the Etihad Stadium to face Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.

City are almost a mirror image of Chelsea in that their form at the start of the season was superb but have suffered a drop off in recent weeks as injuries and squad rotations have taken their toll.

The match will pitch two of the most tactically intriguing coaches in Europe against one another as Pep Guardiola faces off against Antonio Conte. There are, however, two key tactical battles that we should keep an eye on in the match.

Chelsea control the wide areas

A key aspect of the 3-4-3 system is the interplay and positioning of the wide midfielders and the wide forwards. There are opportunities in the system for the players in wide areas to add significant layers and depth to the attacking phase of play.

Eden Hazard on the left and Pedro on the right will have freedom to move inside in to the half spaces whilst Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses will push forward to occupy the City fullbacks. These movements immediately isolate the City defence and create opportunities to overload either the fullback or the centre backs with the additional support of Diego Costa in the lone striker role.

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This will be particularly interesting when we see how Guardiola chooses to use his fullbacks in this match. We have not seen inverted fullbacks from City in recent weeks but this could be the ideal match for City to look to use them again. Out of possession, having the fullbacks sit narrower in the back line would account for the inside movements from Hazard and Pedro and would force Chelsea to try to access the wide areas to build attacks.

In taking away the opportunity for central overloads, City would force the Chelsea wingbacks to make a decision; do they advance in to the final third and leave the City wide attackers in space for a counter attack, or do they look to attack in the wide areas from the central third?

It will be interesting to see how both sides look to use their players in this area of the field.

City have to control the centre

If Chelsea will have to consider how to access the wide areas in the attacking phase, then City will have to gain control of the centre of the field to dictate the tempo of the match.

One of the relative weaknesses of the 3-4-3 system is the narrow two that sit in the centre of the field. With little depth or variation it can be difficult for that midfield two to properly affect the game. That is unless your midfield two happens to be N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic. This duo form an effective double pivot that is supplemented by David Luiz stepping in to the midfield from the defensive line.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola with Ilkay Gundogan

In order to control this weekend's match, City need to dominate this central area. In order to do so we need to see a return to Guardiola playing with one deeper number ‘6’ controlling from the base of midfield and two more traditional number ‘8’s looking to supplement the attack. Earlier in the season we saw Silva and De Bruyne playing a more advanced role from the central strata and causing teams endless problems with their ability to play in tight, advanced central areas.

Now the German Ilkay Gundogan is fit, Guardiola will have the option of pairing him with David Silva in this area. This would allow City to create an advanced platform from which to build their attacks, with both players extremely comfortable playing in tight areas and under pressure.

Even with Luiz stepping up to support the midfield, this advanced platform would allow City to control the match from the final third and keep Chelsea from countering quickly.

Conclusion

We have identified two key areas of the pitch which will be crucial to the attacking game plan for both sides. That these are the crucial tactical battles points to the fact that we should witness an interesting attacking battle between these two sides.

Systems alone cannot win or lose football matches and instead they exist to lend structure to the talents of individual players. If any coach in the Premier League is tactically adept enough to counter the 3-4-3 system it is Pep Guardiola, who is a keen proponent of the shape himself.

The key to the match could well hinge on who scores first and forces the opposition to break from their initial tactical game model.

In any case this match is sure to be compulsive viewing for all football fans, in particular those that are interested in the tactical side of the game.

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