Chelsea will win title says Manchester City manager Mancini

Man City manager Mancini makes shocking comment on eve of crucial clash against epl champions

Chelsea are the best team in the English Premier League and should defend their title "easily", according to Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini.

City tackle the champions at Eastlands on Saturday with a patched-up side containing just three fully-fit senior defenders.

It is hardly the backdrop Mancini wanted heading into one of the key games of the campaign, and not one that was anticipated when City were spending in excess of 100 million pounds (117 million euros) over the summer.

However, according to the Italian, the result will not have an effect on where the championship ends up this season. "Chelsea are the best team in the Premier League at the moment," he said at his pre-match press conference yesterday.


Roberto Mancini

"They are probably going to win the Premier League title easily. They are a strong team, who have been playing together for many years.

"They have a fantastic manager and they have worked to reach this situation." Chelsea certainly could not have started the season in better form and have registered a perfect 15 points from their opening five games, scoring a hatful of goals in the process.

Now City must try to keep them out with a side that has been decimated. Micah Richards has been ruled out with a hamstring strain, so with Pablo Zabaleta earmarked for the right-back role, Mancini only has youngster Dedryck Boyata, plus midfielders Gareth Barry and James Milner available to fill the left-back slot.

Regular full-backs Joleon Lescott and Jerome Boateng are both short of fitness. Lescott has been troubled by a groin injury, while Boateng has not featured at all since his summer move from Hamburg after aggravating a knee injury when he was accidentally struck by an in-flight meal trolley. "Joleon is not ready to play 90 minutes while Jerome is not ready to play 100 percent," said Mancini.

Emmanuel Adebayor should be fit to make the bench however, with Shaun Wright-Phillips too on on the sidelines with a knee injury, Mancini is short of men.

"I am disappointed we have all these injuries at the moment," he said. "I only have 11 players who are 100 percent fit."



Drog in, lamps out

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has named his starting line-up ahead of tonight's tie against Manchester City.
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Captain John Terry, Nicolas Anelka and new boy Ramires keep their places while Ivory Coast ace Didier Drogba makes a return to the starting line-up along with Michael Essien, who has quickly recaptured the form that made him such a fans' favourite, since returning to the Chelsea team after a long injury lay off.

Meanwhile, England midfielder Frank Lampard has still not recovered from a hernia and could be on the sidelines for Chelsea's next two games.