Manchester City – Chelsea: Second String Elevens Sustain The Present Momentum (2-0)

Second string or not, Manchester City would have been the club Chelsea wished to avoid most. Indeed, they bowed out of the cup at the final whistle, but their showing offered hopeful signals.
Tactical analysis and match report by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere.

The honeymoon period has come to an end in West London. Graham Potter's lions could not tame the seagull flock he set free on the south coast, then served up a meek showing in a 1-0 defeat to league leaders Arsenal on the weekend. Slipping to seventh spot in the standings due to a four match winless streak, they have swiftly drawn criticism under a manager that must earn his place among the elite.

The schedule has not eased up. Manchester City, chasing their fifth Carabao Cup title in the last six seasons, are on the coattails of Chelsea's latest vanquishers. Erling Haaland again made the difference, snatching all three points at the death from the penalty spot against Fulham in the last outing. He was on the bench, but Pep Guardiola still deployed a starting eleven that was the envy of their competition.

He picked all but one of the eleven players that began the second half against Sevilla last week. Rico Lewis was keen to back up his display from that game, in which he netted his first goal for City, while Sergio Gómez got the nod on . . .