Manchester City are set to officially kick off their 2024/25 Premier League season this weekend.
Their first game sees Pep Guardiola’s side travel down to London to take on Chelsea for their first away clash of the campaign.
Looking back over the previous season, City ended it by winning a fourth consecutive league trophy.
In comparison, Chelsea finished in sixth place with 63 points on the board, 28 fewer than the Manchester club.
In the build-up to this weekend’s match in the capital, one pundit has shared his thoughts on how it could pan out for the champions.
Paul Merson shares prediction for Man City vs Chelsea
In a recent column for Sportskeeda where he previewed and predicted the scores for this weekend’s round of opening Premier League fixtures, Paul Merson, who recently backed City to win the league again this time around, said this about the club’s upcoming clash at Stamford Bridge.
He said: “This is a massive football match. Chelsea are playing against their benchmark in the Premier League, and this is a good time to play against Manchester City.
“You’d want to play against them at the start of the season before all their players are at their best. This is a good time to play against Man City and this was a brilliant game last season.
“Chelsea could hold City to a draw this weekend. Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City.”
City would get a big boost by beating Chelsea
As Merson mentioned, City ran out a dramatic 4-4 draw in their previous league game at Stamford Bridge back in November.
The two sides then went on to get another draw at the Etihad Stadium in February, this time ending with a 1-1 scoreline.
More recently, City beat Enzo Maresca’s side 4-2 in their final pre-season friendly match in America before then beating Manchester United on penalties in the Community Shield last weekend.
With that in mind, Merson is rather optimistic that the West London side will walk away with a point on Sunday, whereas a win for the Blues would give them a big boost.
