On Sky
Will this Easter weekend see City resurrect their title challenge?
Vital Quotes:
Manuel Pellegrini:
‘ There has been an important amount of injuries during this season but not only for our team,’ he announced. ‘We have played so many games with a lot of intensity but normally all the other teams who play in all the competitions have a lot of injuries. Of course, it is a problem. I am absolutely sure the other teams will drop points in the same way we did in the last game. We have 15 more points to play for and we will try and win the most amount of points. Then, at the end of the season, we will see who has the title. All of us want to win as much as we can. We must try to finish this season in the best way.”
Pepe Mel:
“The biggest job now that the technical team has is to lift the players. The players have done well and they deserve to have more points. We don’t consider we will lose to Manchester City. We also have two very important home games against West Ham and Stoke and an extremely important trip to Sunderland. If we keep doing things in the vain we have then things will go for us. We’ve won two and drawn two of the last five games. I’d love to know how many points we’ll need, as the table changes on a weekly basis. We feel we need four more points.’
Manchester City Team News:
OUT:
Y Toure; Navas ; Nastasic
LATE FITNESS TEST:
Silva
City from: Hart; Pantilimon; Zabaleta; Richards; Lescott; Kompany; Demichelis; Clichy; Boyata; Nasri; Fernandinho; Kolarov; Rodwell; Milner; Garcia; Dzeko; Negredo; Aguero; Jovetic
Player to watch: Fernandinho Luiz Roza
Brazil international, Fernando Luiz Rosa arrived into Manchester with extensive experience of the Champions League, having appeared for Shakhtar Donetsk in the tournament for the past eight seasons. A box-to-box midfielder blessed with an explosive turn of pace, marathon lung power and the ability to break up opposition moves he has slotted into the centre of midfield and delivered performances which have forced into serious contention for a place in Brazil`s World Cup squad. The absence of his regular midfield partner Yaya Toure through injury may see him forced into a slightly more forward role than he has been used to but his battles with WBA midfielder Mulumbu are all the more likely to remain an area where the fate of this game could be decided.
West Bromwich Albion Team News:
OUT:
Gera
LATE FITNESS TEST:
Olsson; Morrison
West Brom from: Foster; Reid; Ridgewell; McAuley; Mulumbu; Amalfitano; Dorrans ; Vydra; Sessegnon; Brunt; Myhill; Yacob; Anichebe; Dawson; Jones; Berahino; Bifouma Koulossa
Player to watch: Youssouf Mulumbu
Bought for a fee of £175,000 the midfielder from the DR Congo has proved to be a stalwart in the WBA since joing the club in July 2009. Having made over 160 appearances for the club he sits in the engine room of the WBA midfield and his encounters with Fernandinho are could well have a significant impact on the outcome of the game.
Match Facts & Stats
THE NUMBERS GAME:
West Brom have kept only one clean sheet in their last fourteen matches
West Brom`s top goalscorer this season is Berahino with 8 goals.
Despite his injury plagued season Aguero remains City`s top scorer with 26 goals in all competitions.
City & West Brom match each other in the FA Disciplinary table with both clubs having accumulated 64 bookings each
Head To Head
League: 57 City Wins, 27 Draws, 49 West Brom Wins
League Cup: 2 City Wins, 2 West Brom Wins
Other Cup: 1 City Win , 1 Draw, 1 West Brom Win
FA Cup: 1 City Win, 1 Draw, 2 West Brom Wins
Total: 61 City Wins, 29 Draws, 54 West Brom Wins.
This Could Be The Last Time:
We 04Dec 2013 West Brom 2 – 3 Man City
Tu07 May 2013 Man City 1 – 0 West Brom
Sa 20 Oct 2012 West Brom 1 – 2 Man City
We 11 Apr 2012 Man City 4 – 0 West Brom
Mo 26 Dec 2011West Brom 0 – 0 Man City
Sa 05 Feb 2011 Man City 3 – 0 West Brom
Betting: City 1/5 Draw 7/1 West Brom 15/1 Racing Post Soccerbase.
TV Coverage: Sky Sports 1 & Sky Sports 1HD
LiveOnSat.com.
FORM LAST SIX FIXTURES ALL COMPETITIONS:B
CITY: WWDWLD
WEST BROM: LWLDWD
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE GAME LIVE IN THE VMC FORUM
CLASSIC CITY: 1970 League Cup Final. Check out the state of the pitch?. West Brom 1-2 Man City 2005/2006
Ref Watch:
Phil Dowd of Staffordshire – 2013-14 season G23, Y102, R3, 4.70 cards per game 4th Official: R Madley of West Riding
Match Prediction:
Skoorb On The Spot:After a season which started with such promise and where City have at times played some scintillating football they could find themselves kicking off Monday evening`s game against relegation threatened West Brom 9 points behind league leaders and media darlings (aka the-team-that-can-do-no-wrong) Liverpool. After a bruising week which saw City concede a sloppy winner to their title rivals and then struggle to deal with current bogey team Sunderland they find themselves with the title chances in danger of receding over the horizon. City go into this game plagued by the injuries which have dogged their campaign from the outset. With Toure & Navas definitely ruled out City can only hope that their midfield maestro David Silva passes a late fitness test as they were bereft without his talismanic touch and vision against Sunderland. With Aguero still recovering from his latest hamstring injury, Negredo still unable to locate his early season form (whoever has hidden it in the changing rooms can they please return it to him, the joke is no longer funny), Vincent Kompany appearing to be less than 100% fit and Toure absent, the critical spine of the team has been seriously compromised. However when one door closes another opens and opportunity knocks for some of City`s squad to show that they can step up & there could be no better time for Stefan Jovetic to step up and show his undoubted quality as City face a West Brom side that find themselves in seventeenth place and perilously close to the relegation trap door. After dropping two points despite taking a three goal lead against an erratic Spurs last weekend you can rest assured that Pepe Mel will have watched City`s Mr Hyde performance against Sunderland last Wednesday and have taken heart that they can get something from this game. City will be hoping that results go their way over the weekend and that they can seize the opportunity to resurrect their title challenge. City 2 West Brom 1
Next Fixtures:
All times East Manchester
Su 27 April 16h10 Crystal Palace, Selhurst Park PL
Sa 03 May 15h00 Everton, Goodison Park PL
We 07 May 19h45 Aston Villa PL
Su 11 May 15h00 West Ham United, The Etihad, PL