3-0.
Since arriving at Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel has made life difficult for Pep Guardiola.
Winner in the Premier League, Carabao Cup, and especially in the Champions League final, the disciple has surpassed the master in recent weeks and aspires to continue on this path.
However, Pep Guardiola retains a better record against his new best enemy, but remains clear about the task that falls on this Saturday.
Respectively 1st and 5th in the Premier League, this opposition between the two big favorites at the crown will give a first indicator on the chances of victory of the two displacements.
To discover
Premier League fixtures and results
Premier League standings
Chelsea, a compressor wheeler
Arrived during the season, replacing Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel transformed the Blues.
Winner of the Champions League, the German technician put his paw on the London collective and instilled a real playing identity. A game system based on a 3-4-3, where the two playmakers Havertz and Mount are at the controls.
A formidable team of offensive transitions, the Blues impose an incessant rhythm on their opponents.
To improve offensive efficiency, Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel have had a little fun by snatching the services of Romelu Lukaku for an amount estimated at 115 million euros.
Under the leadership of Timo Werner, the Londoners lacked realism, and the arrival of the Belgian allows the Blues to move to the next level.
Collectively, Tuchel is part of a policy of continuity.
Same principles, same players, and a desire to suffocate their opponents.
In this vein, Chelsea have started the season with a bang and caracole in place of the standings, with Liverpool.
Collective and individual feats
To get there, the Blues easily defeated their rivals from London, a meeting marked by the immediate impact of Romelu Lukaku in his new colors. Author of a high-level performance, the former Inter striker has found the net, and brings an ordeal to the central hinge of the Gunners. Last Sunday, it was the Spurs who suffered the thunderbolt of the Blues steamroller, losing 0-3 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A match where Thomas Tuchel displayed all his tactical science. Embarrassed in the first half by a high pressing from Spurs, Tuchel took out Mason Mount to bring in N'Golo Kanté. A passage in 3-5-2 with a midfield more in the midfield which literally disrupted the pressing of Tottenham. Results ? N'Golo Kanté's goal, and a 0-3 victory full of control.
A feat of the coach coupled with that of Thiago Silva, man of the match and author of the opening scoring.
At 37, the Brazilian defender is the guarantor of an impregnable fortress, and continues to hold out against the best strikers in the world.
A confrontation which brings together the two best defenses in the Premier League with 1 goal conceded in 5 matches and which has the gift of stimulating Thomas Tuchel, excited at the idea of facing Pep Guardiola.
"
I am so happy to have the opportunity to play against Pep with my teams, to be in contact with him and to listen to him, to watch his teams play (...), I have the impression that every time that I watch his teams I have the opportunity to learn something about football,
”he confided on the club's official website.
Manchester City, on AC
For Pep Guardiola, this meeting is above all driven by a desire for revenge.
Before Tuchel's arrival at Chelsea, the Catalan was undefeated in 5 oppositions against Thomas Tuchel.
Since then, the balance of power has quickly balanced and the German is only a success to come back to the double winner of the Champions League.
If this were the case, Tuchel would join Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jürgen Kloop in the very closed circle of coaches who have an equal or better record against Pep after more than 4 meetings.
Statistics which should not disturb Guardiola, but the latter will want to put an end to the series of 3 consecutive defeats against his London counterpart.
He will also be keen to produce a fully successful service.
Like the previous year, the Cityzens are showing quite irregular at the start of the season.
Beyond the surprise defeat at Tottenham for the opening of the championship, it is especially the last match against Southampton that leaves one wondering.
At the Etihad Stadium, in a partially stocked stadium, the Skyblues have never managed to stand out against the 15th in the championship.
Worse yet, Guardiola's proteges only scored one strike in 90 minutes, a perfect illustration of a breaking-in team that has not yet found its cruising speed.
Without a real center-forward, Manchester City broke the piggy bank to bring in Jack Grealish from Aston Villa during the summer transfer window. To bend the Villans, City paid nearly 116 million euros, which caused a lot of ink to flow. The first steps of the new number 10 are correct but do not seem to be up to the investment. Symbol of an offensive animation to be perfected, Raheem Sterling still does not manage to remake a place in the 11 and persistent rumors send him to Barça this winter. For this perilous trip to Stamford Brigde, Pep Guardiola will have to deal with an amputated group of several players. Mendy, Zinchenko, Laporte and Stones and even Gundogan should be missed. Despite everything, the former Bayern Munich coach records Kevin De Bruyne's return to form,the missing link in the offensive animation of the Cityzens.
Little by little, Kevin will return to his best level.
He's incredibly professional, he loves to play and we need him so badly.
Pep guardiola
New rivalry in vogue in England, this Chelsea-City, scented with a duel Tuchel-Guardiola promises to deliver a great spectacle.
Defeated at Tottenham, the Cityzens will have to make a result to mark the spirits and not to be left behind by the leading pack.
In the wake of their last season, Chelsea will want to confirm their ambitions as favorite for the title, in order to succeed Manchester City.
