Football Match Preview - Manchester City vs. Liverpool
Manchester City spent 130 million in the summer transfer window, and now is their litmus test to see if the insane spending actually was worth it. The first outing for Manchester City against Tottenham Hotspurs on the opening day of the season was a stalemate and it ended 0-0. There was hardly any evidence of the new looks City team taking the league by storm. However there have been 2 more singings since then and both according to the manager are significant ones. Mario Balotelli the young striker from Inter Milan and James Milner from Aston Villa, both transfers were long overdue. Roberto Mancini said that he is relieved to have completed the move for both players and now their team is ready to start their surge. Liverpool on the other hand also has number of things to prove this season; they are under new manager Roy Hodgson and starting the season on back of 7th finish last season which was their worst in recent history.
The match is also seen as the first chapter in the fight for the final champions’ league spot in the English premier league. Liverpool has long been the team that has been part of the so-called big 4 in the League. But last season it was Tottenham who broke into the top 4 and earned the right to play in the champions’ league play offs. Back in 2005 it was Liverpool’s bitter city rivals Everton who beat them to the 4th spot.
The new manager Roy Hodgson however has made it clear that domestic success remains at the forefront of his plans, and he wants to take Liverpool back to the golden days that it used to be.
The form for both teams could not have been more similar, both teams earned draws in their first games of the league. Liverpool though had the upper hand in the match against Arsenal but due to being chopped down to 10 men after the sending off of Joe Cole they were short handed and eventually lost 2 points with a late own goal form keeper Pepe Reina. Manchester City on the other hand looked in simple words flat against Tottenham; manager said that it was due to the fatigue factor with the players being tired from the world cup and the international friendly matches just before the start of the season. However it was not just City that had players on national duty but still Mancini said that another reason might be that there are a number of new players in the team and they are still trying to adjust to the new surroundings and the players around them.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is expected to hand in a surprise start to both of his new recruits on Monday. James Milner and Mario Balotelli may start; in attack Tevez is the favourite to hang on to his place. Goalkeeper Shay Given is still out of favour and looking for a way out of the club, so Joe Hart will start in goal. Spanish midfielder David Silva is expected to be on the bend and may be used as an impact player.
For Liverpool Joe Cole is out with suspension following his red card in the match against Arsenal. Fernando Torres who did not start in the first match will be favourite to line up in the first 11 with Steven Gerrard as usual behind him in attacking midfield. Not many changes are expected from Liverpool otherwise. It is expected to be a hardly contested match, as the battle for 4th place in the league starts on Monday.
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