MAN CITY v CHELSEA
Venue: City of Manchester Stadium Date: Saturday, 25 September Kick-off: 1245 BST Coverage: Sky Sports 2, BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live, local radio, Final Score & highlights on Match of the Day

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini expects rivals Chelsea to "easily" retain their Premier League title.

Mancini made the prediction before the teams play each other at Eastlands on Saturday, with City seven points adrift of leaders Chelsea after five games.

"Chelsea are the best team in the Premier League at the moment," he said. "They are probably going to win the Premier League title easily.

"They are a strong team, who have been playing together for many years."

Mancini and Chelsea counterpart Carlo Ancelotti are familiar with each other from their playing days with the Italian national side.

They were also in opposing dugouts in Serie A when Mancini was boss at Inter Milan, while Ancelotti was in charge of AC Milan.

Carlos Tevez is the most dangerous player of Man City Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti

"They have a fantastic manager [Carlo Ancelotti] and they have worked to reach this situation," added Mancini.

City did the double over Chelsea in the top flight during the 2009-10 campaign, beating them 2-1 at Eastlands and 4-2 at Stamford Bridge.

However, while Ancelotti laughed off his compatriot's suggestions that the league title was Chelsea's to lose, he does not believe Mancini's comments are a psychological ploy ahead of the game.

"I agree with him," stated Ancelotti. "It's not a mind game, I know him very well and so he knows us very well. He knows our ability.

"You have to build a mentality of a team. He doesn't have an easy job, he is doing his best. I hope the club appreciate it.

"He's very competitive manager because he has experience, he has ability to read the game.

"It's a very good relationship, we were team-mates in the national team in the past. I met him two months ago in Manchester, the relationship is very good."

606: DEBATE What are your thoughts on Mancini's comments?

Chelsea have raced to a maximum of 15 points from five top-flight games and scored 21 goals in the process.

"Every game is easy after you win 6-0. You can say it was easy then," explained Ancelotti.

"Before every game it is difficult. We started the season well but now we have another game, a different opponent and City are a strong team, they have a lot of players with a lot of skills.

"We have to prepare for the game well and do our best to play our football for 90 minutes."

The City boss has injury problems in defence for the game against the London side, with Mancini weighing up whether to drop either Gareth Barry or James Milner back to the left-back slot from midfield.

But Ancelotti knows his team have to be on guard against big-spending City and, in particular, their captain and main striker Carlos Tevez.

"City have a possibility to win the title," added Ancelotti. "They didn't start so well this Premier League but they have a possibility. They have time to come back to first place in the table.

"Carlos Tevez is the most dangerous player of Man City. He has quality, he has power, he has a very good mentality. I appreciate his kind of play and we need to pay attention."

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