Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea sit tenth ahead of their trip to Manchester City (Picture: Getty)
Cesc Fabregas says Chelsea’s players ‘just need to be themselves’ and ‘have a go’ against Manchester City at the Etihad, urging Mauricio Pochettino to avoid relying on counter-attacks.
The Blues have endured an immensely disappointing start to the campaign under Pochettino and find themselves languishing down in tenth place in the Premier League table, 20 points adrift of leaders Liverpool.
However, the west London giants head to Manchester after back-to-back victories away to Aston Villa and Crystal Palace in the league and the FA Cup respectively and could rise to as high as seventh if they make it three wins from three this weekend.
Pochettino will be without Thiago Silva at City, but – at his pre-match press conference – the Argentine confirmed that Malo Gusto, Levi Colwill and Robert Sanchez are all available to face Pep Guardiola’s champions.
City, looking to make it 12 straight wins in all competitions, are missing record signing Jack Grealish, while Bernardo Silva faces a late fitness test ahead of Saturday’s heavyweight encounter.
Previewing the match on the Planet Premier League podcast, ex-Chelsea star Fabregas said the visitors could get punished and ‘eaten alive’ should Pochettino decide to enter the contest with an overly defensive mindset.
Asked whether Chelsea are likely to set up with a low block and look to hit on the counter, the Spaniard replied: ‘This could be an option. I don’t think they are a team to do that.
Fabregas hopes Chelsea enter the contest with a positive approach (Picture: Getty0
‘We will see what he comes up with, but definitely if you want to get something out of a game away at Manchester City you need to be brave at the same time.
‘I don’t think with the players Chelsea have they can just decide to go deep and play counter-attack because if they do that, maybe they don’t even get the chance to do one.
I feel that Manchester City eats you alive when you they are in the final third. They have very quick players, resting defence, they keep the ball.’
The champions are riding an 11-game winning streak (Picture: Getty)
According to Fabregas, the likes of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer would ‘hate’ defending for the entire game.
‘When you have players like Caicedo, like Enzo, like Cole Palmer, they don’t like to be defending the whole game,’ the ex-Chelsea, Arsenal and Spain midfielder added.
I think they would hate it, they would get frustrated and in the end they would just be giving up.
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‘They just need to be themselves. Okay, they are not maybe at the level to compete face to face against Manchester City at the moment, but they need to start somewhere.
‘I think this is a good chance, especially with the last couple of results they’ve had, to prove their momentum and just have a go at them.’
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