5 Reasons why Chelsea could destroy Manchester City today

Manchester City travel to Chelsea today in what could be a vital clash at the top of the table - for those of you with short memories, it was City's capitulation to Chelsea at the Etihad that proved to be the turning point in the Citizens charge to the Premier League title last season.

With most pundits tipping City and Guardiola for the title this time around as well, they land at Stamford Bridge as firm favourites.. but conventional wisdom may not hold much ground today.

Here are five reasons why Chelsea will triumph in this top of the table clash

#5. Chelsea are at the top of their game

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Chelsea dominated Atletico Madrid to such an extent that even Steven Gerard admitted that he'd never seen anyone play better against Atletico - one of the top five sides in Europe - and they have been well worth their money ever since they recovered from the early season blips of losing the Community Shield and the Burnley debacle, which had several experts running to the hills crying disaster, but the backs-against-the-door performance against Tottenham was the prelude to a revival that has seen them close the gap at the top to just 3 points.

With all the components of the team - defense, midfield, and attack shining in unison, they will take some stopping!

#4. No Aguero, No Party

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Of all the managers in England at the moment, Pep Guardiola would have been the last person you'd have picked to revive the great tradition of two-man strike partnerships but Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero have been in scintillating form - the two have scored 12 goals between them already.

Aguero, particularly, is in fine form and looks like he's in the mood to win the league on his own - but then a Maluma concert in Belgium changed everything. The taxi Aguero was traveling back to the airport in got caught in an unfortunate accident and reports have emerged that the Argentine may have suffered a broken rib.

In his absence, City are likely to revert to Jesus as lone striker and this will necessitate a change in the system that has worked so well for Guardiola's men in the opening weeks.

#3. Eden Hazard is back to full fitness... and has linked up well with Alvaro Morata

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When he is fully fit, there is no one in the Premier League quite like Eden Hazard. Fast, slippery as an eel, with ball control that few in the world possess and vision to match Hazard can win entire games all by his lonesome.

Yet to have started a Premier League till now, Hazard will start this one with a point to prove - and with Conte determined to make the most of the Belgian's "God-Given Talent" the Belgian will take some stopping; and this could be the game he chooses to announce that he's back to his best.

Complimenting him up-top is Alvaro Morata - the polar opposite of Hazard's previous partner-in-crime Diego Costa. Where the Brazilian-born naturalised Spaniard was abrasive, in-your-face and always in the thick of things, Morata is subtle, quiet and fades in-and-out of games, slinking into the shadows waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

Joint top goal-scorer in the League, he has connected well with Hazard in the brief time they've played together - the goal against Atletico a perfect example - and the two will be keen to showcase their burgeoning partnership at the highest level.

#2. Bakayoko and Kante will win the midfield battle

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Manchester City have a vast, quite literally scary, array of talent in midfield but with the exception of Fernandinho, and an aging Yaya Toure, not one of them are designed to win the kind of midfield battles that every Premier League champion of yester-years have had to win in crunch games like this.

As good as David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, and Bernardo Silva are, if they go into a physical battle with either of Tiemoue Bakayoko or N'Golo Kante, there will be one winner - and it will the man in deep blue.

Fernandinho's presence is essential for City and the underrated Brazilian often dominates matches on his own, but Chelsea's power and pace in the middle of the park may just be too much for even him.

#1. Antonio Conte has Pep Guardiola's number in the Premier League

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The two times Conte and Guardiola - two of world football's finest managers - have gone toe-to-toe in England it's been the Italian who's come up on top... a 3-1 and a 2-1 victory underlining the Londoners' dominance over the Mancunians.

Conte's pragmatic approach is at odds against Guardiola's insistence on expansive football and although the Catalan's gameplan is in actual effect a defensive one with ball possession as their central tenet rather than relying on numbers at the back, it might not work as well against a side that's geared to hit teams on the counter and pick off possession in vital areas (which lends itself to the previous point - here's where Kante and Bakayoko could prove vital to the game).

Alvaro Morata's form, Eden Hazard's return, the presence of a superior midfield and arguably superior defence (the absence of Benjamin Mendy, City's only naturally left-footed left back, will be felt hard today by the Citizens!) means that Antonio Conte is all set to continue his dominance of Pep Guardiola