Manchester City Vs. Chelsea: Carlos Tevez Starts On Bench, Confirmed Team Lineups

Carlos Tevez has been named as a substitute for Manchester City's crucial Premier League encounter with Chelsea at the Etihad.

Tevez has not featured for the City first-team since manager Roberto Mancini accused the striker of refusing to come on as a substitute against Bayern Muinich in the Champions League last September.

After being punished severely, Tevez spent a long period in his homeland of Argentina before returning to Manchester last month. The lineups have also been confirmed for both teams ahead of the match-up.

City will start Micah Richards in the center of defense with both Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott not deemed suitably fit to feature. Although Richards played a season at center-back, he has since established himself firmly in the position of right-back.

The selection would seem to reveal the lack of faith in Stefan Savic, who has played recently in the absence of City's regular pairing in defense.

For Chelsea, Roberto Di Matteo has chosen to go with Fernando Torres in the central striking role ahead of Didier Drogba. Torres broke his goal drought with two goals in the 5-2 FA Cup victory over Leicester at the weekend.

Chelsea have also stuck with Mikel John Obi in midfield, along with Frank Lampard and Raul Meireles.

City desperately need the three points in order to reduce the gap at the top of the Premier League to just one point behind rivals Manchester United.

The match is also of massive significance to Chelsea, who currently sit three points behind Arsenal in the battle for the final Champions League spot for next season.

To get details on where to watch a live stream of the match, click here.

Confirmed teams:

Manchester City: Hart; Zabaleta, Richards, Toure, Clichy, Yaya Toure, De Jong; Nasri, Silva Agüero, Balotelli Subs: Pantilimon, Kolarov, Savic, Milner, Barry, Dzeko, Tevez

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole, Mikel, Ramires, Meireles, Lampard, Mata, Torres Subs: Turnbull, Bosingwa, Essien, Malouda, Drogba, Kalou, Sturridge