Chelsea vs Manchester City LIVE: Premier League team news and line-ups as Cole Palmer and Jeremy Doku start

Manchester City’s tally of 27 points is their highest after 11 league matches since they had 29 at this stage in 2018-19. They have lost three of their last six away games in all competitions, but are on a 23-match winning streak at home.

Over the past few months, as Chelsea’s hierarchy started to settle into the club, they became fixated on a specific idea relevant to this weekend’s game. They began to study what makes 100-point seasons and record-breaking sides. That might seem some way off, to an almost comic degree, but you’ve got to have goals.

Manchester City are the obvious case study, since they are the only club to manage a centurion season and they still break records. As regards what made that possible, the usual explanation might be “one of the most lavishly expensive football projects in history” but Chelsea’s owners also have huge resources and are clearly willing to spend them. Their outlay on transfer fees so far, if not quite wages, has recalled the dizzy days of Roman Abramovich between 2003 and 2006 and the first few years of the Abu Dhabi ownership at City.

And Chelsea might have a more specific reason to look at the European champions for inspiration.

Chelsea have won three of their last five league matches, following a run of just two victories in 18 attempts. They are looking to avoid registering nine home league defeats in a calendar year for the first time since 1986.

Manchester City can become the first club to win four consecutive top-flight away fixtures against Chelsea since Leeds United won six in a row at Stamford Bridge from 1973 to 1991.

Chelsea are looking to avoid five consecutive league defeats against a specific opponent since a run of seven at the hands of Blackburn between 1993 and 1996.

Manchester City have won 1-0 in each of the last four Premier League meetings.

The only opponents Chelsea have failed to score against in more than four successive top-flight fixtures are Newcastle United: six games from 1913 to 1919.

Mauricio Pochettino makes just one change to the Chelsea team that defeated Tottenham last time out. Levi Colwill is replaced at left-back by Marc Cucurella.

Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, makes a fews changes to his Manchester City team that hammered Bournemouth in the league last time out.

John Stones and Nathan Ake drop out of the back line with Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias slotting back in. Mateo Kovacic is also replaced with Phil Foden further up the pitch.

Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Disasi, Thiago Silva, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling; Jackson

Man City XI: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Bernardo, Foden, Doku, Alvarez, Haaland

Since then it is City who have dominated the competition, taking the crown in five of the past six campaigns.

Chelsea did edge out City in the 2021 Champions League final but there has been plenty of turbulence at the London club since, and they currently sit 10th in the table.

Nicolas Jackson scored the first hat-trick of his career against Tottenham on Monday evening when leading the line for Chelsea, easing a bit a pressure on the striker and quieting down the outside noise that he is not good enough to be the Blues’ main attacker.

“It’s always a process and it [the hat-trick against Tottenham] has not changed my view,” explained Mauricio Pochettino about Jackson’s role in the team.

“Nico is still young and needs to be more mature and improve. He scored three goals, ok, he should’ve scored six. That is the idea: it’s never enough.

“The important thing is to stay calm and relaxed. Nico is a talented player, who will improve in time and score goals. Nights like Monday will help him be less nervous and approach the game in a different way.”