Sunday afternoon sees Manchester City’s Frank Lampard reunited with his old Chelsea team-mates. Already this match is looking like a potential title decider, with the champions facing the team that has made the best start to the 2014/5 season, winning all four of their opening games and looking every bit as lethal as Mourinho’s steely gaze.
This match promises to be a tactical masterpiece and a crucial first move will be the names on the starting teamsheets. To see how fans of both Clubs may be thinking about this game, we looked at the Beat Your Manager! Fantasy Football data from this fixture last season, to see what players were picked for the lineups last year.
Beat Your Manager! Fantasy Football is a game similar to “Football Manager”, but applied to live football, where you manage your favourite Club and pick lineups, bench, formations and substitutions, all in real-time. When fans play the game, the Beat Your Manager team can measure the popularity of different players, by looking at how frequently they are selected for the starting lineup, substitutes bench or not selected at all.
The app ran for the 2013/4 EPL season and is currently inactive while the developers are creating the revised version – watch this space!
This fixture was played last season on a Monday night in February and ended with a 1-0 win for Chelsea, a 32nd-minute strike by Branislav Ivanovic moving Chelsea level on points with City.
Formation: 4-4-2 selected by fans from both Clubs, but 4-3-3 close behind
Sixty per cent of Man City’s fans opted for a steady 4-4-2 formation, with 22 per cent opting for a more aggressive 4-3-3 formation. 4-4-2 was also the most popular formation with a third of Chelsea fans taking this option, 20 per cent going for a more attacking 4-3-3.
Goalkeeper: Hart and Cech in goal, but 2nd-choice keepers make inroads with fans
Fans of both clubs did not go for any surprises in goal, with both team’s regular number 1 selected for duty; Joe Hart in for Man City (66 per cent rating) and Petr Cech for Chelsea (76 per cent rating). However, Costel Pantilimon (34 per cent) and Mark Schwarzer (22 per cent) were chosen for the lineup by a substantial minority of fans which should keep the first-choice boys on their toes. Both real-life managers agreed with fans, going for the identical options between the posts.
Defence: One change between Man City fans and Manager; Mourinho going his own way
Vincent Kompany was clearly the most popular defender and third-most popular player, with 96 per cent of Man City fans selecting him for their lineups. Goalscorer Branislav Ivanovic was next in line on 82 per cent, with colleague Ashley Cole closely behind on an 80 per cent rating with Chelsea fans.
Instead of Clichy, the second most popular Man City defender (72 per cent), Pellegrini picked Aleksandar Kolarov, who did not make the cut with fans, registering a measly 22 per cent. Mourinho went for five in defence, fielding Azpilicueta (51 per cent) instead of Cole and adding David Luiz (also 51 per cent) to bolster the defense.
Chelsea’s back line for Sunday will look substantially different, with Cole gone to Roma and Luiz offloaded for a scarcely believable fee to PSG.
Midfield: Lampard returns in a lighter shade of blue
Man City again top the bill in the popularity stakes for midfielders, with Yaya Touré the most popular player on the pitch, every Man City fan playing the Beat Your Manager! game selecting him for their lineups. City’s David Silva and Chelsea’s Oscar were the next most popular players with fans, both polling 98 per cent approval for the lineup, with Jesús Navas (96 per cent) just behind.
The average Chelsea fan included Frank Lampard in their lineup for this game last season, with a 64 per cent rating, while Mou saw fit to keep him on the bench for the whole of the game. It will be interesting to see if Pellegrini decides to bring him on against his old Club; the fans will certainly love to see if he can turn any of his insider knowledge to their advantage.
With Javi García and Nasri out, Pellegrini only made one change from the fans, fielding Matija Nastasić (a pathetic 12 per cent) instead of fan favourite Fernandinho (80 per cent).
Forwards: Fans and Managers on the same page
Chelsea’s Eden Hazard was the most popular striker at 87 per cent, while his colleague Eto’o, now at Everton, was a close second, on 80 per cent. Mourinho evidently felt the same as the fans and fielded both players.
With Agüero sidelined, both Pellegrini and Man City fans opted for Dzeko (74 per cent) and Negredo, (68 per cent) upfront, the Spaniard moving to Valencia at the end of last season due to financial fair play restrictions on squad size.
Fan-selected lineup for Man City vs. Chelsea 2013/4 EPL Season:
