Manchester City vs Chelsea Predictions & Picks for Saturday's Club Friendly Match

Two of the biggest clubs in Europe collide in all-Premier League tie in Ohio this Saturday as Manchester City and Chelsea both continue their preparations for the upcoming season. They’ve had mixed times in America this summer and will be hoping to get the win against familiar opposition. 

Make sure you read our free betting picks to see our Manchester City vs. Chelsea predictions and best bet for August 3.

Manchester City vs Chelsea picks and predictions

My best bet:
Christopher Nkunku to score (+280 at Betano)

My analysis

Manchester City and Chelsea know each other very well, and in many ways this is a dress rehearsal for the upcoming season with these two clubs set to meet on the opening weekend of the Premier League season. That said, it’s clear that it’s not a totally fair comparison with both teams missing key players here and treating this very much as a warm-up game for both Pep Guardiola and Enzo Maresca to assess their teams. 

This is the fourth and final game of Man City’s U.S. tour, with the current Premier League champions returning to the UK after this to prepare for the Community Shield against Manchester United. It’s been a frustrating preseason for City who have lost all three games so far, 4-3 to Celtic, 3-2 to Milan, then 4-1 on penalties to Barcelona, having finished 2-2 in regular time. 

The tie against Barcelona was an improvement on the first two performances but the main problem has been the lack of first-team players involved with Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Rodri all missing the tour following the Euros and with Julian Alvarez in Paris at the Olympic Games. That’s left a huge hole in their team with Ederson, Rico Lewis, Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish, and Erling Haaland the only regulars to have taken part.

Chelsea haven’t been exempt from missing players with the likes of Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella still away following the Euros. But they’ve slowly added players back through this preseason campaign in the U.S., with Conor Gallagher and Enzo Fernandez now back with the team. Their performances haven’t been exceptional with just one win, a 3-0 victory over Club America, and a draw versus League One team Wrexham and a 4-1 hammering from Celtic, but there has been one player who has thrilled fans in the stadium.

That man is Christopher Nkunku, and the French star has bagged a goal in each of his clubs three games so far. He’s priced at +280 to do so again here, which feels like huge value. We’ve seen City and their makeshift defense concede nine goals in just three games, giving us hope that Chelsea will be able to get into dangerous positions here. Not only that, but two of Nkunku’s three goals have been penalties, meaning that should Chelsea get a penalty, it’s likely to be the former Leipzig player who takes it. 

Manchester City vs Chelsea same-game parlay (SGP)

Christopher Nkunku to score

Erling Haaland to score

Over 2.5

+680 at Betano

In addition to our best bet for the game, we’re also going to back Haaland to score. He’s done so in two of three preseason games for City so far this summer and his incredible goalscoring record at City needs to also be taken into account. He’s scored 18 Champions League goals in two years at the club, as well as 63 in the Premier League.

To wrap up our same-game parlay, we’re going to wager on the game finishing with Over 2.5 goals. We’ve seen all of City’s games hit that mark with a total of 16 goals in three games, and it’s landed in each of Chelsea’s games with a total of 12 goals in three matches.

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Manchester City vs Chelsea odds

Manchester City		Chelsea
+112	Moneyline	+220
+270	Draw	+270
Over 2.5 (-192)	Total	Under 2.5 (+155)

Odds courtesy of Betano.

Manchester City vs Chelsea game info

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