Leicester v MAN CITY – FA Cup PREVIEW

Sven Goran Eriksson. Roberto Mancini. Darius Vassell. Greg Cunningham. Ben Mee. A list starting at a former England manager and ending with a potential future England captain, and all the components are links between the clubs. Whether it’s the great friendship between the managers or a pair of loan deals between the clubs, these two Cities, Manchester and Leicester have a certain amount in common.

Time constraints prevent me from detailing the in-depth links between the sides, but suffice to say, a novela could be scripted about the bond formed between Mancini and his former manager at Lazio and Sampdoria, Eriksson. The Swede holds the Italian in high esteem indeed, declaring earlier this week that Mancini as a player “was a genius”, whilst at the same time declaring that he “can win the Premier League with City.”

Sven himself was the City boss at the start of the infamous Thaksin Shinawatra régime, and will go down in Blues’ history forever for guiding the club to a double over Manchester United. The start of his reign as manager was certainly more successful than towards the end, but he did a very good job in charge of City and has taught Mancini many of the disciplines we now see on a weekly basis.

The Italian will have fond memories of the Walkers Stadium, having spent a brief time there at the end of his career. Although he only made four appearances for Leicester, he made a number of friends there and will relish his return. More recently, the relationship between the clubs has been strengthened by the loan deals that have sign Greg Cunningham and Ben Mee move to the Championship club, although the former of those two suffered heartbreak at the weekend when he broke his leg and will now miss the rest of the season.

Moving onto matters for this game, and Mancini faces a dilemma over his team selection. He clearly, along with the fans, wants to progress and win this competition, so there will be a temptation to field a strong side, but on the flip side, after a recent hectic schedule, he will want to rest some stars and give his fringe players a chance. I’d imagine that the likes of Dedryck Boyata, Joleon Lescott and Patrick Vieira will start, whilst Edin Džeko was registered too late to be handed a debut, but the rest of the side remains a mystery.

Here is the possible team Mancini may play:

                                              Given

Boateng             Boyata               Lescott              Kolarov

SWP                     Milner                Vieira            A. Johnson

                                 Jo                      Nimely

Subs: Hart, Kompany, Richards, Barry, Y. Touré, Tévez, Balotelli

Key Player: Darius Vassell - Played over 100 games for City, scoring seventeen goals. His finishing was never his strong point, but he has the pace to trouble many a defender. After a brief, unhappy spell in Turkey, he returned to these shores under the management of Eriksson and has proved to be an impressive signing for the Foxes. Incredibly, he has never finished on the losing side in a match in which he has scored. Bearing in mind, he has notched 55 goals in English football, that is quite some achievement. If he scores on Sunday, beware!

Referee: Mike Dean – Regarded very highly by the Premier League, Dean has a penchant for penalties so expect controversy at the Walkers Stadium.

Prediction: Leicester 1 - 2 MAN CITY - The home side are more than capable of causing us some problems, so combined with our propensity for embarrassing defeats, this could be a potential cupset. But I hope our quality will shine through in the end. Goals to be scored by Paul Gallagher, Adam Johnson and Jo.