Man City 4 - 1 Blackburn Rovers *Video* (Tevez 7', 49', 90', Richards 39', Pedersen 71')

Another win saw us move up to fourth spot in the table, Carlos Tevez was the driving force behind the teams performance last night.

City's and Tevez's first goal was scored off his knee after Benjani turned to drill the ball towards the goal. Our second was scored by Micah Richards, he picked the ball up in his own half and steamed towards the Blackburn box, he then passed to Benjani who hit the post but Micah was there to put the loose ball into the back of the net. Both of Tevez's other two goals we absolute crackers that he curled from outside the box and passed Paul Robinson. Goals and highlights below!!!!

We played well last night and each and every player can say that they played their part, I was very impressed with our whole back four and particularly Zabbo. Zabbo goes about what he does very quietly but oh boy he is effective, he put in a real strong performance last night and didn't put a foot wrong. Garrido was also steady again, he does get wrong side of his attacker at times but I am sure Mancini will soon knock that out of him. Lescott and Toure will have a job getting back into the defence at the moment because they are playing very well as a unit.

In the midfield I was impressed with Barry again, he seems to have put his bad form behind him, de Jong was also excellent again. I was a little disappointed with Bellamy and more than disappointed with Petrov, Bellamy just wasn't himself last night and Petrov may as well have not been playing. Bellamy just had an off night he wasn't bad as such but he wasn't good either, Petrov was a waste of space and did pretty much nothing, why he plays him on the right hand side I will never know because I am not even sure he knows what a right foot is!

And then there was our forwards Tevez was exceptional, think of every possible way of playing a game of football well and add them all together, that was Tevez's performance last night! Benjani wasn't to bad himself, although he drifted in and out at times he was really strong, held the ball up well and ran the line very well.

The players must see themselves that making the top four is in their hands, all we have to do is keep it going and we will have no problem with making the top four and maybe even getting higher than that.

Goals and highlights.

Man City vs Blackburn Rovers - Mon 11Th Jan 20:00 pm

A win against Blackburn tonight will see us make our way into the top four, hopefully we can do that and then stay there!

We convincingly beat Blackburn in our first game of the season and I don't see why this game should go any different. Blackburn will fight hard but lack what I believe to be any necessary class that they will need to defeat us.

I can't see Blackburn giving us any problems when going forward so for me it is just down to our attackers to stick the ball in the net, saying that I wouldn't take the likes of McCarthy and Roberts for granted because you would have to be stupid to do that but I still can't see how they will bother us if we defend properly.

We must win tonight to keep our momentum going, a place in the top four is ours for the taking if we apply ourselves properly. We have to continue to build on our good form of late and resend the message out to any doubters that we are a force to be reckoned with.

Man City Team News:
Patrick Vieira's debut is in the balance, he has been carrying a knock on his calf and is rated doubtful. There are also still concerns over the fitness of Shaun Wright-Phillips (ankle), Joleon Lescott (knee) and Nedum Onuoha (calf), SWP is said to be nearing fitness but whether he plays remains unknown, Lescott and Onuoha are not expected to feature. Wayne Bridge is close to fitness but expected to need another seven days of training before returning to the squad, Roque Santa Cruz is rated at 50/50 to make tonight's game. Kolo Toure is away at the African Cup of Nations and Adebayor is resting and trying to recover from the terrible incident he encountered this week.

Blackburn Rovers Team News:
Brett Emerton is looking to return to the the starting line up after being out with a groin injury, Vince Grella misses out due to a thigh strain and El-Hadji Diouf also misses out due to suspension.

Possible Man City Line Up: Given, Zabaleta, Richards, Kompany, Garrido, De Jong, Barry, Petrov, Robinho, Bellamy, Tevez.

Possible Blackburn Line Up: Robinson, Chimbonda, Nelsen, Samba, Givet, Emerton, Andrews, N'Zonzi, Pedersen, McCarthy, Roberts.

My Prediction: Man City 3 - 0 Blackburn Rovers.

Worth A Bet: Tevez bags two goals in a 3 - 0 City win.

* For anyone who normally parks in one of the stadium car parks like myself I would suggest maybe leaving a little earlier than normal, this week City said that they were using some of the car parks to store snow so maybe you will have to find alternative parking.

Blackburn 0 - 2 Man City ( Adebayor 2', Ireland 90') *Video*

City have opened the campaign with a win and away from home at that. It felt like a huge weight was lifted yesterday, considering how many eyes are on us this season.

We got a great start yesterday, Adebayor scoring after just a couple of minutes. Adebayor had pushed the ball forward to SWP and then made his way towards the box, SWP took Warnock on and layed off Adebayor who powerfully side footed it into the net. Our second goal by Ireland was simply class, Ireland was put through on goal and after making the keeper come out he held the ball up, it looked like he was going to square it and then changed his mind and turned towards goal. The way he finished you would have thought there was nobody in his way, it was superb. Video below!

We played alright yesterday, I thought we pretty much ran the game. Blackburn did have patches where they threatened but ultimately their route one football didn't break us down. First half there were some dodgy moments that were a little worrying to watch and we definitely could have played better than we were. Second half though we bossed the game, our class shone through and Blackburn couldn't really compete.

