Mike Summerbee believes that Antonio Conte
could have the edge in the title race given that
there is no Champions League or Europa League
participation for his side
Manchester City legend Mike Summerbee
concedes that Chelsea will have a fitness edge in
the race for the Premier League title ahead of the
sides' blockbuster meeting on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte will go head-to-
head in a hotly-anticipated clash of styles, with
Chelsea having recently displaced early front-
runners City at the top of the league thanks to
seven straight victories in the Italian's favoured
3-4-3 system.
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City boss Guardiola has chopped and changed
formations this season as he has got to grips with
his players, as well as juggling their domestic
campaign and Champions League duties.
After their Premier League title defence imploded
last term, Chelsea are not faced with continental
commitments in 2016-17, something Conte has
highlighted as an advantage as he has imposed a
system on the Blues that remains exotic in English
football.
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Though stopping short of pegging Saturday's early
kick-off at the Etihad Stadium as a title decider -
City and Liverpool are just a point behind table-
toppers Chelsea - legendary City winger turned
club ambassador Summerbee believes the signs
from Stamford Bridge are ominous.
Summerbee told Omnisport: "I think we're talking
a little bit prematurely about title races, it's very
early days. But Chelsea have come out and
they're doing very, very well under this new
manager.
"But what we have to look at as well is that they're
not in the Champions League. From one week to
another... when they come into the FA Cup, fair
enough, but the Champions League is very
demanding and we're in that.
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"It does help a side like Chelsea, with a new
manager, to not be in the Champions League and
look forward to one game a week to lift the side.
"For us it's very different, playing game after
game after game. Being in the Champions League
is fantastic. I'm not saying anything against it but
it is an advantage for a side not in the Champions
League challenging for a top-four place."
By contrast to Conte, Guardiola comes into the
Saturday's meeting having had a full week to
prepare for a game for the first time since the
opening weekend of the Premier League season.
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And Summerbee believes that the Catalan will
thrive from such exposure to his players, having
followed the team on their pre-season tour of
China.
"The first thing that you see is that he's a
gentleman, he's a nice man, he's hands on,"
Summerbee said.
"When they're training and they're practicing he's
on the pitch with them going through different
situations with them and you can see the players
responding.
"Every day is a different day. They're training and
they do things differently, which keeps the mind
focused.
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"He's very much a person I admire. I watched
him as a manager when he was at Bayern Munich
and at Barcelona. You can't do anything else but
admire a man who can make teams play that way
and entertain that way.
"The change he's brought to Manchester City has
been really automatic. It's not as if it's taken over
a period of time; he's done it in a short period of
time.
"There's a long way to go, he probably wants to do
more with the squad of players and enlighten
them more into how he wants to play but, at the
moment, he's playing a good system."
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