The Citizens have twice put Arsenal to the sword in the past week, once to lift the EFL Cup, and today face another one of the London giants at the Etihad Stadium.
Chelsea suffered defeat in Manchester last time out when they went down 2-1 at Old Trafford, and they are now five points adrift of the Champions League places.
They are 22 adrift of the runaway leaders who will be looking to continue their outstanding form to dethrone the Blues and wrap up the title at the earliest point in history.
Make sure you don't miss a moment of the action with our minute-by-minute updates below.
OFFICIAl LINE-UPS
CHELSEA: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; Moses, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Alonso; Willian, Hazard, Pedro
Subs: Caballero, Cahill, Zappacosta, Emerson, Chalobah, Giroud, Morata
MANCHESTER CITY: Ederson; Walker, Laporte, Otamendi, Zinchenko; Gundogan, Silva, De Bruyne; Bernardo, Sane, Aguero
Subs: Bravo, Stones, Kompany, Danilo, Jesus, Yaya Toure, Foden
FULL TIME: MAN CITY 1-0 CHELSEA
90+4 min SHOT! Chelsea threaten to quite literally steal a point as Alonso volleys a few yards wide from the edge of the box, after Morata had hooked the ball hopefully over his shoulder.
90+3 min SUBSTITUTION: De Bruyne cuts inside from the right and lays the ball of for Sane 25 yards out. The German is not quite as lethal on his right foot and skies the ball into the stands. Phil Foden is on for David Silva, who gets a standing ovation as he leaves the field.
90+1 min As we enter the first of FOUR minutes of stoppage time, Chelsea still look no more likely to grab an equaliser. Still they have yet to register a single shot on target.
89 min SUBSTITUTION: Conte gives Morata a whole minute to influence the game, and it is an even more unpopular change because Hazard is the man who is replaced. The Belgian won't have had many more unenjoyable afternoons on a football pitch, and his face shows it.
86 min SUBSTITUTION: Guardiola swaps Zinchenko for Danilo for the final four minutes plus stoppage time. The Ukrainian was unconvincing with his defensive positioning and picked up an early yellow card, but Chelsea did not do enough to put pressure on the youngster.
84 min SUBSTITUTION: No 200th City goal today for Aguero as he makes way for Gabriel Jesus.
82 min SUBSTITUTION: Another change from Conte as Emerson comes on for Pedro, who has been one of Chelsea's poorer players. This is a Premier League debut for the man signed from Roma in January.
80 min De Bruyne has a great chance to feed Aguero but for once his pass is lacking the accuracy required. There is still time for a Chelsea sucker-punch here which would be a grave injustice.
78 min SUBSTITUTION: Finally Conte makes a change as Giroud comes on for Willian. Sarcastic cheers greet the substitution but those certainly are not aimed at Willian's performance.
76 min City won't believe how easy they have had it this afternoon. They have registered three times as many passes as Chelsea today, close to 900, and Ederson has been a spectator in goal.
74 min Rudiger attempts to bring the ball out of defence but is robbed by Gundogan, but the German recovers well to prevent his international colleague from breaking into the box.
72 min This match continues to mirror an attack versus defence training exercise. It can't be long until Antonio Conte turns to his bench to try to rescue what would be a great but undeserved point.
70 min The Blues briefly have a two-on-two opening but the recovery speed of the City players is remarkable, to force Pedro into a rushed pass which was miles in front of a very frustrated Hazard.
68 min With just over 20 minutes to go, City remain in complete control in this game and yet haven't got the points in the bag. They will want a second in the next five minutes or so to avoid a nervy finish because, although Chelsea have been shamefully bad, stranger things have happened in football.
66 min De Bruyne brings the ball forward and plays a good pass into the penalty area for Aguero, but Rudiger does well to usher him away from goal. The ball is eventually recycled to the Belgian but his strike is high and wide.
64 min Sane whips in a cross which Christensen dangerously deflects into the hands of Courtois. The lack of confidence shown in them by their manager is filtering through to the Chelsea players.
62 min Not only Hazard, but what must the likes of Fabregas and Willian think of this approach from Conte? It is almost a signal from the Chelsea manager, to the club's board, that his side are not capable of competing with Man City, which is simply not true. It you don't try, you will never know, anyway.
60 min Chelsea counter three on three but Pedro's pass is overhit, inducing more frustration from Hazard. This type of performance may make noises of a move to Real Madrid all the more attractive.
58 min YELLOW! Rudiger enters the book on a totting up basis, with referee Michael Oliver signalling that it was his fourth foul with an Andre Arshavin-esque hand signal. Bit of a niche reference there but a few of you may remember that day when the Russian scored four against Liverpool.
56 min SHOT! Silva drives forward with more intent than any Chelsea player has shown all game, skipping past a couple of challenges and unleashing a shot which Courtois pushes away.
54 min CHANCE! Best, and so far only, chance of the game for Chelsea as Fabregas spreads the ball to Moses, who was left in space by an intelligent run inside from Willian. He lines up a shot from a tight angle but slices it horribly wide.
52 min There has been no change of tact from Chelsea so far. They continue to sit off City, and are almost content to watch them stroke the ball around midfield. Kante has been a big miss for the Blues today but there is no excuse for the passive performances that his teammates have produced so far.
