MAN CITY v Villarreal: The PREVIEW – City’s Probable Team
17 Oct
Fancy a flutter? City to win 3-1 is very tempting at 11/1, whilst the first goal to come from a free-kick has the fantastic odds of 19/1. In addition, Sergio Aguero to score first and City to win 3-1 is 35/1. Feel confident that you can predict the outcome? Got an instinct who will score first? Click HERE to bet on the game.
Our third ever match in the UEFA Champions League and it’s a must-win. If that seems a touch melodramatic, then it serves to highlight just how difficult this competition is. After the home draw with Napoli, followed by the Bayern Munich defeat, this game, the first of a double header against Villarreal, takes on an even greater importance. A defeat and our hopes of qualifying are shattered; a draw and we hang on by our fingertips; a win and we’re right back in the thick of it.
With both Napoli and Bayern Munich recording victories over our Spanish opponents, the onus is now on us to do the same. A pair of successes would put us right back in contention to advance and I wouldn’t be surprised to see us defeat Villarreal twice. Our squad is packed full of quality players, adept at performing under pressure and the time is now for them to show us their indubitable ability.
Roberto Mancini is without Mario Balotelli, whose recent performances have been superb, but the manager will welcome back Sergio Aguero after the Argentinean missed the Aston Villa game with injury. David Silva and Samir Nasri will also come into the side, whilst Edin Dzeko is pushing for a start, dependant on how positive Mancini intends to be. In defence, I’d expect him to retain the same quartet that defeated Villa, although he plumped for Kolo Toure ahead of Joleon Lescott against Bayern Munich, much to everyone’s surprise.
Here is the side Mancini could select:
Villarreal, although they lost their first two group games, aren’t exactly pushovers and do possess a couple of quality players. Giuseppe Rossi, formerly of Manchester United and Barcelona, is a proven goalscorer and his movement could cause our defence problems, whilst Nilmar is a highly rated Brazil international.
Referee: Pavel Kralovec – A 34 year old engineer from the Czech Republic. In the domestic Czech league, he has only given out six red cards in his past 77 matches. Lenient.
Prediction: MAN CITY 3 – 1 Villarreal – I think we’ll win this one fairly convincingly. The time feels right that we’ll produce a confident performance and I’d be surprised if we didn’t score a few goals. Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Edin Dzeko to get on the scoresheet for City, with Giuseppe Rossi in reply for the visitors.
Fancy a flutter? City to win 3-1 is very tempting at 11/1, whilst the first goal to come from a free-kick has the fantastic odds of 19/1. In addition, Sergio Aguero to score first and City to win 3-1 is 35/1. Feel confident that you can predict the outcome? Got an instinct who will score first? Click HERE to bet on the game.
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A very positive post! I am not so optimistic to be honest. We seem to be suckers for any team that is highly organised and willing to sit and wait for the right time to hit us on the break. Napoli waited for long periods with a back 3 which was a back 7 without the ball! But when they decided to attack, it’s like we didn;t see it coming and had players grossly out of position. Same against Munich. In fact, same against Kiev last season. We either need an early goal to open up the game, or we need to play the way we played in the prem last season in the big games. I love our style of footy this season, but perhaps (dare I say it), a more cautious approach was needed in munich. We went there to win, we played expansive footy for 30mins and looked great. It seems to me that when we have the ball, we are as good as anyone, but when we lost the ball, partuclarly in the 2 CL games thus far, we were second best and therefore liable to lose. People say the transition of play (gaining/ losing possession) is a vital time in footy, the team that loses the ball and is fastest to get organised defensively will normally succeed. The forst goal seems incredibly important in the CL as teams can defend leads more effectively than in england due to continental footy still being more techincally superior to the prem. I’ve worried enough anyway, come one city, do us proud and tear villareal a new one!!