Chelsea will attack City, Pochettino warns
Mauricio Pochettino promised his Chelsea side would attack Manchester City when the two clubs meet at Etihad Stadium in the Premier League.
The defending champion drew a memorable game 4-4 at Stamford Bridge in November with former City player Cole Palmer scoring a penalty in stoppage-time for the hosts to snatch a point.
Chelsea has endured mixed fortunes since, losing half of its 12 league fixtures, but after a 3-1 win away at Crystal Palace, it could climb to a season-high seventh place with victory against Pep Guardiola’s side.
With 14 games to go, the team has already scored three more league goals than it managed in the entirety of the last campaign, when only four sides netted fewer.
Pochettino said there was no chance it would sit and wait for City, which has lost just once at home in the English top flight in almost two years, to come on to it.
“The lesson [from the first game] is that we’re going to face one of the best teams in the world, but at the same time you need to be brave enough to try to force them to defend, to run back and to face their goal,” the Argentinean said.
“If we go there and wait to see what’s going on, it’s a team that can dominate you and will make you suffer.
“The most important thing we realised is that we need to attack, be able to run and to make the effort all together.
“The most important thing is to go there and be brave, to challenge them.”
The game at City will be the first time Palmer has returned to Etihad since his £40 million ($77.1 million) summer move to west London.
Before making the switch, the 21-year-old scored for City in this season’s Community Shield, which was lost on penalties to Arsenal and in the UEFA Super Cup win over Sevilla.
He is currently top scorer for his new club with 12 in all competitions and has been arguably the standout success of co-owner Todd Boehly’s mammoth £1 billion ($1.9 billion) transfer spend.
Palmer had previously hinted that he moved as he did not believe he would get sufficient game time at City.
“He’s not the type of player that needs to prove anything,” Pochettino said.
“I think he really is very grateful for his period at Manchester City, [but] he left the club because he wanted to find another challenge and to have the possibility to play more.
“Man City have an amazing squad. [Clubs] make decisions that we think are the best for the team. It doesn’t mean someone is not a good player.
“Sometimes the circumstance doesn’t match. Players want to leave and you can’t stop them because you can’t provide the game time.
“It’s unfair to say they’re going to regret it. Man City are one of the best teams in the world and it’s not easy to find the space to play for a young guy.
“Someone here on the staff said to me ‘he’s from Manchester, but he looks like a Brazilian or an Argentinian’.
“He has the capacity to adapt so quick, because our strengths as South Americans, its that we come to Europe and we adapt very quick.”
Pochettino confirmed defender Thiago Silva would miss the game with a minor injury, though Levi Colwill and Malo Gusto were available.
Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was fit for contention, having not played since December, but the manager would not say whether he would be selected ahead of Djordje Petrovic.
“You will see,” he said. “You never know in football what can happen.”
