Donnarumma returns as only change for Chelsea clash

Q: Why did Gianluigi Donnarumma return to the starting line-up for the Chelsea match?

Gianluigi Donnarumma returned to the starting line-up as part of a tactical decision by the coach, making him the only change for the match.

Q: What was the significance of the match between Chelsea and Manchester City?

The match is significant as it is a Premier League clash, impacting both teams' standings in the league.

Q: Who else was in the starting line-up for Manchester City against Chelsea?

The article does not specify the full starting line-up, only mentioning Donnarumma as the change.

Q: When did the Chelsea vs. Manchester City match take place?

The match took place on April 12, 2026.

Donnarumma returns as only change for Chelsea clash

Gianluigi Donnarumma returns to the starting line-up as City make one change for today’s Premier League clash with Chelsea.

Men's Team

Chelsea v City: Live Premier League updates

City have the chance to cut the gap to six points at the top of the Premier League with victory in our tough trip to Stamford Bridge at 16:30 (UK) today.

Pep Guardiola retains the same outfield line-up that secured a place in the FA Cup semi-finals with an impressive 4-0 victory over Liverpool last time out.

Donnarumma comes back in goal for his first City start since we faced Real Madrid in mid-March, replacing James Trafford who moves to the bench.

TEAMS

Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Hato, Cucurella, Caicedo, Andrey Santos, Estevao, Palmer, Neto, Joao Pedro.

Subs: Sharman-Lowe, Acheampong, Adarabaiyo, Sarr, Essugo, Lavia, Garnacho, Guiu, Delap.

**City XI:**Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guéhi, O’Reilly, Rodri, Bernardo (C), Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland.

Subs: Trafford, Reijnders, Ake, Marmoush, Kovacic, Nico, Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Foden.

TACTICS AND FORMATION

City were superb last time out when we beat Liverpool at the Etihad, so Guardiola has opted for the same 10 outfield players.

Donnarumma will be behind a back four of Matheus Nunes, Marc Guéhi, Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico O’Reilly.

Rodri retains his place as the holding midfielder with Bernardo Silva and Rayan Cherki also expected to be in the City midfield.

Erling Haaland will be our attacking spearhead with Antoine Semenyo and Jeremy Doku alongside to provide the width to the Blues forward line.

How it stands

Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth in Saturday’s early kick-off gives City the opportunity to close the gap at the top of the Premier League.

Guardiola’s side are currently nine points behind but with two games in hand on the Gunners.

Victory today at Stamford Bridge would reduce the gap to six ahead of Arsenal’s trip to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday 19 April.

That would make it a huge encounter but there will be no thoughts of that match with the focus very much on getting three points from today’s difficult clash with Chelsea.

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Portuguese man of war

Bernardo Silva retains his place in the City starting line-up for what will be his 297th Premier League appearance.

No player has featured for Guardiola more than the current City captain and today he sets a new record for the most appearances by a Portuguese player in the competition.

He surpasses Luis Boa Morte, who made 296 appearances for Arsenal, Southampton, Fulham and West Ham over 14 years.

After netting against West Ham before the international break, Bernardo could score in back-to-back league appearances for City for the first time since March 2023.

Match stats

Chelsea are winless in their last nine Premier League games against City since a 2-1 away win in May 2021.

City have won four of our last five away Premier League games against Chelsea, as many as we had in our previous 26 league visits to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have lost both of their last two Premier League games, a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle and 3-0 loss to Everton. The Blues last lost three in a row in May 2023, and last did so without scoring in March 1998.

City have drawn our last two Premier League games, despite scoring first each time (2-2 v Nottingham Forest, 1-1 v West Ham). We haven’t scored first in three successive matches in the competition without going on to win any since December 2003/January 2004 under Kevin Keegan.

After winning each of their first four Premier League games under Liam Rosenior, Chelsea have since won just one of their last six. Since the start of this period (February 10th, a 2-2 draw with Leeds), only Leeds and Tottenham have fewer points in the competition than the Blues.

City have won 28 of our last 31 Premier League games in the month of April. Under Pep Guardiola, we average 2.50 points-per-game in the competition in April - the highest rate of any team to play 15+ matches in a specific month under a manager.

City (51) and Chelsea (50) have had more shots following high turnovers than any other sides in the Premier League this season. Indeed, in the reverse meeting between these two sides in January, we recorded 24 high turnovers against the Blues – the most by any side in a single Premier League match this season.

After scoring 19 goals in 17 Premier League appearances prior to Christmas this season, Erling Haaland his since scored just three in his last 12 for City – two of which have been penalties. Indeed, before Christmas, he was averaging 0.89 non-penalty expected goals per 90 in the 2025-26 Premier League; since, this has dropped to 0.32.

Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez has made more passes that have broken the opposition’s defensive line than any player in the Premier League this season (41). He has also made 36 line-breaking passes into the opposition’s penalty area, a joint-high with Bruno Fernandes.