It is Rasmus Kristensen at centre-back for Leeds rather than Luke Ayling, who is in his usual position (and Kristensen's) at right-back.

This Whites defence could essentially be described as four full-backs.

Erling Haaland has the first effort of the game but he fires it well over from range.

We've had a longer than usual wait for a game of football today. But patience is now rewarded.

We've had the national anthem on this day of King Charles' coronation at each ground. Now, four Premier League games are getting under way, with Manchester City looking to get the win that takes them four points clear in one of them.

Big Sam Allardyce and his Leeds team stand in their way.

Leeds United

Leeds defender Rasmus Kristensen speaking to Sky Sports: “The gaffer came in with some new ideas and gave us his point of view of things. We’ve been working on that since the first training session; we are looking forward to the challenge and hope we can leave a good impression.”

Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Etihad Stadium

This is Sam Allardyce's 1,040th game as a manager, which is some going, but Manchester City have been behind a couple of his worst moments in that time.

Of his five heaviest defeats, which have all been by a six-goal margin, two have come at the hands of the Blues, who beat his Notts County side 7-1 in the League Cup in 1999 and then hammered his West Ham side 6-0 in the same competition in 2014.

It's almost time to find out if today will be a different story... or another goal-fest.

Lucy Oliva
BBC London

When Chelsea found themselves 3-0 down inside the opening 34 minutes at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday it seemed they had taken a leaf out of bitter rivals Tottenham’s book by collapsing so spectacularly.

But, unfortunately, unlike Spurs they showed no heart, no character and no desire to really get back into the game. Noni Madueke’s second half goal was mere consolation for another miserable chapter in a season which continues to plumb new depths.

How have things spiralled to a point where with five games of this sorry season remaining - they must somehow accrue 11 points to even match their worst points tally in a Premier League season?

When you consider it has taken them 15 games to pick up their last 11 points - it feels like a fantasy to suggest they will be able to salvage anything - particularly given they are yet to play three of the Premier League’s top four!

So much of what has happened this campaign has been put down to off-field disruption, teething problems under a new owner and the influx of players to a bloated squad.

But the lack of direction, leadership and cohesion both on and off the pitch seems to suggest the ‘rebuild’ needed at Stamford Bridge may be more of an extensive restoration as opposed to the few superficial touch-ups fans might have been expecting.

The rumoured arrival of Mauricio Pochettino brings us back to Spurs comparisons and whether the Argentine can do what he did up the road in north London and galvanise a team that finds itself in the wilderness and take them to the next level.

It has become abundantly clear Chelsea cannot rely on the perceived talent of their big-ticket, superstar players alone - and that fundamental change is needed if the club is to return to its former glory.

Adam Pope
BBC Radio Leeds

It really was quite the performance. Amid talk of misjudged judges, missed Covid jabs and a missus watching the Housewives of Cheshire, this definitely was "Not Pep, not Klopp, not Arteta," just pure Big Sam.

In a headline-grabbing spiel during his unveiling as Leeds United's fourth head coach of the season, Sam Allardyce deflected the pressure away from his struggling players and onto his experienced shoulders.

"In terms of knowledge and depth of knowledge, I'm up there with them," he said as he dismissed the trope of him being antiquated compared to the current crop of elite Premier League coaches.

The former England manager knew the back pages would be about him as he prepares another rescue mission for what he estimates would be his biggest achievement.

"From the great escape point of view, probably yeah" he added, as Leeds have only four games remaining starting at leaders Manchester City on Saturday.

He knows it requires a seismic shock, greater than when he was at Crystal Palace or Sunderland, to keep the Whites safe.

"Never say never" is his attitude to staying on at Elland Road should he perform a successful salvage operation. Better recruitment, as well as the blessing from his wife and the club would also be required for that to happen.

A strong defence of his own attributes by Allardyce will hopefully be mirrored by his side at the Etihad where he goes up against one of the coaches he compared himself to - Pep Guardiola.

"I'm not saying I'm better than them, but certainly as good as they are," he says.

Saturday is certainly the litmus test.

• Wolves are unbeaten in their past four Premier League games against Aston Villa (W2 D2), last having a longer run without defeat against them in the league between April 1957 and August 1961 (eight games).
• Villa's 1-0 loss at Manchester United on Sunday ended a 10-game unbeaten run in the Premier League and was the first time they've failed to score in 21 league games under Unai Emery. Villa last lost consecutive league games in February (a run of three).
• Ollie Watkins has scored seven away goals in the league this season, including in his past six such games. Only three Villa players have scored more in a campaign – Dean Saunders (eight in 1994-95), Dwight Yorke (nine in 1997-98) and Christian Benteke (eight in 2012-13).

