Marquee matchup: Could Chelsea end Manchester's unusual 70-day dry spell?

Salford poets have scowled through their net curtains at it. It's made the waddle over Coronation Street's cobbles perilous. It's ushered Eccles cake wrappers into the canals. It always rains around Manchester.

But, from a football perspective, it's been uncharacteristically dry. Somewhat remarkably, as there will not have been a Premier League winner in Manchester for 70 days by the time Manchester City and Chelsea kick off on Saturday.

The dry spell:

If there's one side that can make it rain in Manchester right now, it's table-topping Chelsea. Antonio Conte's change to a 3-4-3 formation has seen it storm up the table through a constant deluge of attacks spearheaded by Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, and the performances from the late summer splashes of David Luiz and Marcos Alonso.

Injuries and suspensions

Vincent Kompany is lonely in the Etihad Campus treatment room because everybody else - yes, even Fabian Delph - is available for this weekend's match.

Conte's dead-set starting XI has no issues. His squad has a clean bill of health except for John Terry, Kurt Zouma, and Mikel John Obi.

Projected lineups

Manchester City starting XI: Bravo; Otamendi, Stones, Kolarov; Fernandinho, Gundogan; Sterling, De Bruyne, Silva, Nolito; Aguero

Chelsea starting XI: Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Pedro, Costa, Hazard

What to watch

Will Yaya Toure retain his spot in the lineup against a team that could run rings around him? The Ivorian's comeback was sensational - barging his way through the Crystal Palace ranks to bag a brace in a 2-1 win - but there's a risk that against a better side he could return to his former self: being carried by the rest of the team like a pensioner catching his breath on an escalator.

It should be a match for Gundogan's return after sitting out the last two league matches. The German has acclimatised to life in England just fine - recording a 93 percent pass accuracy, creating nine chances, scoring two goals, and superbly setting up a Sergio Aguero strike back in a largely drab October for City - and would bring much-needed physicality to mirror N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic in the middle.

Guardiola's lot may be the best at retaining possession in the division, but Gundogan also offers plenty off the ball. He's the man to assist David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne in a high press - an aspect where Chelsea looked susceptible during the first half of last weekend's 2-1 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur - and is a breathless scamperer during counter-attacks.

Guardiola has mostly been darting between a 4-5-1 with Fernandinho protecting the backline and a fluid 3-2-4-1 setup since taking over. The Spaniard has never met Conte in the technical area before, but he'll know what to expect. This should see him opt for the latter arrangement.

It wouldn't sacrifice the width, where City would like to find gaps behind the wing-backs, and would eliminate the prospect of asking two of its four ageing full-backs to deal with Hazard and Pedro.

The excessive notebook scribbles that the home side's system requires ahead of this bout (and despite its reliable forward, Aguero, scoring 33 goals in his last 34 top-flight showings) proves Chelsea is the team to beat this weekend. Conte is unlikely to make any changes, showing a stubbornness and confidence in his blueprint - similar to what his compatriot Claudio Ranieri did at Leicester City last season.

Conte's the first Chelsea manager since Jose Mourinho in 2006-07 to win seven straight matches in the Premier League, and he's coaxed a new Diego Costa that's more disciplined, but paradoxically more ferocious. He's canny nowadays: mastering the knack of getting fouled regularly, but not getting involved in the dirty work anywhere near the rate he used to.

Costa's flanked by Hazard and Pedro and then, further back, Alonso and Moses. The attacking possibilities are limitless right now; the Londoners can make inroads through various channels in M11.

Although City arguably provides a sterner test than last week's opponent Tottenham, form suggests that, after an arid couple of months or so, Pep Guardiola could be looking rather soggy and forlorn by the time Anthony Taylor's final whistle sounds.