Merson: Palmer the key for Chelsea against Man City

Paul Merson says Cole Palmer will be key if Chelsea are to beat Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, live on Sky Sports on Saturday.

Contents

‘Chelsea and Palmer will cause Man City problems’Champions League – what we know so far ‘Word-class players coming to the end’‘City’s energy has gone’‘City have lost their intensity’Merse on City’s January transfer business…Carra: Man City ‘bullied’ by PSG ‘A miracle if City don’t qualify’

Fourth-placed Chelsea face Manchester City, who are fifth, live on Saturday Night Football at the Etihad Stadium, looking to open up a five-point gap on the champions in the race to qualify for the Champions League.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Paul Merson believes there is a lot of work to do at Man City for them to get back to their best and that Guardiola’s side face a huge battle to finish in the top four of the Premier League…

‘Chelsea and Palmer will cause Man City problems’

I don’t see Man City getting back into the Premier League title race.

They are in a massive battle to get into the top four, in my opinion. That’s it for them this season.

They have Chelsea and Arsenal coming up with that big game against Club Brugge in between.

I just don’t see how they get back in the mix with Liverpool so far ahead.

I can see Chelsea beating them this weekend.

The energy Chelsea have and Cole Palmer getting into those pockets of space. I see Enzo Maresca’s team causing City massive problems.

The PSG game would have helped Chelsea. They will watch and see this is not the Man City of old.

They can’t sustain any intensity in their game for more than five or 10 minutes. Palmer holds the key for Chelsea. I don’t see how Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic live with him.

I’d be shocked if Chelsea lost this game.

‘Word-class players coming to the end’

I wasn’t buying into this Man City are back.

Brentford should have beaten them. They did score six and eight against Ipswich and Salford respectively, but Leicester missed good chances against them too.

I don’t think they’ve been great, so the PSG result didn’t shock me at all.

Man City are struggling. The legs of the team have gone. When PSG showed high energy, like Brentford did, they went through them like a knife through butter.

It’s a big problem for them. This team is changing and it’s hard because we are talking about world-class players, but some of them are coming to the end.

‘City’s energy has gone’

There’s Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic in that midfield triangle, with Phil Foden and Savinho on the wings. Who is winning the ball back? Who is closing down and getting in and around the opposition?

Watching Man City now, watching them track back, they are not the Man City of old. They are not the team that used to go after the opposition and suffocate them. They used to hunt in packs to go and get the ball back.

These players are not tracking back like they used to. They just aren’t doing it anymore.

They haven’t got that energy and teams with that high-energy style are causing them problems.

There is a lot of work to be done at Man City. They are in a right battle to reach the top four in the Premier League and while I do expect them to beat Club Brugge, there will be challenges in the Champions League too.

‘City have lost their intensity’

Danny Mills on Soccer Special:

“This season, Man City have lost their intensity.

“When Man City used to lose the ball, they’d win it back so quickly. They’d swarm all over you.

“I’m not sure they’ve got the legs in midfield anymore to do that.

“They are starting to lose that intensity in the middle of the park and are not controlling games.

“It’s almost like they’ve got to find a completely different way of playing.

“It’s a really tough season for City. The league has gone. They have a massive game against Chelsea at the weekend and that is about staying in the Champions League places.

“And then another huge clash in the Champions League against Club Brugge, who can go to the Etihad with freedom. they have nothing to lose. That can be a dangerous proposition.”

Merse on City’s January transfer business…

I like Omar Marmoush from Frankfurt. He is a good goalscorer. However, I don’t see how he gets into this Man City team.

He’s a good striker but if he’s going to be asked to play on the left or the right, cutting in and joining up with the play, I don’t see how that works because it’s hard to join with Erling Haaland.

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<p> <span class="ui-media-caption__caption-text" data-role="caption-text">Speaking on the ‘Transfer Talk’ podcast, ESPN’s Mark Ogden feels the ‘jury is still out’ on Manchester City’s new signings, and they could repeat the mistakes Man Utd made in investing in unproven youth players in the past</span><br />

Haaland is an unbelievable goalscorer as well, but he’s not interested in linking up with wingers in a way that Marmoush will want to play.

I find it difficult to see where he fits in.

Matheus Nunes has struggled wherever he has played for Man City.

To ask him to play right-back with the way Man City are being exposed, you are going to be up against it every week.

Letting Kyle Walker go for around £4m, I just don’t get it. It’s nothing, it’s a cup of tea in football.

I’m still a big fan of Walker. I know he’s lost a little bit of his pace but he would still be getting in my team.

Carra: Man City ‘bullied’ by PSG

Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher on CBS:

“It was like two completely different games of football. The first half felt like a testimonial and second half felt like one of the best halves of football we’ve seen in the Champions League group stage.

“As soon as PSG made the substitutions, brought Dembele on especially, it felt like… Thierry mentioned before the game it felt a bit strange the team Luis Enrique had started with.

“It felt like their best team was on at the end, and Manchester City, as we know from the Premier League and at times in this Champions League group stage, they can’t cope when the intensity of a game is too much for them, the physicality.

“They got absolutely bullied in that second half and it was men against boys. They were lucky it was only four in the end. It could have been worse.”

‘A miracle if City don’t qualify’

It would be a miracle if Man City didn’t qualify for the next stage of the Champions League.

This Champions League set-up is made for top teams to get through. Even if they have a bad day at the office they will still get through to the knockout stages via the play-off round.

If you’d have said at the start of the tournament that you are going to play Club Brugge and you have to beat them to get through, you’d think Man City would have more than enough to do it.

Celtic, who have gone through – and well done to them for that – would have taken that scenario at the start of the tournament.

I still think Man City will get through.