Chelsea v Man City preview - Selection issues abound but clubs still looking to make a statement
Posted Saturday, August 11, 2012 by skysports.com
Eden Hazard: Expected to start for Chelsea against the Premier League champions
Team news
A number of players in both squads were involved at Euro 2012 and several more were on Olympic duty earlier this month, with Chelsea's Oscar still contesting the medals with Brazil.
As a result, Mancini and Di Matteo have players at various stages of progression in their pre-season training programme and that will have a large bearing on the line-ups we see in Birmingham.
For the league champions, Gareth Barry is injured while David Silva and Mario Balotelli could be eased back after contesting the Euro 2012 final last month.
Micah Richards will not start after being involved for Great Britain at the Olympics so Pablo Zabaleta is set to continue where he left off as the first-choice right-back.
Chelsea are expected to name a strong defence given that John Terry and Ashley Cole have been rested by Roy Hodgson for the midweek friendly against Italy, with the main decision being a straight choice between David Luiz and Gary Cahill.
Hazard is likely to start on the left but former Werder Bremen man Marin looks set to miss out through injury.
Possible starting XIs
Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole; Mikel; Ramires, Lampard, Meireles, Hazard; Torres.
Man City: Hart; Zabaleta, K Toure, Lescott, Kolarov; Y Toure, De Jong; A Johnson, Tevez, Nasri; Aguero.
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