Chelsea and Manchester City meet in the English Premier League on Saturday. The second-placed “Blues” urgently need three points in order not to lose sight of leaders City. Coach Josep Guardiola’s team is unstoppable at the moment. She recently won her eleventh league in a row with a 2-1 win over Arsenal on New Year’s Day.
The reigning champions are ten points ahead of Chelsea in the English top flight and eleven ahead of Liverpool, who have a game to go from the leaders. Although the reigning Champions League winners are unbeaten in six games, they have drawn four times. “They are relentless,” said coach Thomas Tuchel about the “Citizens” after the recent 2-2 win against Liverpool. “They know what it takes to keep hitting those highs of the season.”
Two teams who have improved over the past few months meet on Sunday in the north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs are two points behind Arsenal but have played two games fewer than their city rivals. Under their new coach Antonio Conte, they are unbeaten in the Premier League. Conte set a club record in this competition with his first eight games unbeaten.
However, poor performances in both League Cup semi-finals against Chelsea showed Conte how much work he still had to do. Arsenal find themselves in a similar situation, with the Gunners’ recent uptick having been thwarted by a league defeat by Man City and a 1-0 FA Cup third-round defeat by second-tier Nottingham Forest.
Hasenhüttl confident against Wolverhampton
Southampton’s Austrian head coach Ralph Hasenhüttl will face fellow coach Bruno Lage on Saturday. In the duel with Wolverhampton Wanderers, the “Saints” can remain unbeaten in all competitions for the sixth time in a row. “Winning games is always super difficult. But I’m super happy with my team at the moment. The way we develop our game is amazing to watch. And it’s also good for the new owner that we have a team that works really well,” said Hasenhüttl after Southampton’s 4-1 league win over Brentford on Tuesday.
