By Greg Stobart As television executives looked to hype up the rivalry between Chelsea and Manchester City a few years ago, they came up with the term ‘El Cashico’. A neat pun, they thought, for games between two clubs that rose to prominence thanks to billionaire owners and contests that would be at the forefront of English football for the foreseeable future. Yet the name never really stuck and no amount of manufactured promotion can make up for the fact that Saturday’s match at Stamford Bridge does not feel as big as it should. It is supposed to be the most important game of the season, first against second, a potential title decider with Chelsea heading into the game five points clear of Manuel Pellegrini’s men. It is a match that features comfortably the two best teams in the country, with some of the best players on the planet on show in the likes of Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois. But it doesn’t capture the imagination like the great rivalries of the past. Where are the Roy Keanes and Patrick Vieiras? Where is the flying pizza? Where are the touchline spats and tunnel brawls? The 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium in September included a red card, a goal for Frank Lampard against his old club and a barb from Manuel Pellegrini that Chelsea played like a “small team”. And still there was something missing; intangible, maybe, but there is no X-factor. Chelsea’s win in their League Cup semi-final against Liverpool on Tuesday was so compelling for the very reason it had that edge. You could sense the tension – in the players, the supporters, the managers – they don’t like each other. Lampard’s return to Chelsea and some animosity between the two managers – Jose Mourinho succeeded Pellegrini at Real Madrid – will provide interesting sideshows on Saturday. 
But this modern rivalry needs a clasico rather than cashico if it’s to become a game fuelled with the same passion and anticipation of the great clashes between Manchester United and Arsenal at the start of the century. Maybe it is because Chelsea and City share such a similar history. United and Arsenal were already established powers, perennial challengers and multiple title-winners by the time the bad blood between the sides reached boiling point during the ‘battle of the buffet’ in October 2004. For Chelsea and City, it’s more sterile, especially with the combustible Diego Costa suspended, although Mourinho’s increasingly erratic behaviour in recent weeks suggests we can expect more touchline antics on Saturday. The Portuguese’s instinct on Saturday will be to approach the game cautiously in the knowledge that a draw would favour Chelsea and allow them to keep City at arm’s length. Yet the fact his side have been uncharacteristically poor defensively this month – they conceded five to Tottenham and four to Bradford – means City will fancy their chances of creating and taking chances. Liverpool’s first-half display against the Londoners on Tuesday will give City further hope of a result that can provide the spark not only for the title race but for the rivalry between the teams. After all, neither Chelsea nor City are going anywhere and they will be two of the major protagonists next season and for the foreseeable future. Then it won’t need any gimmicky titles to feel like the biggest game of the season.
GOAL
Sayelba Times 