Chelsea, who were beaten 3-1 by Arsenal at the Emirates stadium on Boxing Day earlier this season, came from behind to beat City at Etihad stadium on Saturday evening after seeing off Spanish champions Real Madrid in the second-leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final last week.
Superb individual goals from Hakim Ziyech and Marcos Alonso in second-half of the game seal another excellent victory under head coach Thomas Tuchel after Raheem Sterling put City ahead before the half-time.
Victory over City moved Chelsea up to third in the Premier League table, before Leicester City replace them in the position after secured 2-1 victory over Manchester United last night.
Win London derby against Arsenal this evening, will see Blues back into the third place on league standings and consolidate their position among the big boys.
And ahead of mouthwatering encounter with Arsenal, who sitting ninth position on league standings, Thomas Tuchel & co. will without two of their senior players, as both continue to battle with injuries problem.
Mateo Kovacic still not fit enough to return from a hamstring injury, while Danish defender Andreas Christensen has picked up his own hamstring issue at Etihad stadium last week.
Moving on to predicted starting lineup, Thomas Tuchel is unlikely to make a lot of changes to the side that performed well last time out. So we can expect minimum changes to the team that defeated City at Etihad stadium last week.
Edouard Mendy should continuing in the goal after a brilliant display in recent weeks for Chelsea. In the absence of Christensen, Kurt Zouma is set to return to the starting lineup, with Thiago Silva likely to be preserved for the FA Cup final this weekend.
Zouma will take his place at the heart of Chelsea’s three-man central defensive unit, with Antonio Rudiger and club skipper Cesar Azipilicueta starting alongside him.
As for the two wing-back positions, Reece James, who impressed at weekend against City should continuing at right wing-back while Marcos Alonso, scored the match-winner against City should start ahead of Ben Chilwell on the opposite side.
Up ahead in midfield, Jorginho ought to be back in the starting lineup after being given a breather by Thomas Tuchel last time out against City.
Billy Gilmour should come in for N’Golo Kante, who is another player who needs to be preserved for the cup final. As a result, Gilmour ought to get another chance to impress in middle of park against visitor Mikel Arteta’s side.
Finally, in attack, wholesale changes are expected, with Callum nu Hudson-Odoi, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz starting in place of Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner, who is due a rest.
