Manchester City can consolidate their grip on the fourth Champions League spot with a victory away at Chelsea on Saturday evening.
The Citzens may be enduring a troubled domestic campaign, where they head into the weekend’s fixtures a whopping 15 points behind unlikely league leaders Leicester City, but they have broken new ground in the Champions League.
A 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain at the Etihad Stadium confirmed their progression to the semi-finals for the first time following a 2-2 draw in the first leg in the French capital.
While the Sky Blues will surely have one eye on their upcoming semi against Real Madrid, they will be keen to see off Chelsea on Saturday, particularly if Manchester United move one point behind their neighbours with a win over Aston Villa earlier in the day.
Man City Predicted XI v Chelsea
Expect the Citizens to be without skipper Vincent Kompany, meaning that Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi will likely continue their partnership in the heart of the defence, flanked by Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksandar Kolarov, with Joe Hart between the sticks.
Yaya Toure made a brief cameo against PSG as he returns to fitness, and may well return to the starting XI alongside Fernandinho.
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Aguero will likely lead the line, supported by the resurgent Samir Nasri—ineligible against PSG—and Jesus Navas.
De Bruyne shone against PSG in the quarter-final second leg—making the decisive contribution—and will be delighted to remind his former club of what they lost when they cashed in on the precocious playmaker.