The Premier League's biggest spenders go head to head on Saturday when Manchester City host Chelsea, but apart from lavishing huge amounts of cash on their respective projects the approaches of the clubs' owners vary wildly.

Roman Abramovich: Eight trophies for £720 million investment ©Getty Photos

The most obvious example of this can be seen in their attendance at matches. While Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich can invariably be seen in the VIP seats with his shirt sleeves rolled-up, living every moment of his team's games with a dead-pan expression, it took Sheikh Mansour two-years to even attend his first home match - last month's 3-0 win against Liverpool.

Current Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti has waxed lyrical about how Abramovich is a man who lives and breathes football and even revealed in his book that the billionaire held two clandestine meetings prior to his appointment to sound out the former AC Milan coach about his plans for the future of Chelsea.

Even though Abramovich's eagerness to be hands-on may have back-fired on occasion - signing £30 million flop Andrei Shevchenko and hastening Jose Mourinho's exit with his attempts to become involved in team matters - at least his obvious interest in the sport offers plausible reasons for becoming involved in football.

It is hard to imagine Sheikh Mansour being knowledgeable enough to grill his new manager on tactics and transfer targets. And his motivation for buying Manchester City, a team he presumably had no interest in when they were in the second tier of English football in 2002, is hard to fathom - is it just an expensive PR stunt to promote Abu Dhabi via the most popular league in the world?

Abramovich bought Chelsea at a time in 2003 when they were already challenging for titles and competing in the Champions League, the transition from contenders to winners was minimal, if highly expensive. Abramovich's £720 million investment in Chelsea over seven years has returned three Premier League titles, three FA Cups, the League Cup twice and a Champions League final.

Mansour took over a team that was going nowhere despite a moderate investment by predecessor Thaksin Shinawatra in a city where Manchester United have the monopoly on success. After pouring £650 million into the club there is still nothing to show for his investment apart from a collection of over-priced players.

While Abramovich is now in a position where he can be patient, if need be, in his quest for results as his team evolves under a relatively new manager, Mansour's City are desperate for the immediate gratification of silverware and, at the very least, a place in the Premier League’s top four.

With City crashing out of the Carling Cup in midweek, their 35-year wait for a major trophy could be set to continue for yet another season and a defeat against free-scoring Chelsea on Saturday will show the new boys just how far they have to go, and how much more they will have to spend, to buy a place at the top-table.

City may suffer the same nouveau riche-related criticisms that flew in Chelsea's direction back in 2003, but that is where the similarities end.