Man City vs Tottenham Hotspur - Preview

        Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur
        Saturday 18th October, Etihad Stadium
                              Kick Off 12:45
                     Referee: Jonathan Moss

Finally the International break is over and we can get back to league football, it has only been two weeks but it seems like an eternity since our last game, hopefully we will be raring to go.

 

It always feels like its a fresh start after an International break and where that might work for some teams, I don't think that the break came at the right time for us this time around.

We have taken eight points from our last four games which included games against Arsenal and Chelsea, we brushed aside Hull and Villa without breaking much of a sweat and were clearly starting to click, hopefully the break will not break our momentum.

 

As for Spurs, well I haven't managed to see a great deal of them this season so I cannot possibly judge them to much, they clearly have a talented squad and some outstanding individual players and will surely pose a threat.

 

Last season we smashed Spurs twice and although I am not expecting that to happen in this game, I still think that we will win the game quite comfortably.

 

Like I said I haven't seen Spurs play loads this season but when I have seen them play I felt like they were lacking defensively, a lot of their midfield is attack minded and the defence is not protected well enough, once you do break through what is effectively a two man midfield then you hit two centre backs that lack the pace to keep up with the likes of Silva and Aguero and I think that we will capitalise on that.

 

Man City Team News

Samir Nasri continues to recover from a groin injury, Fernandinho is expected to miss out with a hamstring problem and Eliaquim Mangala is also set to miss out after returning from International duty with a muscle injury, Yaya Toure only got back from International duty on Thursday and may be rested.

 

Tottenham Hotspur Team News

Hugo Lloris (thigh) and Nacer Chadli (hip) did not feature for their Countries this week but are likely to be fit enough to make Tottenham's match day squad at the very least, Emmanuel Adebayor and Nabil Bentaleb only returned from International duty on Friday and may be rested, Kyle Naughton (ankle) and Kyle Walker (pelvis) remain sidelined.

 

Possible Man City Line Up
Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Milner, Toure, Fernando, Silva, Aguero, Dzeko.

 

Possible Tottenham Hotspur Line Up

Lloris, Dier, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Rose, Capoue, Mason, Eriksen, Lamela, Chadli, Soldado.

 

My Prediction

Man City 3 - 0 Spurs.

 

Worth A Bet

Pablo Zabaleta scores the first goal in a 3 - 0 Man City win @ 200/1.



Man City vs Chelsea - Preview

            Manchester City vs Chelsea
 Sunday 21st September, Etihad Stadium
                        Kick Off 16:00
                   Referee: Mike Dean

Following tough games against Arsenal and Bayern we finally get an easy run out against Chelsea, in all seriousness this is potentially a vital game for us even though it is still early in the season.

Chelsea come to us tomorrow having won all of their league games this season, they have a good manager, a good team and they are scoring goals, it does not take a rocket scientist to work out that they will cause us some serious problems.

I expect Mourinho to try and conduct one of his tactical master plans against us tomorrow, we have seen him do it a few times in big games since he has returned to Stamford Bridge, he clearly orders possession and patience as well as solid defending and it works very well because he knows that his team can still score goals at the same time.

This is an important game for us, if we don't win the game then we could end up eight points behind Chelsea after just five games and it would take a brave person to suggest that Chelsea would relinquish such a lead even though it is very early into the season, I certainly wouldn't expect City to.

I would like to see Pellegrini send out a team that is all about attacking because Chelsea have been conceding goals, they haven't played any of the big boys yet and two of the teams they have faced have just been promoted, it certainly points towards defensive frailties.

I am feeling unsure again when it comes to predicting a result, not because I am worried about the prospect of facing Chelsea, more because I don't know which City will turn up.
I felt we played better against Arsenal and did well against Bayern but it is still clear that all of our cogs are not turning, if they do start to click into gear then I would back us to beat not only Chelsea but anyone.

Man City Team News
Stevan Jovetic continues to recover from a hamstring injury and Fernando is also set to miss out again as he is still suffering with a groin injury, Dzeko was said to be suffering from a back injury but is expected to be in the squad.

