Chelsea v Manchester City LIVE: Premier League result and final score after Mateo Kovacic scores stunner

Jurgen Klopp’s departure means Pep Guardiola stands alone. Only one manager who has won the Premier League still plies his trade in it and it is Manchester City’s serial champion.

Last season rendered Guardiola a history-maker in a new respect, the first manager to win four consecutive English titles. With Klopp gone, in a sense, he has eliminated the opposition. In another, he remains a marked man. “Everyone wants the crown that we have worn for four years,” he warned last week.

Guardiola’s capacity to create teams that can win both week in, week out and year in, year out adds to City’s powers of intimidation. They have a proven ability to reel off 12 or 15 straight victories. They could become the first English club to register five straight league titles, feats that have occurred in the recent past in France, Italy and Germany, but never here.

England international Cole Palmer has signed a two-year contract extension with Chelsea.

The Premier League club confirmed that 22-year-old Palmer, who joined Chelsea from Manchester City in a £42.5million deal last September, has committed himself to the Blues until June 2033.

“I’m delighted to sign this new deal,” Cole told Chelsea’s official website.

“I achieved a lot in my first season here, and hopefully I can continue to experience great things at this club, both on a personal level and in terms of bringing success and trophies to Chelsea.”

A reminder of how this weekend has gone so far in the Premier League (with match reports attached).

Fri, 16 August – Manchester United 1-0 Fulham

Sat, 17 August – Ipswich 0-2 Liverpool

Sat, 17 August – Arsenal 2-0 Wolves

Sat, 17 August – Newcastle 1-0 Southampton

Sat, 17 August – Nottingham Forest 1-1 Bournemouth

Sat, 17 August – Everton 0-3 Brighton

Sat, 17 August – West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa

Manchester City, after their fourth title in a row, are aiming for a magnificent five-in-a-row – but will this be the season Arsenal finally get over the line and win a first top-flight crown in 21 years?

Liverpool will be an intriguing watch under new manager Arne Slot and a total of five clubs will take to the new season with a fresh look in the dugout, with Enzo Maresca at Chelsea, Julen Lopetegui at West Ham, Steve Cooper at Leicester City and Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton.

Maresca at Chelsea will be a fascinating watch and how will Erik ten Hag fare at Manchester United after being given a new contract? The journeys of the newly-promoted trio of Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton will be interesting, too.

Below, our writers make their predictions for the next season:

Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Neto, Palmer, Mudryk; Jackson.

Manchester City XI: Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Matheus Nunes, Kovacic, De Bruyne; Doku, Bernardo Silva, Haaland.

Prediction

This should be a captivating game between two teams with aspirations of success come the end of the season. City, of course, are the better side and may well prove too strong for a Chelsea team adjusting to a new style of play under Maresca. The Italian has been heavily influenced by Guardiola having worked at City as a coach before his move to Parma in 2021. At this point, though, the mentor should get the better of his disciple. 

Chelsea 0-2 Manchester City.

Reece James’ injury woes continue and the Chelsea captain will miss the opener with a hamstring injury, though he is also suspended.

Nicolas Jackson, Axel Disasi, Omari Kellyman and Djordje Petrovic are all doubts after missing long periods of pre-season, although Jackson is expected to feature.

Manchester City will be without Oscar Bobb, who is out with a fractured leg, while Jack Grealish is a doubt having missed the Community Shield last weekend. Pep Guardiola also recently confirmed that Rodri has not travelled to London with the squad.

Kyle Walker and John Stones are back in training after returning late following the Euro 2024 final – but Rodri has since been ruled out with injury.

When is Chelsea v Manchester City?

Chelsea v Manchester City kicks off at 4.30pm BST on Sunday, 18 August and takes place at Stamford Bridge, London.

How can I watch it?

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage starting at 4pm BST. Subscribers will also be able to watch on a live stream via the Sky Go app.

If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.

Chelsea host Manchester City in the standout fixture on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season.

The away side, after winning their fourth successive title in 2023-24, enter the season as favourites to win a fifth crown in a row, despite an uneventful summer transfer window. But Pep Guardiola’s side have very little room for improvement after years of constant success.

Chelsea, meanwhile, will begin a new era under Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge, and it is very much a baptism of fire for the Italian, whose side struggled in pre-season.

The Blues have made some big-name additions again in the transfer window, notably Pedro Neto from Wolves and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester.

While nothing will be decided for either side in this match, a positive start in such a big game could set the tone for the season ahead.

Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of Chelsea vs Manchester City in the penultimate match of gameweek one of the 2024/25 Premier League!

The Blues head into the match with plenty of hope under new manager Enzo Maresca, while City enter looking to lay down an early marker for Arsenal and Liverpool and remind any doubters of their credentials as favourites.

And we’ll have all the build-up and live updates as they come in.