City head to west London in bouyant mood. Can The Blues further close the gap on The Stretfords..?
Vital Quotes:
David Platt:
‘It’s a difficult game, it always is. Moreso under the lights at a tight ground, regardless of the fact that their team is likely to be completely different from their cup game. I’m sure that as a football club they’ll want to bounce back…I believe that from the beginning of December we have been very, very good. There is an assurance about our performances at the moment. There’s a control about them.’
Harry Redknapp:
‘It will be a tough game but I’m looking forward to it, it should be an interesting game. They’re strong and they’ve got a fantastic squad of players. But we’ve had some hard games lately at Chelsea, against Tottenham and West Ham away. They were difficult games but we performed well and we’ve got to do the same tomorrow. You just never know where your results are going to come fromm…who would have given us a chance at Chelsea?’
Queens Park Rangers Team News:
LATE FITNESS TEST:
Junior Hoilett
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Bobby Zamora
Player to watch: Loic Rémy
The £10 million capture from Marseille registered his first goal for QPR at West Ham with his first shot in England earlier this month and the French international has been tasked by Redknapp with spearheading the bid to avoid relegation. Rémy won’t need a second invitation to score should City’s defence lose any of it’s renowned concentration.
Manchester City Team News:
OUT:
Maicon
Micah Richards
John Guidetti
Vincent Kompany
Yaya Touré – International duty
Kolo Touré – International duty
Abdul Razak- International duty
LATE FITNESS TEST:
Matija Nastasic
Player to watch: Gareth Barry
Absolutely key to City’s current unbeaten run, the ultimate unsung hero is having a superb season in the City engine room, oozing assurance as he breaks up play and links up with the attack. Barry’s resurgence is underlined by his protection of central defence. He has started 7 of the last 8 games. The one in which he didn’t was the defeat at Sunderland. 6 of those 8 games registered clean sheets. First name on the team sheet for this correspondent.
Match Facts & Stats
THE NUMBERS GAME:
The Citizens have won the last 4 games against The R’s across all competitions. In each game City scored 3 goals.
City have won their last 4 league games, and 6 of the previous 7.
England Number 1 Joe Hart will make his 150th Premier League appearance for The Blues.
Defeat would mean QPR’s 100th reverse in the Premier League.
The R’s have not won any of the 16 league games in which they fell behind in this campaign.
FORM LAST 6 GAMES ALL COMPETITIONS:
QPR: WDDWDL
City: WWWWWW
HEAD TO HEAD:
League 17 City Wins, 14 Draws, 12 QPR Wins,
League Cup 4 City Wins, 1 Draw
FA Cup 1 City Win
Total: 22 City Wins, 15 Draws, 12 QPR Wins
THIS COULD BE THE LAST TIME:
Sa 01Sep 2012 Man City 3 – 1 QPR PL
Su 13May 2012 Man City 3 – 2 QPR PL
Sa 05Nov 2011 QPR 2 – 3 Man City PL
Tu 28Oct 2003 QPR 0 – 3 Man City LC
We 08Mar 2000 Man City 1 – 3 QPR Div One
Sa 06Nov 1999 QPR 1 – 1 Man City Div One
BETTING: QPR 13/2 Draw 7/2 City 1/2 Racing Post Soccerbase
TV COVERAGE:
LiveOnSat.com
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE GAME LIVE IN THE VMC FORUM
CLASSIC CITY TUBE: QPR v Manchester City, 11th April 1990
Ref Watch:
Philip Dowd of Staffordshire 4th Official Jonathan Moss -Last Season:
Su 07Aug 2011 Man Utd 3 – 2 Man City CS, Su 28Aug 2011 Tottenham 1 – 5 Man City PL, Sa 01Oct 2011 Blackburn 0 – 4 Man City PL, Su 18Dec 2011 Man City 1 – 0 Arsenal PL, We 25Jan 2012 Liverpool 2 – 2 Man City LCSF, Sa 31Mar 2012 Man City 3 – 3 Sunderland PL -This Season: Tu 25Sep 2012 Man City 2 – 4 Aston Villa LC, Sa 05Jan 2013 Man City 3 – 0 Watford FAC3 -2011/12: 36 Games, 94 Yellows, 4 Reds -2012/2013: 24 Games, 85 Yellows, 3 Reds.
Match Prediction:
Johnny On The Spot:
Underestimate Queens Park Rangers under Harold Redknapp at your peril. Put aside the periodic public slaggings of his players and his talk of ejecting them. They’ve been beaten once since the turn of the year and that was in an FA Cup write-off fielding a host of fringe players. In the league, the form is stabilising after a wretched December. So we need more of the same from Manchester City here. A tight knit away ground which rocks when spirits are up. But an opening City goal and I am sure any confidence will crumble. If City score early this should be a brandy and cigars job…The type of professional, controlled performance City showed in the win at Stoke is precisely what is required and I think we’ll get that despite the injury list creeping up again as quickly as it had receded. The Blues should have more than enough in the tank to secure a seventh consecutive win with the added incentive of sending the rags out against Southampton on Wednesday knowing that the hunters are still firmly on their tails. QPR 0 City 3
Next Fixtures:
all times East Manchester
Su 03Feb 16h00 Liverpool, The Etihad, PL
Sa 09Feb 17h30 Southampton, St Mary’s, PL
Sa/Su 16/17 Feb Leeds United, The Etihad, FAC5
Su 24Feb 13h30 Chelsea, The Etihad, PL
Mo 04Mar 20h00 Aston Villa, Villa Park, PL
Sa 09Mar 15h00 Wigan, The Etihad, PL
Sa 16Mar 12h45 Everton, Goodison Park, PL
Sa 30Mar 15h00 Newcastle, The Etihad, PL