Image source, BBC Sport

Leeds United

Leeds boss Sam Allardyce speaking to Sky Sports when asked about his starting eleven: “Obviously, the staff who have been at Leeds for a long time have an opinion by watching the players. They’ve contributed to the best eleven. Then we look at the previous game and work out how to play against the mighty Man City. We’ve got a huge task on our hands but the players have responded well and I’m hoping to see that response today.

“I’m very interested in the first 10 minutes. That’ll tell us an awful lot about how we are going to be today.”

Makes a change from 'can I have your shirt?' I suppose...

Image source, Getty Images

Tottenham almost completed a remarkable comeback against Liverpool on Sunday but it was yet another match in which they conceded a number of first-half goals and gave themselves a mountain to climb.

Statistics show an apparent chasm between how they start matches and how they finish. Indeed, only a third of Tottenham's 63 Premier League goals this season have been scored in the first half, the lowest share of any team in the top flight.

In fact, if games ended after 45 minutes, the north London side would be ninth in the league, with 10 wins out of 34 and a goal difference of -9 (21 goals scored compared with 30 conceded).

In contrast, their record in the second period - 17 victories and a goal difference of +15 (42 goals for, 27 against) - is bettered by only by title-chasing Manchester City and rivals Arsenal .

Spurs have consistently fallen behind in games - conceding the first goal in 18 of their 34 Premier League fixtures - and have shipped 20 goals in the first 25 minutes of matches - the most in the league this season.

They appear more cautious approach in the first half of games as they have taken a total of 205 shots in the opening 45 minutes, while allowing 240 efforts on their own goal.

In comparison, they have taken 267 shots in total in the second 45 minutes, compared with 235 against, and are the only side in the league to have faced fewer shots in the second half than the first.

Image source, BBC Sport

Leeds United interim manager Sam Allardyce wants to emulate fellow veteran managers Roy Hodgson (at Crystal Palace) and Neil Warnock (Huddersfield) by steering their new clubs clear of relegation...

For this week's Premier League predictions, Chris Sutton faces Carnival Row star and Everton fan Andrew Gower.

Image source, BBC Sport

Sutton's prediction: 0-1

This is another hard one. I got Aston Villa all wrong when I said they would win at Manchester United on Sunday and Wolves are usually stubborn under Julen Lopetegui but got absolutely smashed at Brighton last time out.

Wolves have a good home record, winning their past three games at Molineux, but I am expecting Villa to bounce back, and edge this one.

Andrew's prediction: Wolves probably need another win to get safe and the Molineux crowd might be a bit nervous - I can see Villa edging this. 0-1

Find out what Sutton and Gower predicted for the rest of the weekend's games and cast your vote

Manager Julen Lopetegui believes his side must be "close to perfection" if they are to beat Aston Villa in the Premier League this weekend.

Wolves will look to move further away from the drop zone and bounce back after an alarming 6-0 defeat to Brighton last weekend.

They go into the game 14th in the table, seven points clear of the drop zone.

"They have very big players so we have to have confidence in our players, our idea, to be able to beat them. We have to be very close to perfection to play against this kind of team," Lopetegui said.

"Above all, we have to put the focus on our strengths, be confident with our work and we have to be ready.

"I prefer to talk about us, our strengths, because we have to be confident in our energy, our strengths, and put the focus to be able to compete with them."

Image source, Getty Images

• Tottenham have lost just one of their past 15 Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace (W12 D2), with that defeat coming at Selhurst Park last season.
• Eberechi Eze has scored four Premier League goals since Roy Hodgson's return, more than any other Palace player. These four goals have come in his last five games, as many as he'd netted in his previous 33 appearances.
• Spurs' Harry Kane has been involved in 10 goals in his past seven Premier League appearances against the Eagles (seven goals, three assists), while team-mate Son Heung-min has been involved in seven in his past seven (five goals, two assists).

Image source, Getty Images

Bringing Sam Allardyce in at this stage of Leeds' season is "just desperate", but there is more to the former England manager than just "route one", according to BBC Radio Leeds' Adam Pope.

"What's the positive of bringing Allardyce in?" Pope asked on a special episode of the Don't Go To Bed Just Yet podcast. "I think you can say he is a bit more forward-thinking when he has been at clubs for a long time.

"He's not just about route one - that is a bit harsh to say about him. You don't become the England manager, even if it was just for one game, without having something.

"It must have been a case of looking at all the available options - there must only have been few - and asking, 'Who do we think has got a big enough profile in the game to fire up a bunch of lads that are on their backsides?'"

