MAN CITY VS Chelsea: Cole Palmer Key to A Blues Victory at the Itihad, says Paul Merson

Paul Merson says Cole Palmer will be key if Chelsea are to beat Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, live on Sky Sports on Saturday.

Chelsea live up to fourth-placed Manchester City in fifth place on Saturday night at the Etihad Stadium, looking to open a five-point gap on the champions in the race to qualify for the Champions League.

talk to Sky Sports NewsPaul Merson believes there is a lot of work to do at Man City to return to their best, and Guardiola's side face a huge battle to finish in the top four of the Premier League…

“Chelsea and Palmer will cause problems in a man's city.”

I don't see Man City getting back into the Premier League title race.

They are in a huge fight to get into the top four, in my opinion. That's it for them this season.

They have Chelsea and Arsenal coming off this big game against Club Brugge in between.

I just don't see how they get back into the mix with Liverpool yet.

I can see Chelsea beating them this weekend.

Chelsea has energy and Cole Palmer gets into pockets of space. I see Enzo Maresca's team causing huge problems in the city.

PSG had helped Chelsea. They will watch and see that this is not the ancient city.

They cannot maintain any intensity in their game for more than five or 10 minutes. Palmer holds the key to Chelsea. I don't see how Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic can live with him.

I'll be shocked if Chelsea lose this game.

“Word Players are nearing the end”

I didn't buy into this city.

Brentord must have overpowered them. They scored six and eight against Ipswich and Salford respectively, but Leicester have missed good chances against them too.

I don't think it was great, so the PSG result didn't shock me at all.

Man City are struggling. The team's legs are gone. When PSG showed high energy, as Brentford did, they went through them like a knife through butter.

It's a big problem for them. This team is changing and it is difficult because we are talking about world-class players, but some of them are close to the end.

“The city's energy is gone.”

There are Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic in the midfield triangle, with Phil Foden and Savinho on the wings. Who returns the ball? Who is closing in, entering and around the opposition?

Watch the City of Man now, watch it follow, and they are not the city of old. They are not a team that is accustomed to being hounded and suffocated by the opposition. They are used to searching for packages to go and retrieve the ball.

These players are not tracking back like they used to. They don't do that anymore.

They don't get that energy and high energy style teams that cause them problems.

There is a lot of work to be done at Man City. They are in a proper fight to get into the top four in the Premier League, and while I expect them to beat Club Brugge, there will be challenges in the Champions League as well.

“The city lost its intensity”

Danny Mills on the Football Special:

“This season, Man City has lost its intensity.

“When Man City used to lose the ball, they would win it very quickly. They leaked everywhere.

“I'm not sure they've got the legs in midfield anymore to do that.

“They are starting to lose that intensity in the middle of the park and are not dominating games.

“It's as if they had to find a completely different way to play.

“It's a really tough season for City. The league is gone. They have a huge game against Chelsea at the weekend and that's about staying in the Champions League places.

“And then another huge Champions League clash against Club Brugge, who could go to the Etihad with Liberty. They have nothing to lose. This could be a dangerous proposition.”

Merc in the field of city transportation in January…

I like Omar Marmoush from Frankfurt. He is a good scorer. However, I don't see how this city team gets into it.

He's a good striker, but if he were to be asked to play on the left or right, and move into the play and join in, I don't see how that works because it's difficult to join Erling Haaland.

Haaland is an incredible goalscorer as well, but he's not interested in linking up with the wingers in a way Marmosh would like to play.

I'm having a hard time seeing where it fits.

Matheus Nunes has struggled wherever he has played for Man City.

To ask him to play right-back with the way Man City are exposed, you will be going against them every week.

Letting Kyle Walker go for around £4m, I just don't get it. It's nothing, it's a cup of tea in football.

I'm still a big Walker fan. I know he's lost a little pace, but he'll still be in my team.

Carrra: Man City “bullied” by PSG

Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher on CBS:

“It was like two completely different football matches. The first half felt like a testament and the second half felt like one of the best halves of football we have seen in a Champions League group stage.

“Once PSG made the substitutions, brought on Dembele in particular, it felt like… Thierry mentioned before the game, it felt strange that Luis Enrique's team started.

“It looked like their best team was at the end, and Manchester City, as we know from the Premier League and sometimes in the Champions League group stage, can't handle the intensity of the game too much for them, the physicality.

“They were absolutely bullied in that second half and it was men against boys. They were lucky, it was only four in the end. It could have been worse.”

'A miracle if the city does not qualify'

It will be a miracle if Man City do not qualify for the next stage of the Champions League.

This creation was created in the Champions League for the top teams to reach. Even if they had a bad day at the office, they would still have made it to the knockout stages via the qualifying round.

If you had said at the start of the tournament that you were going to play FC Brugge and have to beat them to get there, you would think Man City would have more than enough to do that.

Celtic, who passed – and good to them for that – would have taken that scenario at the start of the tournament.

I still think Man City will go through it.