MAN CITY v Leicester – FA CUP PREVIEW – Teamnews and Prediction
17 Jan
Man City v Leicester City – Round Two. Well, it’s actually Round Three but you get what I mean. After a pulsating 2-2 last week at the Walkers Stadium, Man City play host to their counterparts from Leicester in the FA Cup third round replay. Both sides are desperate to progress to the next stage of the competition, where they would face an away match against Notts County. Not just a battle on the pitch, this is a contest between the two managers, good friends Roberto Mancini and Sven Goran Eriksson.
Time constraints prevent me from detailing the in-depth relationship between the managers, but suffice to say, a novela could be scripted about the bond formed between Mancini and his former boss at Lazio and Sampdoria, Eriksson. The Swede holds the Italian in high esteem indeed, declaring before the first tie 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.
After such a hard fought game last time round, when Mancini opted to rest a number of his first team stars, there must be a temptation to field a strong team. However, I expect the manager to stick to his guns and name a number of fringe players, including the likes of Patrick Vieira, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Shay Given. Personally, I’d prefer to see Joe Hart in net as Given fails to command his box; something needed against a sixe so powerful in the air like Leicester. Also, I, along with many other City fans, want to see Jérôme Boateng partner Vincent Kompany at centre-back, but Joleon Lescott will probably get the nod, whilst new signing Edin Džeko is unavailable, having not been registered in time for the first leg.
Here is the possible team Mancini may play:
Given
Boateng Kompany Lescott Kolarov
SWP Milner Vieira A. Johnson
Silva
Tévez
Subs: Hart, K. Touré, Zabaleta, Barry, Y. Touré, De Jong, Jo
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, as proved at the Walkers Stadium. 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 Tuesday, beware!
Prediction: MAN CITY 3 – 1 Leicester – The visitors pose a huge threat from set-pieces but if we can get the ball on the ground and pass it around, we should be OK. Goals to be scored by David Silva, Carlos Tévez and Adam Johnson, with a consolation from Sol ‘La La La’ Bamba.
My mate who supports Leicester says Vassell is injured mate. And the Yak is also not available meaning they could struggle to get a decent striker out there, probably be Steve Howard up front
Boyata is a very talented young player and I believe his opportunities should not be limited due his mistake in Arsenal game. Everyone, including experienced ones such as Lescott, is prone to mistake. As mentioned in the article, I would fancy seeing Boating beside Kompany and Boyata on the right flank.
I can not also help wondering how well Micheal Johnson would fare in place of Vieira?
Does anyone know why Ade is not played?
Ade is not playing due to bust up with Mancini. Michael Johnson is nowhere near match fit yet which is why he won’t play..
I would agree with your team sheet and prediction but as much as I’d like him to, I really do not think Mancini will play SWP from the start. I think he’s more likely to play one of the three main men in the middle, (Barry, Toure or De Jong) and ship Milner out wide. Leicester played well in the first game and I don’t think Mancini will risk another non performance from Shaun, who for me has just not taken to the challenge that the new faces have presented. I do think we think we will win tomorrow though and I am hoping it is us who starts the quicker for a change, something that we have not done since the game against Villa, and bag 2 or 3 goals and make this a nice easy night. I am hoping Eriksson has one eye on his team’s 6 pointer against Millwall on Saturday and will also field an understrength team as he deems promotion to be of greater importance. But then again, I am also hoping he gives the same team talk to Leicester as he did before his last game in charge of City when we got trounced at Middlesborough 8-1. Final thought, 2-0 to the City of Manchester.
Really enjoyed this preview – nice to see an in depth look rather than most blogs which just glance over the main issues. I predict a 2-0 City win. Dzeko and Tévez to score.
A stunning article about a match that, frankly, we should have won last week.
I’m sure we will wrap it up fairly early on so that we will be able to take the big guns off and give some match time to those that are bench-warmers, water boys and pirennial warmers up.