50 min After opening the scoring in rapid fashion at the beginning of the half, Bernardo comes up with an important defensive contribution by cutting out a Fabregas pass which would have set Alonso free.
48 min From a neutral's perspective, that is absolutely the best thing that could have happened to this game as it will hopefully force Chelsea to abandon their negative approach and come out and play. It is also proof that a lack of intent and defeatist attitude can rarely prevails. Give it a go man!
46 min Christensen's miscued clearance falls to David Silva, who knocks the ball into a great area and Bernardo is braver than Alonso at the back post to steer the ball past an out-of-position Courtois!
46 min GOAL! MAN CITY 1-0 CHELSEA (BERNARDO SILVA)
46 min KICKOFF: City get the game back underway, and just 34 seconds after the restart...
HALF TIME: MAN CITY 0-0 CHELSEA
45+1 min Chelsea have the slightest sniff of a four-on-four break but Otamendi brings that to an end with a cynical foul on Hazard which goes unpunished. He's got away with a couple in this half.
44 min Pedro goes on a mazy run into the City box but Otamendi stands him up well at the expense of a corner. Chelsea need more of that, their players backing their own ability on the ball. These are top-class players but they are playing with a serious inferiority complex this afternoon.
42 min DISALLOWED! Aguero makes an intelligent run off the first man at a free kick and De Bruyne expertly slips the ball into his path. The striker scuffs his shot but it still gets past Courtois, and Otamendi races in to tap the ball in from close range, only for the flag to go up against Aguero.
39 min Chelsea have two very good passers of the ball in midfield in Drinkwater and Fabregas but they have not shown any intent to get on the ball and compete with the Blues for possession.
37 min This has been an awful display from Chelsea thus far, so defeatist and thoughtless. They are playing the ball up to Hazard as if he is Diego Costa and it is making the Belgian visibly annoyed.
35 min T he right flank, in behind Zinchenko, looks like Chelsea's best and perhaps only avenue to get at Chelsea. Pedro gets down the wing and stands up a cross which Ederson claims with ease.
33 min Sane turns away from Drinkwater and runs at the Chelsea backline, with three defenders coming over to offer help but therefore freeing up Bernardo who gets his first-time shot badly wrong.
31 min Chelsea finally string some passes together as Drinkwater releases Willian down the right channel. The Brazilian knocks the ball by Otamendi and is blatantly knocked to the ground, only for Michael Oliver to wave play on. That would have been a good set-piece situation for Chelsea, and dead balls may be their only chance to score based on this opening half-an-hour of football.
29 min I think Sane has shown this week that he is a potential superstar of world football. He is coming into the game more and more, displaying outstanding close control and a blistering turn of pace.
27 min OFF THE LINE! Sane peels off at the back post and De Bruyne finds him from a wide free kick. The German's two touches are sensational, to bring the ball under control and then shoot with his right foot past Courtois, only for Azpilicueta to make a brilliant clearance from under his own crossbar.
25 min YELLOW! Zinchenko gets caught between Willian and Moses and lunges in on the latter. Referee Michael Oliver plays the advantage to allow Willian to drive forward, his cross turned behind by Laporte, before bringing back play to caution the Ukrainian, who is lucky the contact was minimum as the intent was not.
23 min Chelsea have no method of moving the ball upfield and another hack forwards from Christensen, who is usually so composed in possession, flies over Willian and out of play.
21 min CLOSE! Sane and Bernardo show signs of their Thursday night magic as the German embarks on a dazzling run which commits four Chelsea defenders. The ball is eventually teed up for Bernardo, who comes close to a replica to his Arsenal goal with a left-footed curler which glances the roof of the net.
19 min A slack pass from Drinkwater invites City to spring on Chelsea but the visitors are quickly back in their shape, which is most definitely a 5-4-1. In that case I am even more surprised that neither Morata or Giroud were included in the lineup as Hazard is being isolated out of the game in this system.
17 min Fabregas gives Hazard something hopeful to chase onto but Ederson is off his line rapidly to chest the ball down and clear it. The Belgian has only had a couple of touches so far.
15 min They have not get their passing game going yet, Chelsea. They have been happy to get the ball clear at any cost, which has made it difficult for Hazard to hold the ball up. That's not his bag.
13 min Chelsea overplay at the back and Sane pinches the ball from Azpilicueta and squares to Aguero. The lethal Argentine tries to create room to get a shot away but Rudiger is on hand to block.
11 min City work the ball intricately down the left and Silva's cross is in towards Sane, who swings and misses on the volley but Christensen's clearance at least wins the hosts a corner.
9 min The visitors' first opportunity to counter through Willian is stopped at source by Zinchenko. The Chelsea man is winded by an accidental elbow to the gut but is back on his feet now.
7 min Chelsea have barely had a kick yet and are getting plenty behind the ball. De Bruyne tries one of his early, swinging crosses from the right, but Azpilicueta is alert to the danger.
5 min City have started firmly on the front foot, with David Silva at the centre of a couple of promising attacks which Chelsea survive via last-minute interventions from Azpilicueta and Courtois.
3 min Pedro and Willian have started quite deep and narrow, to help out Chelsea's midfield duo which may have struggled even with Kante but are certainly in danger of being overrun without him.
1 min KICKOFF: We are underway at the Etihad, where Dennis Tueart, a League Cup winner for City back in 1976, presented the EFL trophy to the crowd to rouse the home crowd before the whistle.
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