Chelsea Team News
Diego Costa will start despite carrying a hamstring injury, Chelsea are thought to have no other injury worries.

Possible Man City Line Up

Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Navas, Toure, Fernandinho, Silva, Aguero, Dzeko.

Possible Chelsea Line Up
Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Fabregas, Matic, Schurrle, Oscar, Hazard, Costa.

My Prediction
Man City 3 - 1 Chelsea.

Worth A Bet
Fernandinho scores the first goal in a 3-1 Man City win @ 190/1.



Arsenal vs Man City - Preview

               Arsenal vs Manchester City
Saturday 13th September, Emirates Stadium
                           Kick off 12:45
               Referee: Mark Clattenburg


Firstly in case you thought I had done one again, unfortunately I haven't, there was an issue with my URL being recognised but hopefully it is sorted now.

Tomorrows game, both ourselves and Arsenal go into tomorrows game on the back of a poor result last time out and since I don't expect Arsenal or City to drop points so easily very often, I would imagine that we are in for a decent game tomorrow.

There is no doubt that we are or should be in for a tough game tomorrow, Arsenal have a quality group of players and a quality manager, the only thing I am not sure about is how good those players are as a team.
As I said Arsenal have some very good players but they haven't done anything yet that suggests that they are anything special as a team, a narrow win against Palace and two hard fought draws against Everton and Leicester, it doesn't exactly blow you away.
It doesn't mean I don't think they are capable though, it is obvious to see what Arsenal could achieve if everything clicks.
Wenger has made some good signings, in fact potentially great signings, of course there is Sanchez, but for me Welbeck could be a masterstroke, I wouldn't have minded him at City if I am honest because in attack minded teams like ours and Arsenal I am convinced that he will score goals.
A lot of people are discounting Arsenal when it comes to the title and personally I think that's a big mistake, I hope that we don't discount them on the pitch tomorrow.

If Arsenal haven't blown me away yet then I certainly can't claim that City have, the pathetic loss to Stoke is still annoying me.
We can't afford to play like that again this season, especially not during the next three games or we will end up on the end of a hammering.
On the flip side, if we play to our potential then we are going to hand out a lot of hammerings, I just hope that we can click tomorrow beat Arsenal and find a good level of consistency ready for the games that follow, for that to happen the whole team need to start pulling their weight, something that we haven't seen so far this season.

I am unsure of what I think the result will be tomorrow which is strange for me, I don't think either team has shown enough to predict a result based on form or feeling, my heart says that we will win because we are the better team, but my head is interfering with that feeling a little bit.
I don't think that we will get beat but maybe that we could draw, I will however go for a City win just because on paper as it were, we are the better team.

Man City Team News
Stevan Jovetic's bad luck with injuries continues after picking up a hamstring injury on international duty which will see him miss the game, Fernando also misses out with a groin injury.
Zabaleta picked up a knock on International duty but should be ok and Mangala could make his debut.

Arsenal Team News
Aaron Ramsey will face a late fitness test after injuring his ankle playing for Wales, Arteta (ankle), Ospina (thigh) and Gibbs (hamstring) are all expected to be available for selection, Mesut Ozil is also expected to be fit after spraining his ankle on national duty. Walcott and Gnabry both miss out with knee injuries and Olivier Giroud continues to recover from a fractured foot.

Possible Man City Line Up
Hart, Zabaleta, Mangala, Kompany, Clichy, Nasri, Toure, Fernandinho, Silva, Aguero, Dzeko.

Possible Arsenal Line Up
Szczesny, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Alexis, Carzola, Ozil, Sanogo, Welbeck.

My Prediction
Arsenal 1 - 2 Man City.

Worth a bet
David Silva scores the first goal in a 1 - 2 Man City win @ 50/1.

Man City vs Stoke City - Preview

               Manchester City vs Stoke City
       Saturday 30th August, Etihad Stadium
                             Kick off 15:00
                       Referee: Lee Mason

Next up at the Etihad Stadium are Stoke City, Stoke lost their first game and could only manage a draw in their second game despite playing against ten men for 75 minutes, it is quite easy to suggest that it is doubtful that they will pose much of a threat to us.

