EPL Weekend: Chelsea vs. Manchester City is an Early Match with Huge Title Implications

What’s the best thing about the post-European competition hangover as applied to the English Premier League? It means you can sleep in Saturday morning this week. Since most of the marquee teams are tied up either in the Champions League or Europa League on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday, the EPL scheduling gods cut them a break and leave them out of the early Saturday kickoff.

Those duties this week fall to QPR and Stoke City.

As much fun as it is to laugh at Harry Redknapp’s hangdog expression, nobody is going to fault you for sleeping in this Saturday.

Game of Week: Chelsea vs. Manchester City (Sunday, 11 a.m., NBCSN)

It might only be September — the new FIFA isn’t even out yet — but this is by any estimation a gigantic, narrative-shifting game. Should Jose Mourinho’s team win this match, the Blues will open up an eight-point gap over last year’s title winners and Chelsea’s supposed toughest competition. There’s still 33 matches between the end of this one and the finish in May, but eight points is a lot to overcome especially given how Chelsea’s looked so far in league play.

If there’s one Achilles heel in the Chelsea lineup, perhaps it’s the health of Diego Costa who was rested for the first 74 minutes a 1-1 midweek Champions League draw with Schalke. We’ll have to see, too, how long Cesc Fabregas can remain a drving force in the midfield without taking a rest or a slight dip in form. Those are minor concerns for Chelsea. Some have rated Eden Hazard as the best player in England so far and nobody seems to be talking about him — a nice luxury.

Knowing how important this game is, Manuel Pellegrini’s approach can’t be overlooked. We can assume Jose Mourinho will stick to his long track record of turning these type of matches into defense-first slogs. City once had the deepest striker pool in the league to start the season, now both Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic are dealing with minor injuries. Playing off a Sergio Aguero counter or hoping Yaya Toure can deliver on a free kick might be City’s best hope. Again, it’s not quite must-win time and, yes, a draw at Stamford Bridge is a good result come May but obviously City can’t afford to fall so far behind.

For what it’s worth, I enjoyed this piece by Rory Smith on ESPN FC comparing the rise of the two clubs and how Manchester City doesn’t generate the vitriol Chelsea does. There is a certain blandness to City, sometimes. Jerome Boateng’s winner the other day in the Champions League certainly didn’t generate the schadenfreude it would have had it come against most other English clubs.

Odds and ends:

In reading up this week I saw the term “Gaalacticos” used to describe Manchester United. Nope. … In Everton’s five official games so far in 2014-15 a total of 24 goals have been scored. Exciting, yes, but probably not tenable for long term success. If Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman are going to foray forward,  the Toffees need more cover from James McCarthy and Gareth Barry. … Judging from afar, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley looks like Bobby Hill someone who’ll drag his feet more in the face of public pressure. Most Magpies fans want Alan Pardew fired — replacement is …? — but given how Ashley does business expect Pardew to hang around regardless of this weekend’s result vs. new-look Hull City… Swansea vs. Southampton is a secretly spicy match between two clubs off to surprising starts. … At first glance the rumors of Liverpool signing ex-Barca keeper Victor Valdes seemed outlandish, but if Simon Mignolet makes more plays like he did on the Ludogorets equalizer on Tuesday, Brendan Rodgers might be forced to bring in some competition in goal at Anfield. … My bold prediction of the weekend: whatever happens in Arsenal’s match with Aston Villa, a lot of people are going to write and or talk about Mesut Özil.

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