PELLEGRINI TAKES AIM AT 'PERFECT CHELSEA'

PELLEGRINI TAKES AIM AT 'PERFECT' CHELSEA


Manchester City manager Manuel
Pellegrini believes ending Chelsea's
100 percent Premier League record
would mean his side had made a
decent start to their defence of the
English title.

City haven't won since overwhelming Liverpool, last
season's runners-up, 3-1 on August Bank Holiday
Monday with what looked at the time a benchmark
performance.

Since then, they have lost at home to Stoke, drawn
at Arsenal and lost to a last-minute goal at Bayern
Munich in the Champions League in midweek.
Another defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday
would allow Chelsea to extend their advantage over
the champions to eight points.

But Pellegrini prefers to look at the other side of the
equation as he tries to get the better of old foe Jose
Mourinho, who masterminded a classic 1-0 win at
City in February as part of a double over the
champions last season.

"They (Chelsea) have started very well. They are
playing very well also," Pellegrini said Friday. "I
think that we didn't start badly, although maybe the
game we lost here against Stoke was an unusual
game.

"I think we were unlucky in the last two games,
against Bayern in the way we lost with that goal and
against Arsenal we deserved to win the three points
but things happen," the Chilean added.
"We hope we recover here playing at home and get
three points on Sunday.

"I always try to think of positives so I hope we are
not going to lose and we not going to go eight points
behind Chelsea.

"We must win our next game at home and with that
we will be two points behind the leader and that for
me will be a very good start after playing Liverpool,
Arsenal and Chelsea."

Midfielder Yaya Toure came in for criticism for his
performance in Munich and also for the way he
embraced Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, his former
manager at Barcelona, at the end of the match.
But Pellegrini insisted the Ivory Coast international
was fully focused on his role at City.

"Yaya always has commitment with the team and
the squad and with his mates and he doesn't have
any problems about that."

City will again be without the injured pair of
Fernando and Stevan Jovetic but former Chelsea
favourite Frank Lampard will be included in the
squad to face the club where he spent 13 years and
was their highest ever goalscorer.

Chelsea manager Mourinho believes there is still
room for improvement from his side, despite their
impressive start to the season.

The midweek home draw with Schalke in the
opening game of the Champions League group was
a disappointment and while the opening five games
have produced 16 goals for the Blues, but they have
also shipped seven goals which indicates there are
defensive weaknesses for the manager to address.

"You try and improve in every aspect," Mourinho
said. "The perfect situation is to score a lot of goals
and not concede. We have to chase that perfection.
"We are happy with what we're doing, but it's
September. We have to try and improve all the
time."

While Mourinho acknowledged the meeting with City
carries an extra significance, he warned against
placing too much on the outcome of the match.
"It's one more game, it's three more points," the
Portuguese manager said.

"We don't play against them. We play against 19
teams and, for the title, it's not just City. There are
other teams in this race. It's not a situation of
Chelsea or City, City or Chelsea. Other clubs have
the same ambition."

Diego Costa will start despite Mourinho admitting
the striker is currently being managed carefully to
protect a hamstring problem.