Manchester City v Birmingham City: Match Preview

City of Manchester Stadium

Sunday, April 11, 2010. Kick Off: 4pm

Manchester City go into Sunday’s clash with Birmingham City knowing that three points is a must with games against local rival Manchester United, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal looming on the horizon.

City boss Roberto Mancini has called for the fans to lift the club and push the team towards that all important fourth spot.

“We have our destiny in our own control and four of our games at home, where our supporters can make a big difference,” he told the club’s official website.

“No-one should take lightly the effect the crowd can have in lifting the players.

“I felt it as a player and I know the current players do to. To know that there are 45 or 46,000 people all willing them on is a big boost for confidence.”

When asked about Liverpool’s chances Europa League comittments, Mancini admitted that they were beneficial to the City cause.

“Helpful to us? I hope so! They played a fantastic game on Thursday and I hope that they win the Europa League,” he said.

“But they are a strong team. They will still try hard for fourth place, that is normal. There are four teams still for the one place – ourselves, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Liverpool.

“It’s six games for us and Tottenham and only five for Liverpool. But all our games are difficult, starting with Birmingham – in their last two games they drew with Arsenal and Liverpool.”

City will again be looking to talisman Carlos Tevez for inspiration and the striker is in superb form with 22 goals in his last 20 games.

The Blues are yet to lose a league game in which the Argentine international has scored.

Defender Pablo Zabaleta completes a two game ban, while Sylvinho is an injury doubt and Stephen Ireland remains on the sidelines through injury.

Birmingham, meanwhile, have gone five league games without a win, which is their worst run since May 2008.

They have also only kept one clean sheet in their last 13 games.

Overall however, Alex McLeish’s men have exceeded all expectation this season however and currently sit in the top half of the table, despite being strongly tipped as a candidate for the drop.

Joe Hart, who is on loan at St. Andrews from City, is ineligible for the game so Maik Taylor should deputise in goal.

“I really do believe he will be England’s first choice one day,” said Taylor of Hart.

“There is no doubt about that.

“I think he could be a real front-runner for the role another year down the line although the World Cup has maybe come a year too early for him.

“In my view, he’s been the best English keeper over the course of the season but a lack of international experience might be the only thing that goes against him.”

Cameron Jerome, who has scored nine league goals this season, will again be the focal point of the Birmingham attack.

“My players have treated every game as a challenge and this one will be no different,” said McLeish.

“We have given a good account of ourselves in every match.

“We have proved very tough to beat at St. Andrew’s and I still feel we’re capable of picking up points on the road. Hopefully we can do something this weekend at Eastlands.”

Birmingham last recorded an away win against City in 1998 thanks to a goal from Dele Adebola.
The two sides played out a 0-0 draw when they met at St. Andrew’s earlier this season, with shay Given saving a James McFadden penalty.

Squads

Manchester City – Given, Richards, Sylvinho, Toure, Kompany, Garrido, Vieira, De Jong, Barry, Johnson, Tevez, Adebayor, Wright-Phillips, Bellamy, Taylor, Nielsen, Onuoha, Petrov, Santa Cruz, Boyata, Ibrahim, Nimely.

Birmingham City – Taylor, Carr, Dann, Johnson, Ridgewell, Bowyer, Ferguson, Fahey, Gardner, Doyle, Larsson, Phillips, Benítez, Míchel, Parnaby, Vignal, Tainio, Mutch, Preston, Sammons, Jervis.

Key Players

Manchester City – Carlos Tevez

Tevez has been sensational for City this year, with 26 goals in 36 games in all competitions. He has bagged two hattricks, and last week contributed a goal and two assists in the 6-1 hammering of Burnley at Turf Moor. City are yet to lose a game in which he has scored, and his all round play has been crucial in the push for fourth spot.

Birmingham City – Kevin Phillips

Picking a renowned substitute as a key player might look strange at first glance, but if Sunday’s game is in the balance with five of ten minutes to go then you can be sure that veteran Kevin Phillips will be thrown on to shake things up. He has made a habit of notching late goals of the bench and City will need to be wary of his presence if they are defending a single goal lead late in the game.

Prediction –

Manchester City 2 (Tevez, Adebayor)
Birmingham City 0

Thanks to Xavi6 of ManCityFans.Net for writing this preview.

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