Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea: cautious team selection from Mourinho, but positive approach

Betting Statistics | Article posted on February 5th, 2025

The starting line-ups

Chelsea kept a clean sheet and created a number of chances in a highly impressive away performance.
Manuel Pellegrini was without Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and Fernandinho. He kept a 4-4-2 with Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo upfront, and brought Martin Demichelis into the midfield.
Jose Mourinho left out Oscar and played a cautious midfield featuring both David Luiz and Nemanja Matic.
Chelsea were excellent here, working extremely hard without the ball, counter-attacking effectively and being more adventurous than expected.
City formation
The formation decisions of both managers were crucial in the pattern of the game. Manuel Pellegrini stuck to the 4-4-2 system he's played for the majority of the campaign, with two out-and-out strikers. This was a slightly surprising decision considering the nature of the game, and Pellegrini's injury absences.
No-one would have batted an eyelid had Pellegrini played this system with a fit Sergio Aguero upfront, but without the Argentine the selection of Dzeko and Negredo together was questionable. They've combined well when starting upfront as a duo previously, particularly in the recent Capital One Cup thrashing of West Ham, but this match was a different situation entirely.
City's problem wasn't the standard 4-4-2 issue – being outnumbered and therefore overrun in midfield – but more about the relative lack of attacking options when the midfielders had the ball. Dzeko and Negredo were rarely guilty of making the exact same run, but didn't provide enough variety to really stretch the Chelsea defence.
In hindsight, Pellegrini might regret not playing James Milner on the left, moving Silva into the number ten position, and playing only one striker, as he did in the 2-1 win over Liverpool. The 4-4-2 is much flatter without both Fernandinho and Aguero, and seemed more predictable.
Chelsea formation
On paper, Mourinho's side looked like the defensive-minded 4-3-3 that helped grind out a 0-0 at the Emirates, with Oscar omitted and another holding midfielder in the side. Instead, it was more of a 4-2-3-1, albeit with Ramires playing a very narrow right-sided position (similar to how he's played with both Benfica and Brazil previously, and probably his best role) and Willian central.
Mourinho might have been planning this all along, but it's also possible he switched to a 4-2-3-1 having realised City were using Demichelis in midfield. It would have been a waste not to put a dangerous attacking player close to him, testing his positioning and tackling skills – and, in the event, the Argentine looked uncomfortable at various points, although was probably better than when played at centre-back.
Average positions – City left and Chelsea right (from whoscored)

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Nullifying Silva
The most remarkable thing about Chelsea's performance is that they kept a clean sheet, the first at the Etihad for a visiting side for over three

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