Chelsea v Manchester City: Six Bet Builder angles for Bridge battle

• Ake 7/4 for passes bet he's landed 8 times out of 10

• Gundogan foul on the cards

• Six Bet Builder ideas, including near-4/1 shot

This Premier League match is pretty much the only game in town on Thursday - and it's a big one.

Chelsea really need to start climbing the table, while Manchester City have a rare chance to gain ground on surprise leaders Arsenal.

The problem for props punters is figuring out the starting line-ups.

Chelsea have injury problems and they players who have been playing haven't been delivering the goods.

City have fewer worries which made it somewhat strange that Pep Guardiola waited until the 87th minute to make substitutions in Saturday's draw with Everton. And that after he made only one change to his starting XI.

With a FA Cup rematch with Chelsea to come on Sunday and a EFL Cup quarter-final with Southampton on Wednesday, rotation is surely going to be key this week.

My unusual approach to the column is therefore to list out several potential props picks for a Bet Builder which hopefully you can use once the teams have been announced.

Rodri 90+ attempted passes - evens

The king of picking the ball up off the back four and getting things moving, Rodri has landed this bet in 11 of his 15 Premier League starts. If you are worried about the potential uplift in quality here -and frankly Chelsea's form suggests that might not really be the case - those starts include games away at Liverpool and Newcastle.

Nathan Ake 90+ attempted passes - 7/4

Ake is arguably the better bet in the passes market. He's hit the 90 line in eight of 10 league starts this season (a game where he was injured after 20 minutes having been deliberately omitted) and it hasn't really mattered whether he's been at centre-back or left-back, where he's played most recently. His passing numbers are impressive with the line cleared by big margins on several occasions. The full list is: 106-89-101-67-94-129-151-96-127-103. The issue could be Joao Cancelo returning to the starting XI, although that may well come on the right in place of youngster Rico Lewis.

Ilkay Gundogan 1+ foul - 5/6

With Mateo Kovacic likely to return, the midfield battle could well heat up - Chelsea will need to find a way of stopping Kevin de Bruyne and this is set to be a key battleground. Gunodgan looks a decent price to commit a foul, something he's done in seven of 11 Premier League starts this season. He made three away at Leeds last week.

Rodri 2+ shots - 15/8

The Spaniard has been getting forward plenty for City this season - last week's goal at Leeds being a prime example of how he's been given more licence to push on. City's player shot numbers suggest he's being allowed to do so at the expense of Joao Cancelo, who had been a go-to-man for props punters in the past couple of seasons. Rodri has managed 2+ shots in seven of 15 league starts which makes this price tempting. Old logic would suggest he may play more defensively away to a top-four team but then Chelsea look far from that right now.

Christian Pulisic 2+ shots - 5/4

The standout Chelsea player in the shots markets is Pulisic, who has been back in Graham Potter's XI after a strong World Cup. He's landed this bet in four of his last five domestic starts with the exact numbers being: 1-3-4-2-4. The middle '4' was against City in the League Cup.

Kevin De Bruyne anytime goal - 5/2

De Bruyne has scored five goals in his last eight Premier League games against Chelsea, scoring at Stamford Bridge in three of his last four appearances. The Belgian has not scored more goals against any other side in his career.

Verdict

Preference for our Bet Builder is to combine 90+ Ake passes with 1+ Gundogan foul - the double pays just under 4/1.

I'm largely expecting both to start although, as explained, it's hard to be sure.

With that in mind, remember you can cash out your bet after the team news is announced if any of your players are on the bench.

Hopefully the other angles give you alternatives if the worst happens!

Read Dave Tindall's in-depth preview of Chelsea v Man City!