Manchester City V Chelsea(Sat 5th April...@City of Manchester Stadium)

Let's cast our minds back to happier days: this season's 6-0 thrashing of Saturday's opponents shortly before Hallowe'en at the Bridge.Okay, if their goalkeeper Joe Hart had wider shins it might not have been such a horror show for him, and if Spanish left-back Javier Garrido is ever to play that irresponsibly again, we would like to book the performance for this weekend please.
Back then high-flying City had become the first side in six years other than Arsenal or Manchester United to arrive at the Bridge in a higher league position than Chelsea. But the Blues' football flowed, the Sven's men were overwhelmed, three different strikers scored, as did two midfielders, and the all Portuguese-speaking defensive backline (including Paulo Ferreira at left-back) looked impermeable.So much for the pleasure zone. As we get to the business end of the season, consistent defensive frailties are emerging that Sven Goran Eriksson will be looking to exploit.He would feel more confident of doing so was City's recent scoring record so poor. They have only scored in two of their last six games, and the last time a striker scored from open play for the Swedish manager was in the Manchester derby back on 10 February.
Since that remarkable 2-1 triumph at Old Trafford, City have won just a single match. The team they beat, 2-1 at Eastlands, was Tottenham. Spurs had just been turfed out of Europe; City still felt they could qualify for next season's overseas campaign. But Eriksson's skilfully assembled team has fallen away since.
Their most recent performance was a 1-3 defeat by relegation-haunted Birmingham City, who were also reduced to ten men by the sending-off of Franck Queudrue. The Mancunians' midfield of Dietmar Hamann and Gelson was ineffectual and their centre-backs, Nedum Onuoha and Richard Dunne, found Brum striker Mauro Zarate's pace and sharpness too hot to handle that day.
'If we want to speak about Europe,' warned the Swede, 'we can't lose as many balls as we did today. We must be better than that with Chelsea coming to Manchester next.'
While the stories that emerged from his England dressing room suggest Eriksson is more likely to read the matchday programme than the riot act in the dressing room, he has publicly suggested City would accept an offer to enter the Intertoto Cup - football's equivalent of picking the mother-in-law up at the airport.
That early season competition would mean curtailed holidays for the players and preseason training in June.
Favouring a 4-4-2 formation, with Micah Richards injured Eriksson has kept a pretty consistent defensive starting line-up each week - Hart in goal, the Croatia right-back, Vedran Corluka, Onuoha, Dunne and Garrido. He generally likes to make one or two changes in midfield and upfront each week to maintain freshness.
With the influential Martin Petrov suffering from flu and highly-rated youngster Michael Johnson not having started since his injury against Bolton, Chelsea should face veteran holding midfielder Hamann, despite his discomfort when harassed by Birmingham's deep-lying forward last weekend, and the more mobile box-to-boxer Gelson.
City will expect much from left-sided set-piece danger Elano and his right-sided counterpart Stephen Ireland, as well as the pacy, awkward Benjani. The Zimbabwean scored Pompey's first-ever Premier League goal against the Blues last season. Other frontline options include the experienced Darius Vassell and misfit Emile Mpenza.
City enjoyed a 100 per cent record in their first nine home games before drawing with Lancashire neighbours Blackburn the day after Boxing Day; they've lost twice, drawn four times and won once at the City of Manchester Stadium since.
As Arsenal lock horns again with Liverpool in the early kick-off and United visit Middlesbrough the following day, there is an opportunity to make inroads this weekend. Chelsea, with more than a shortened time on the beach to play for, must put Turkey behind them and bring home all three points.