City hope for Kompany boost

Vincent Kompany appears to be winning his fitness battle to be ready to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

Manchester City's influential defensive skipper twisted his knee in a challenge with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League in midweek.

The Belgian spent 24 hours on crutches but returned to training on Friday and will also take a full part in today's session, before making the journey down to west London.

City boss Roberto Mancini is determined to keep his cards close to his chest but City's medical staff are hopeful the 26-year-old will make himself available.

They could be further boosted by the return of left-back Gael Clichy, who missed the Madrid game, but has also returned to training.

Edin Dzeko could be dropped to the bench in favour of Carlos Tevez partnering Sergio Aguero in attack, with both men scoring a brace in the 5-0 rout of Aston Villa last weekend. Tevez is 11/2 to score first against Chelsea, while Aguero can be backed at 6/1.

City, who are 9/1 to win the clash 2-1, have scored just once in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game since the start of October.

Mancini, however, insists: "I think because when you start a game the opponents have more concentration and defend with more players behind the ball. We need 45 minutes to warm up!"

Don't forget all Premier League matches are covered by the bet365 100% Euro Soccer Bonus, where you could earn a bonus of up to 100% on your returns on pre-match accumulator bets.

View all Soccer betting