It is never my intention to disrespect any of our opponents but I don't see what Stoke can bring to the game that will cause us any problems.
In their first home game of the season they were beaten by Aston Villa, a team that are more or less on par with Stoke, they didn't really cause Villa any problems and lost the game with a whimper.
In their second game of the season they could only manage a draw against a Hull side playing with ten men for most of the game, now I didn't manage to watch as much of this game as I would have liked so I wont say to much but the basic facts involved don't make good reading.

The good thing about Stoke these days is that they aren't as boring to watch as they used to be, they don't just try to defend and hoof anymore, Hughes has them trying to play football a bit more.
There is a couple of decent players in their team that could cause us problems but the main player I think we need to watch is Arnautovic, he always looks a good player when I see him play, he likes to attack and he isn't scared to have a pop.
I also think it is worth keeping an eye on Bardsley if he plays tomorrow, in my opinion Bardsley is under rated, he is good at going forward and can weigh in with a goal, he definitely could be the source of an unsuspected threat.

As for us, we have started the season well enough, 2 games, 6 points, 5 goals, not bad at all but there is much more to come.
We have conjured moments of brilliance in our first two games that have turned into goals, but we haven't played a full 90 minutes of football where we have been consistently good. I know it is only early season and I do believe that we are going to get better and better, we are entering our third game now though and should be fit enough and sharp enough to really turn it on.

As you have probably worked out by now, I expect us to win this game and win it comfortably at that, in fact I expect us to absolutely hammer them.

Man City Team News
Alvaro Negredo is the only definite absentee with a broken foot, Eliaquim Mangala is again expected to miss out due to a lack of fitness.

Stoke City Team News
Victor Moses may not be deemed match fit and is expected to start on the bench, Geoff Cameron is set to miss out with a thigh problem, Bojan Krkic (rib) and Phil Bardsley (knee) were both expected to miss out but some reports now suggest that they may be included in the team.

Possible Man City Line Up
Hart, Zabaleta, Demichelis, Kompany, Kolarov, Nasri, Toure, Fernando, Silva, Jovetic, Dzeko.

Possible Stoke City Line Up
Begovic, Bardsley, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters, Sidwell, Whelan, Odemwingie, N'Zonzi, Arnautovic, Crouch.

My Prediction
Man City 5 - 0 Stoke City.

Worth A Bet
Fernando scores the first goal in a 5-0 Man City win @ a massive 260/1.

Man City vs FC Viktoria Plzen - Wed 27th Nov 2013 KO 19:45

How refreshing to be going into a Champions League tie at this stage of the competition without having to worry about qualification, of course we still want to win but it will be nice to sit in the Etihad and watch City without any pressure.

Having just smashed Spurs six nil in the league, we now go on to face bottom of our European group at home, the possibilities are of course endless.

We are not going to put six goals past every team that visits the Etihad but we should be looking at putting a few past Plzen, players are bound to be rested for this game but with our squad being so strong the lads that do play should be able to cruise to a comfortable victory.

Now I know some people who will argue that there is pressure because we want to finish top of the group, I would have to disagree, finishing top of the group would be nice but only for the significance of being numero uno. I keep hearing people saying that its important because it means that we get an easier tie in the next round, that is a load of nonsense, every game after the groups will be tough, if we finish second in our group are the teams that finish first in theirs going to get an easy tie?

The only ones who should feel any pressure tomorrow are the players who come in, the likes of Dzeko, Hart and Richards need to impress when they get the chance if they are to get regular football and these games provide the perfect opportunity for them to do that.

Man City Team News: Vincent Kompany (thigh) was expected to be named in the squad after training with the team but Pellegrini has now ruled him out, David Silva (calf) and Stevan Jovetic (calf) are also not ready to feature. Jack Rodwell is again suffering with a knock but Aleksandar  Kolarov is expected to return from illness.

