Gonzalo Higuain is expected to started against Manchester City on Sunday following his well-taken brace against Huddersfield Town last week as Chelsea romped to a 5-0 win.
The match against the Citizens standout as the game of the weekend and Blues fans will expect the Argentine to replicate his form when they face Pep Guardiola’s men at the Etihad.
City themselves haven’t been ruthless the way they started the season as they lost to Newcastle United away from home before restoring confidence with a 3-1 victory over Chelsea’s number Arsenal and head into Sunday’s fixture on top of the premier league. Although, if Liverpool win their game against Bournemouth today, the Reds will be top of the table.
Chelsea have won only three of their last six premier league matches with two defeats and a draw while Manchester City have five victories with just a loss in their last six fixtures which makes them overwhelming favourites for the encounter.
However, Chelsea fans will be hoping Higuain guides them past City considering the importance Maurizio Sarri placed on signing him in the January transfer window. “At the moment, he is really very determined. In my first season in Naples, he arrived late for the training camp,” Sarri said of Higuain.
“He missed the penalty in his last Serie A match, he had missed a penalty in the Copa America final but he reacted really very well. He played an exceptional season. He is able to react really well despite the difficulties.
“At the moment, he is really very keen. He can play a really good season, in the last part of the season.”
The Italian is delighted with the partnership Higuain is developing with Hazard and hopes that can help the Blues for the remainder of the season.
“As you have seen in the last match, Eden passed the ball to Gonzalo very often,” Sarri told reporters. “They speak the same language with the ball. So I think that Gonzalo will be important for us.
“He needs confidence, first of all. He needs a very good relationship with the coach and his team-mates. Sometimes he needs a message from the coach in the press conference. We will see in the future.”
Higuain is not looking the sharpest yet having sat out many games while trying to force his way out of AC Milan, where he was on loan from Juventus but it has made him lose his strikers instinct just like Sergio Aguero of Manchester City.
Both Argentines have 706 goals for clubs and country between them. Not bad for men of 30 and 31. They are numbers that would seem extraordinary but for one fact: an international colleague and, in at least, one case, close friend, has 647 on his own, as well as creating plenty of others.
As Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain prepare for Manchester City against Chelsea and to face one another for the first time since the latter scored in Real Madrid’s 3-2 win over Atletico in March 2010, the contemporaries could compare notes.
But watching Haguain closely in the two games against Bournemouth and Huddersfield, he had good movements outside the box and loves the one-two’s and while it didn’t worked against the Cherries as the Blues were hammered 4-0, it worked beautifully against bottom placed Huddersfield as he scored one from inside the box and the other from almost 22yards.
Against Manchester City, it will be difficult as the supplies from Hazard may be cut-out from Fernandinho and shotting from range may be hard as the Citizens successfully crowds out their opponents aream the edge of the box.
Higuain always wants the ball to feet and that may pose a huge problem for Chelsea because they will need an outlet during pressure but the Argentine is not the typical target man and will not be seen lurking inside the box waiting for crosses which plays perfectly into Chelsea hands.
For anyone looking to place a bet – a huge Manchester City win will work perfectly today as Sarri will stubbornly leave Higuain in action even if he is unproductive. Manchester City first defeat of the season to Chelsea knock them off the top of the table during the season and on Sunday, they may return the favour to Chelsea by knocking them out of the top four with a win at the Etihad.