Chelsea vs Man City
EFL Cup final 2019
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Date: Sunday February 24, 2019
Kick-off: 4:30pm GMT
Referee: Jon Moss
Man City will take on Chelsea with the first piece of silverware of the season up for grabs in the EFL Cup final.
A 10-0 aggregate victory over Burton Albion saw City saunter into February’s final. They are back at Wembley in this competition for the third time in four years, having swatted Arsenal away to lift the trophy last year.
Chelsea meanwhile trailed to Tottenham after the first-leg of their all-London affair. But goals from N'Golo Kante and Eden Hazard hauled them back into the contest with David Luiz scoring the decisive spot kick in a thrilling penalty shoot-out.
Maurizio Sarri is in a final in his first season in English football and is out to win his first piece of silverware as a manager.
Man City vs Chelsea predicted line-ups and team news
Chelsea XI: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Kante, Jorginho, Barkley, Willian, Higuain, Hazard
Man City XI: Muric, Walker, Kompany, Laporte, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Sterling, Aguero
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is a doubt due to a hamstring injury. Willy Caballero could deputise against his former club if Kepa, who missed Thursday's Europa League win over Malmo, is not deemed fit.
David Luiz, Eden Hazard, Gonzalo Higuain and Marcos Alonso did not play against Malmo but should come into the side at Wembley, while full-back Davide Zappacosta and winger Pedro could be in the squad following illness.
Provisional squad: Kepa, Caballero, Rudiger, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Barkley, Higuain, Hazard, Pedro, Kovacic, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud, Zappacosta, Willian, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Emerson Palmieri, Ampadu, Hudson-Odoi, Cumming.
Man City have doubts over John Stones, Gabriel Jesus, Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph. Defender Stones (groin) and striker Jesus (hamstring) will both be assessed after missing the midweek Champions League win at Schalke.
Defender Mendy continues to struggle with a knee problem and midfielder Delph has had a number of niggles and suffered illness in recent weeks. Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo (Achilles) is out long term.
Provisional squad: Ederson, Muric, Danilo, Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Kompany, Laporte, Zinchenko, Gundogan, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, D Silva, B Silva, Sterling, Sane, Mahrez, Foden, Aguero, Jesus.
Score prediction | Chelsea 1-2 Man City
Don’t expect to see a repeat of the 6-0 humbling City dished out earlier this month, but do expect their hands on the trophy.
Chelsea will need a vastly improved performance to see off City on the day, and Guardiola's men may use their Champions League scare against Schalke as motivation to start the final in the right way.
- Chelsea 9/2
- Man City 11/20
- Gonzalo Higuain 8/1
- Eden Hazard 8/1
- Olivier Giroud 9/1
- Pedro 11/1
- Sergio Aguero 3/1
- Gabriel Jesus 7/2
- Leroy Sane 11/2
- Raheem Sterling 11/2
Head to Head (H2H)
Chelsea and Man City have only met once before in the League Cup, with City winning that clash 1-0 back in October 1993.
Across all competitions, they have contested 190 fixtures – and Chelsea have the edge, just.
The Blues have tasted victory 75 times to City’s 73, with 42 games ending in a draw.
TV channel and live stream online coverage
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports' Football and Main Event channels, and is available via Now TV with a day pass on offer for £7.99.
Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via SkyGo and the SkyGo app.
You can also follow the match LIVE on Standard Sport.
Tickets
For ticket availability click here to head to Club Wembley's official website.
EFL Cup Final referee
- Referee: Jon Moss
- Assistant Referees: Andy Halliday and Marc Perry
- Fourth Official: Paul Tierney
- Reserve Assistant Referee: Constantine Hatzidakis
- VAR: Martin Atkinson
- AVAR: Steve Child