FC Viktoria Plzen Team News: No information seems to be available regarding injuries but upon seeing their squad sheet for the game it seems that Plzen have no major injury concerns.

Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Richards, Boyata, Lescott, Kolarov, Milner, Fernandinho, Garcia, Navas, Toure, Dzeko.

Possible FC Viktoria Plzen Line Up: Kozáčik, Rajtoral, Procházka, Hejda, Limberský, Hořava, Horvath, Petržela, Kolář, Kovařík, Tecl.

My Prediction: Man City 4 - 0 FC Viktoria Plzen.

Worth A Bet: James Milner scores the first goal in a 4 - 0 Man City win @ 70/1.

Stoke City vs Man City - Sat 14th September 15:00 pm

Tomorrows trip sees us travel to the Britannia stadium to face a Stoke team that have made a good start to the season. We will be coming up against our former boss Mark Hughes and possibly our former Irish star Stephen Ireland, who will both have a point to prove against their former employers.

Stoke is always a tough trip to make and from what I have seen of them so far this season, tomorrow will be no different. Hughes has got them playing some good football, Stoke are notorious for their no nonsense, long ball and just down right basic football tactics and although it has served them well at times in the past, things seem to be changing. Hughes is clearly implementing a different style of football and so far he is doing a good job of it, his Stoke team have been passing the ball really well, their movement is sharper and basically all round they are a classier looking outfit.

The worry for me in tomorrows game is that Stoke revert to their old game plan and set up to shut us out, as is common knowledge we don't seem to know how to break teams down that put men behind the ball, couple this with the fact Stoke are capable of playing a passing game now and it could be the perfect formula to beat us.

As for us, I am hoping that the International break has given Pellegrini the time he needed to figure out why the team are not performing near to the level that they are capable of. We have to start performing, you do not win titles playing the way that we are. We are lacking in midfield, lacking in effort and we are certainly lacking a plan B, things that you would expect a top manager to be able to put right and quickly at that.

Man City Team News:
Our bad run of injuries continues with Kompany (groin), Silva (thigh), Clichy (thigh), Richards (hamstring) and Demichelis (knee) all missing out, Stevan Jovetic had a slight problem with his hamstring during the International break but is expected to be available for selection.

Stoke City Team News:
Marc Muniesa misses out with a groin injury whilst last minute signings Marko Arnautovic and Stephen Ireland are expected to feature.

Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Lescott, Kolarov, Nasri, Toure, Fernandinho, Navas, Aguero, Negredo.

Possible Stoke City Line Up: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Huth, Pieters, Walters, N'Zonzi, Adam, Wilson, Etherington, Jones.

My Prediction: Stoke City 0 - 2 Man City.

Worth A Bet: Aguero scores the first goal in a 2 - 0 Man City win @ 22/1.

New official City website is awesome!

I have just got back from the preview of the new official website and I have to say they have done a tremendous job.

I was debating whether to go into detail about the new site or just give you a general idea, I have decided just to give a really brief insight into the features. If I tell you too much I think it would ruin your experience of what is a great site.

City have basically covered everything that the readers of my blog were most concerned about, they have added an academy section which will help us to watch the development of players, you can now look at player stats in depth, the online shop has been improved, MCFCTV has been scrapped and a large selection of video content will be a available on the site free to everyone, there is a live score centre on match days that can be scrolled back to the beginning in case you miss kick off and City have even thought of a good way to bring blogs like my own and the official site together without it being messy.

To be honest City have pulled out all the stops here and have covered pretty much everything that my readers wanted, on top of that there was many many more great features, it is hard to remember them all! The site launches on the 1st of July so make sure you get on and have a look, I will find it unbelievable if you find any kind of problem with it. We will certainly be the best in England when it comes to our website.

All the people involved in the making of the website should take a bow, you have done a fantastic job!

It was also nice to see City really appreciate the fans by inviting me and others alike along to such an event, this kind of relationship with the fans is more than helpful. I really appreciated being taken into account when they were thinking about one of the clubs decisions. It was a good night and a good experience and I also think the people at City who organised it should get alot of credit.