Chelsea

The Italian manager has endured a poor summer warm-up with the Blues and will want to show owner Roman Abromavich that he was right to back the Italian and silence any doubters.

Usually pre-season form is not studied with too much scrutiny, but defeats to the MLS All Stars, AC Milan and Brighton have put unwanted pressure on Di Matteo.

The FA Cup holders can be backed at 10/1 to claim a slim 1-0 victory against City and it would be a score line that Di Matteo would welcome.

Both teams have a lot to play for, but with only one new signing likely to be amongst the 22 players to walk out in the August sunshine the form suggests City will be the team with the upper-hand.

The Stamford Bridge club are likely to give Eden Hazard his first taste of competitive football in the UK, and the £32million Belgian playmaker can be backed at 8/1 to be the first on the score sheet. New Brazilian recruit Oscar will be unavailable due to Olympic duty.

John Terry and Gary Cahill are likely to line-up as the centre-half pairing and City boss Roberto Mancini will be keen to see if his strike force can penetrate the Engand duo.

The 47-year-old manager is under a self-imposed pressure to deliver.

In the build up to the clash between the league and cup champions, the Italian – who oversaw City’s first league title in 44 years – has lamented the club’s lack of transfer activity and heaped praise on their title rivals.

The Eastlands club will see Hazard in action against them, a player they wanted, while they appear to have lost out on the chance to sign Arsenal’s Robin van Persie to rivals Manchester United.

However, Carlos Tevez – 33/1 to score a hat-trick – and Sergio Aguero – 5/1 to score first – will be form a formidable forward pairing.

Despite saying that United are favourites for the forthcoming Premier League, Mancini will be determined to lay down a marker – and then let the mind games begin.

City are 11/1 to pick up a 2-0 victory and that looks like a decent bet considering Chelsea’s pre-season stutters.

Mario Balotelli, who featured in the Euro 2012 final, will most probably start on the bench but the enigmatic 21-year-old – who Paris Saint-Germain are keen on signing – is 13/8 to score at any time. With his tendency to net in big games, that could be a shrewd wager.

Samir Nasri, who scored the last time the two clubs met – a 2-1 victory to City in the Premier League – is 3/1 to grab a goal.

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Chelsea

The Blues beat Bayern Munich in their own backyard, albeit on penalties, after the two sides drew 1-1 in normal time at the Allianz Arena and totesport make them 12/1 to retain the crown in 12 months’ time.

Di Matteo’s side had to dig deep to land their first ever European Cup (Barcelona 7/2f – 2012/13 Champions League outright) and it was another resolute defensive display that secured the trophy after a nervy 120 minutes.

Didier Drogba’s header cancelled out Thomas Mueller’s late goal before Petr Cech saved Arjen Robben’s penalty in extra time. The Blues then went on to triumph on spot-kicks.

That cued wild celebrations from the Londoners, who beat the odds to overcome Bayern, so surely Di Matteo can expect the call from owner Roman Abramovich to manage the club on a permanent basis?

Well, not so apparently. Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck said in the aftermath of the victory that the Italian is just “in the mix” for the post, with reports suggesting former England manager Fabio Capello is being lined up by Abramovich.

Quite what else the former Blues midfielder has to do to get the post is the question though. Di Matteo has steadied the ship in remarkable fashion since Andre Villas-Boas left and got an under-performing squad to gel quickly with the minimum of fuss.

He then not only guided them to the FA Cup by beating Spurs in the semi-final and Liverpool in the final but also saw off the mighty Barcelona over two legs in the Champions League semi.

If this was any other club, Saturday’s victory over Bayern would have pretty much guaranteed a successful interim manager the full-time job, but things are not quite as straightforward as that at the Bridge (Chelsea 9/2 to win 2012/13 Premier League).

Abramovich has been through more managers than most since he arrived at the club in 2003 with, apparently, his top goal for the club being to win the European Cup and become kings of the continent.

That has now happened but still, it seems, Di Matteo is not certain of the job. The players have been gushing with their praise for him and he definitely has the backing of the fans but whether he will get the chance to take complete control in August remains to be seen.

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