Rafa Benitez will look to silence his doubters - and there will be a considerable amount of them at Stamford Bridge on Sunday - when he takes charge of Chelsea for the first time since taking over as manager against English Premier League champions and league leaders Manchester City.
Roberto Di Matteo's firing and the appointment of Benitez has not gone down too well with the majority of the Chelsea faithful, but there is no better way to win over the fans than showing your prowess on the pitch, that too against the defending champions.
Chelsea are on a November slump, having picked up just two points in their last four Premier League matches, and lie four points behind City, with United, who play QPR Saturday, likely to be six ahead when the game kicks-off on Sunday.
Benitez has been brought in the short-term until the end of the season, to not just turn around Chelsea's fortunes, but also to get the best out of Roman Abramovich's favorite player Fernando Torres.
The Spanish striker enjoyed the best spell of his career under Benitez at Liverpool, and if there ever is a chance of Torres finally finding his feet at Chelsea, it will be under his fellow Spaniard.
However, the match won't just be about the turmoil and with it new beginnings at Chelsea; it will also include Roberto Mancini and Manchester City - a team that have just been knocked out of the Champions League, but are going from strength-to-strength in the Premier League.
A 5-0 win over Aston Villa underlined City's improvement domestically, and with Mancini, despite his denials, also under pressure to get the right results and keep his team up there at the top of the table, Benitez will have to be prepared for a real fight.
"It is a tough first game, at the top of the table," Benitez told the club's official website. "They are a very strong team physically, but they have pace, ability. "The strikers they can change, they have two they can change in who are as good as the first two.
"They have (David) Silva, (Samir) Nasri, (Yaya) Toure, who are all very dangerous, they are strong in defence and have a strong goalkeeper, so it is a tough, tough team to play against but okay, this is the Premier League, and when you want to compete and to win, it has to be against these teams."
Chelsea will be without John Terry, who will be out for another 2-3 weeks, while Frank Lampard has still not recovered from his injury. Daniel Sturridge has also been ruled out, meaning a start for Fernando Torres is very much on the cards - not that there was too much doubt about it anyway.
City are the only unbeaten team remaining in the Premier League after 12 games, and Mancini is determined to continue that run, while coming up against his fellow former Inter Milan manager. The Italian, however, might have to do without captain Vincent Kompany, who faces a late fitness test, while Gael Clichy has been ruled out. Mario Balotelli, though, is available and fit after shaking off a back injury.
"I hope Vinnie can recover but we won't know until tomorrow," Mancini said. "He is strong so there is a chance, but we will make a final decision on Saturday. Mario trained on Thursday so should be OK but Gael is still injured."
Expected lineups: Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole; Mikel, Ramires; Mata, Oscar, Hazard; Torres.
Manchester City: Hart; Maicon, Nastasic, Lescott, Kolarov; Barry, Toure; Nasri, Silva, Tevez; Aguero.
Prediction: 1-1