It has been a time of upheaval at Elland Road as the board sacked both director of football Victor Orta and interim boss Javi Gracia before appointing 68-year- old Allardyce all in the space of 24 hours.

Pope is concerned the club are panicking to try and keep the Whites in the top flight.

"[Allardyce] has worked with [Leeds CEO] Angus Kinnear too [at West Ham] and you've got to put him into the mix of this," said Pope. "Has Andrea [Radrizzani] trusted him to do this? I think they were down to limited options.

"It's desperate - there's no other way of dressing it up.

"They've had to do something and this is their way forward, but to call it anything remotely like a plan is misleading."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Etihad Stadium

Image source, Getty Images

We all know Erling Haaland loves a hat-trick, but what about his manager?

Pep Guardiola is going for the Treble this season but he is also trying to become only the third man to win three successive men’s top-flight titles in the 135-year history of English league football, which kind of tells you how difficult it is.

Four different clubs have managed this hat-trick - Manchester United did it twice - but Arsenal and Liverpool changed managers midway through.

Herbert Chapman (Huddersfield 1924 to 1926) and Sir Alex Ferguson (1999 to 2001 and 2007 to 2009) are the only ones to do it so far on these shores, but Pep does have some history here himself.

He won La Liga from 2008 to 2011 with Barcelona and the Bundesliga from 2013 to 2016 with Bayern so he has a hat-trick of hat-tricks in his sights. That’s a lot of hat-tricks.

For this week's Premier League predictions, Chris Sutton faces Carnival Row star and Everton fan Andrew Gower.

Image source, BBC Sport

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

I honestly don't know what to expect here - mainly because I don't know what to expect from Tottenham.

Spurs beat Crystal Palace 4-0 at Selhurst Park in January, when Patrick Vieira was in charge of the Eagles, but I would be shocked if we see the same scoreline this time.

Palace are a very different prospect under Roy Hodgson and Spurs have developed a bad habit of conceding early goals - lots of them, in fact.

But despite all that, I just have a feeling Tottenham are going to nick it, and I think the only reason I have that feeling is because they have got Harry Kane. There's no other reason to think Spurs will win.

Gower's prediction: I've gone for some goals here. 2-2

Find out what Sutton and Gower predicted for the rest of the weekend's games and cast your vote

Craig Beazley, UTCIAD, external

Bournemouth have come up with two good performances when they really have needed them, with the 4-1 win over Leeds United following the 1-0 victory down the M27 at Southampton - a result which made the prospect of the Cherries being in a higher division than our south coast rivals for the first time even more likely.

Both games had a lot riding on them. Had we lost both, we would have been right in the relegation mix.

But one thing Gary O’Neil and this Bournemouth side deserve is credit for getting results when we really needed them. Other times included the wins at Wolves and Leicester City - and it's our results against those teams around us recently which have helped us climb to safety.

On Saturday, we face another side we are next to in the table - but we probably didn't expect that to be Chelsea. Last time we were in the Premier League, we seemed to be the west London club's Achilles heel. We have had some outstanding results against them over the years, and the Blues are in a transition period - so can we do that again?

The question is no longer: are we safe? The question now is: how many points will we get? We will be playing Premier League football next season and that’s a massive credit to O'Neil after he took over at such a low point.

Does the boss now rotate and give fringe players a chance to show him what they can do, or stick with the side who have got us to this position and end on a real high? I think it will be a combination of both.

O'Neil is definitely the right man to lead us into next season and he has silenced his critics. Most fans are delighted for him.

Former Premier League striker Kevin Campbell says Erling Haaland's incredible season reflects how much quality Manchester City have as a whole.

The Norwegian scored his 35th league goal in the Premier League against West Ham to move past Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole's previous best of 34.

Campbell told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily: "It’s a remarkable achievement but when you look at the team he is in and the quality they have got, this is a team who are functioning perfectly.

"They won a title with a false nine, now they have a number nine it’s just a matter of them working out how best to feed him. They have worked it out.

"Aguero scored hatfuls of goals, this boy is a different beast.

"I didn't expect Haaland to score at this rate, but in this Man City team they have so much quality and he was the right player to plug in. Timing is everything."

Former Premier League striker Clinton Morrison added: "He’s been outstanding.

"When he came to the Premier League I thought he is definitely going to hit the ground running. A few people doubted him but you can never doubt him.

"He’s 22 years of age and is only going to get better. He’s a natural goalscorer and it’s it’s a joy to see him in the Premier League. We’ve got to enjoy him because he is one of the best strikers around."