Chelsea vs Man City LIVE: Team news as Pep Guardiola’s side look to capitalise on Arsenal loss in Premier League title race

Before today’s late kick-off at Stamford Bridge, Roberto De Zerbi will begin his bid to save relegation-threatened Tottenham as they face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, with kick-off (2pm BST) just moments away.

He will hope to justify the board’s decision to hand him a lucrative five-year contract swiftly but face tough opposition in Sunderland, who come into the clash off the high of a Tyne-Wear derby win at St James’s Park.

If you’re after all the latest build-up for Chelsea vs Manchester City, you’re already in the right place. But if you’d like to stay abreast with all the happenings in De Zerbi’s Tottenham bow, you can follow all the action in our live blog below:

Liam Rosenior is tasked with thwarting a Manchester City side who smell blood in the title race today – and considering Chelsea’s recent form, you don’t fancy their chances.

Chelsea may be coming into this game off the back of a 7-0 FA Cup thrashing of Port Vale to seal a trip to Wembley for the semi-finals, in turn ending the League One strugglers’ fairytale run.

But before that, things had been dire. Four losses on the bounce, three of which by three goals, has left Chelsea clawing for air in the race for Champions League places.

Their main rivals for that fifth spot looks to be Liverpool, who have been equally patchy. But after the Reds’ impressive 2-0 win over Fulham yesterday, Chelsea are now four points off the top-five.

Here’s our Chief Football Writer Miguel Delaney’s verdict from yesterday’s catastrophic home defeat for Arsenal at the hands of Bournemouth, from the Emirates Stadium:

Mikel Arteta told supporters to bring their dinner – but was left apologising to them because Arsenal ended up leaving far too much on the table.

There is now a considerable possibility that Manchester City will be back on top in 11 days’ time. That’s why the boos that followed this 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth were about more than the dismally tepid performance, of which Arteta himself said the team did some “very basic things extremely bad”.

Fans can now see failure opening up in front of them. In this match alone, they could see a team that couldn’t respond to what Andoni Iraola did, that didn’t have the urgency or gumption you would expect from prospective champions.

This afternoon’s clash at Stamford Bridge feels like it could prove seismic in the title race after Arsenal’s shock defeat to Bournemouth yesterday.

With six games to go, the Gunners remain nine points clear. But having been rocked by cup failures on two fronts – one at the hands of Manchester City – they are going through a real rough patch and are at risk of seeing their woes completely snowball.

Nine points could today be diminished to six if City win. Pep Guardiola’s side then face Arsenal at the Etihad next week; the gap could then drop to three. And City have a game in hand, against Crystal Palace – win that and they’re level on points.

Mikel Arteta will be getting shaky.

Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Tosin, Cucurella; Lavia, Caicedo; Neto, Palmer, Garnacho; Pedro

Man City XI: Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Rodri, Silva; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez has been ruled out of selection for this game after his controversial comments regarding a move away from the club. Reece James, Benoit Badiashile and Filip Jorgensen could all make a return, though Jamie Gittens, Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill are all out until late next month.

For City, both John Stones and Ruben Dias will face late fitness tests, while Josko Gvardiol remains sidelined.

The match is due to kick off at 4.30pm BST on Sunday 12 April at Stamford Bridge in London.

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage on both channels from 4pm BST. A live stream will also be available via Sky Go or NOW.

Arsenal have now failed to steady the ship after in the league, losing 2-1 to the Cherries in just their second home defeat of the season, and there is newfound belief that City’s nine-point deficit on the league leaders could quickly be chipped away at, with next weekend’s title clash likely to prove pivotal.

But if Pep Guardiola’s side are going to complete a remarkable turnaround at the top, they need to avoid any more slip-ups and will hope to make no mistake against Liam Rosenior’s struggling Chelsea side, who before last weekend’s FA Cup thrashing of Port Vale had lost four on the bounce.

Hello there and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Manchester City’s trip to Chelsea, a match which looks set to have huge ramifications on the Premier League title race.

Stay tuned for all the build-up, team news and match action!