Chelsea

Chelsea will face Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in a crucial Premier League match on Thursday night. Chelsea have been struggling of late, losing three ...

City cannot allow any slip-ups, as they did against Everton when the Toffees scored their equalizer through a counter-attack. Kai Havertz is not particularly fast with the ball on his feet, but he will make City defenders job tougher by frequently moving to the flanks. Chelsea can also summon the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Hakim Ziyech from the bench. With players like Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez at his disposal, he can make any side pay through changes made in the second half. Rico Lewis started as the right-back, but effectively shifted inside to play as a holding midfielder. Chelsea will face Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in a crucial Premier League match on Thursday night.

Live updates as Chelsea host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, London, in the Premier League today, Thursday 5 January 2022. Kick-off: 3pm ET.

Benoît Badiashile completed his move from Monaco to Chelsea on Thursday. Kovacic and Pulisic start, as does Ziyech. He then went on to establish himself in Argentina’s eleven and won FIFA’s award for Young Player of the Tournament. The two sides meet again on Sunday in Manchester for an FA Cup tie. Ake deals with the Chelsea threat down the right and City recycle it. Now Koulibaly is down. It falls to the German midfielder 20 yards from goal. It's an excellent first touch by Haaland but you would expect him to hit the target. He shoots over with the outside of his left foot after being played in by Gundogan. Kovacic picks up a yellow for taking down Grealish, who had gone on the break. He has to hit the target. Aubameyang only had 14 touches when he came on.

Benfica manager Roger Schmidt criticizes the way Chelsea have gone about pursuing Enzo Fernandez. Schmidt believes Chelsea deliberately unsettled Fernandez.

He continued: "First of all Enzo is a very good boy and a fantastic football player. He missed the training so that is not acceptable. Schmidt added: "Enzo, we don't want to sell him, nobody wants to sell him at this club.

Chelsea signed France international defender Benoit Badiashile from Ligue 1 side Monaco on Thursday for a fee believed to be just under 40 million euros ...

"He's an excellent young player who has quickly established a strong reputation for himself and has a huge amount of experience for his young age," they said in a joint statement. Badiashile said he could not wait to "start playing in the best league in the world." "His blistering speed is a key attribute and he has experience in both a back four and back three at club level."

Blues hope to end poor run of form when they host City who are looking to close the gap on top.

Pep Guardiola’s side then travel to Old Trafford to participate in the Manchester derby on 14th of January. Manchester City lock horns with Chelsea in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup on 8th January. Chelsea returns to Premier League action as the face Fulham away on 13th of January and then host Crystal Palace on 15th of January.

Chelsea have completed the signing of Monaco centre-back Benoit Badiashile after he emerged as a target late in 2022 - but who is he?

[who only emerged as a potential transfer target in late December](https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/chelsea-to-finalise-gbp34m-badiashile-transfer-monaco-agree-to-january-sale/bltf8f140285133b315). [Chelsea have bolstered their defensive ranks with the addition of young Monaco centre-back Benoit Badiashile](https://www.goal.com/en/news/chelsea-confirm-34m-badiashile-transfer-potter-bolsters-defensive-line/bltd7b9f4112a7610ff). The Blues' new ownership invested heavily in the backline in the summer, although the arrivals of Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella were to compensate for the losses of Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Marcos Alonso.