As Manchester City and Chelsea both travel soon to Porto, blue is the color of choice for this Champions League. With the two finalists fighting for the grandest trophy, here are some Manchester City vs Chelsea Champions League final predictions.
Pep Guardiola’s side proceeded to the final after knocking out Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid were no match for Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, who are now finalists after beating Los Blancos.
A rowdy 16,500-strong audience will fill the Estadio do Dragao on Saturday to watch City and Chelsea.
While the former attempt to win the competition for the first time, the latter hope to repeat their 2012 success.
Team news
Manchester City:
- With Ilkay Gundogan also fit now, Manchester City have a clean bill of health for Saturday’s Champions League final.
- Though Sergio Aguero scored twice from the bench last weekend, his brace was his last play for City. Pep Guardiola will mostly not include the recognized striker in the final.
- Fernandinho, who has been in excellent form recently, could be a surprise starting for City on Saturday.
- Whereas, Joao Cancelp, who has been a revelation this season, may be left out again in a Champions League fixture.
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Zinchenko; Fernandinho, Gundogan, Silva; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden
Chelsea:
- Thomas Tuchel is optimistic that Edouard Mendy and N’Golo Kante, both will be able to play in Saturday’s final.
- In attack, Mason Mount and Timo Werner will start while Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, or Hakim Ziyech will complete them.
- On Saturday, Cesar Azpilicueta may play as a third centre-back or as a right wing-back, but will play for sure.
Chelsea possible starting lineup: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger; James, Kovacic, Kante, Chilwell; Mount, Werner; Havertz
Manchester City vs Chelsea Champions League Final Predictions
- Manchester City is attempting to complete a European trifecta after already winning the League Cup and Premier League this season. However, this is their first appearance at this level of competition.
- Meanwhile, Chelsea’s season is at risk of coming to an end. They lost the FA Cup final to Leicester City and barely finished fourth in the Premier League last weekend. So, they are not in the kind of form that may overcome City.
- But, on the other hand, Chelsea has defeated City at least twice in recent weeks. This adds another degree of drama ahead of Saturday’s final. However, it’s difficult to see anything other than a City victory here.
So, eventually, Guardiola and Tuchel will know better than anybody that form is irrelevant in the Champions League final.
So, an out-of-form Chelsea and their Stamford Bridge supporters can hope to celebrate a continental title by tomorrow night.
Meanwhile, City have a history of failing to deliver when it means most on the European stage. And Tuchel’s team will not go down without a fight.
But we believe Guardiola will be able to end his agonizing wait for European triumph with the Manchester giants.