I think Hughes also deserves his credit from our win yesterday, I was quite surprised that he dropped De Jong and that he chose Richards over Zabaleta. For starters not only did he drop De Jong who has looked good in preseason, but he dropped him to play two strikers which is normally unheard of with Hughes. As for playing Richards who we all know was rubbish last season by his standards, well it turned out to be a great move. Micah Richards was absolutely brilliant yesterday, he was the Micah we all know he can be. Well done Hughes!

If we were to pick out a slightly weak part of our team yesterday then it would have been the defence. They were not terrible but there was a couple of situations we could have handled better. It was mainly because Dunne was being dragged out to the left where Bridge should have been, now Dunne will get all the flack because he is making last ditch tackles or not getting there at all, but really it is Bridge's fault. I do not know where he goes at times but he certainly is not in his position, it needs to be addressed.

With Wolves next up at home I am getting excited about us being able to gather some momentum and confidence. I don't want to get carried away that's for sure, but if we can beat all the average teams in the league which we should and take points from the games against the top four, we really have a chance of having a very good season.

Goals.

Blackburn Rovers vs Man City - Sat 15Th Aug 15:00 pm

Finally the season is upon us, our much anticipated season will begin with an away trip to Ewood Park.

I am as nervous as ever about tomorrows game, I think it is extremely important that we win and win well. After all the money we have spent and all the quality we have brought in, every football fan in the country will be looking for our result after the game has finished. I think it is very important that when they do check our score, they will see a score that suggests City won the game with ease. We must do our very best not to give people a reason to have a go at us after only one game.

Now to the game, as nervous as I am, I think City should be able to come away form Ewood Park with a victory. We are much stronger than they are and apart from kicking us as David Dunn has suggested, I don't see what they have in their team that will help them beat us. I think their team is lacking all the way through and I am certainly expecting us to breach what is not a strong defence.

I don't want to be to harsh on Blackburn they are a decent team, but if we were to come away with anything but a win it would be an opening day disaster.

City Team News:
Roque Santa Cruz has still not recovered from a knee operation and will miss the game. Vincent Kompany is still struggling with a toe injury and Michael Johnson is also out with an abdominal injury. Emanuel Adebayor is 50/50 after picking up a groin injury on International duty. Tevez, Bellamy, Toure and Onuoha are all expected to be fit.

Blackburn Team News:
Ryan Nelsen is struggling with a knee injury and may not play, Chris Samba and Vince Grella have been passed fit though and are both expected to start. Blackburn's new striker Nikola Kalinic is still awaiting a work permit and will miss the game.

Possible Man City Line Up: Given, Zabaleta, Dunne, Toure, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Barry, De Jong, Ireland, Robinho, Tevez.

Possible Blackburn Line Up: Robinson, Jacobsen, Warnock, Nelsen, Samba, Pedersen, Emerton, Andrews, Grella, Diouf, McCarthy.

My Prediction: Blackburn Rovers 1 - 3 Man City

Worth A Bet: Gareth Barry scores in a 1 - 3 City win.

Man City vs Blackburn Rovers - Sat 2nd May 15:00 pm

Blackburn next and considering our form at the moment particularly our home form, this should be a home win. Blackburn are fighting for their lives though and will not give us an easy game.

After our wonderful win and performance at Everton, this game is a must win. If we do win this game it will really set us up for our last ditch attempt at finishing 7Th, it will also give the team even more confidence ahead of a certain away match.

I was really happy with our win at Everton, most importantly we came away with three points but the players application also seemed spot on. I am sure that if we play in the same way on Saturday then Blackburn are in for a beating and maybe even a hammering.

Without tempting fate I feel really confident about this game and I am not that nervous. I think the win against Everton has given me most of that confidence, for a change in an away game we saw City go and run the game and dictate play, we even kept our shape!

I am definitely expecting an easy victory tomorrow, the only thing I think we have to worry about is Christopher Samba playing up front because we dont really deal with aerial threats to well. At the same time though I expect the ball to be in their half for the majority of the game so Samba shouldn't be a problem.

City team news:
Bellamy (knee), Zabaleta (hamstring), Sturridge (hip) and Wright-Phillips (ankle) all miss out with injury. Micah Richards should be fit after coming off injured against Everton. After good performances for the reserves Bojinov and Petrov are expected to be in the squad.

Blackburn Rovers team news:
David Dunn (Achilles), Roque Santa Cruz (knee) and Jason Roberts (fractured metatarsal) will all be missing for the away team.

Possible Man City line up: Given, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Bridge, De Jong, Kompany, Elano, Ireland, Robinho, Caicedo.

Possible Blackburn Rovers line up: Robinson, Ooijer, Nelsen, Givet, Warnock, Diouf, Grella, Tugay, Pedersen, Samba, McCarthy.

My prediction: Man City 4 - 0 Blackburn Rovers

Worth a bet: Caicedo, Robinho and Ireland all score in a
4 - 0 City win, a 3 - 0 score line to back up the 4 - 0 might be worth having.