Don't know how or why but I was convinced this game was tomorrow and was just about to start writing it this evening when I saw a thread about tonight's attendance. Jesus! Anyway, thought I'd stick it straight up here in case WW is offline for the day.
Manchester City vs. Leicester City,
F.A. Cup Third Round Replay- Match Preview
Sven Goran Eriksson last sat in the dugout at Eastlands on April 26th, 2008. His Manchester City side crusied to a 2-0 lead against a Fulham side resigned to relegation- only to suffer a humiliating 3-2 defeat, thanks to a late surge from Diomansy Kamara. Eriksson, along with the 43 thousand fans in attendence, knew that his time at the club was up, thanks to the ruthlessness of owner Thaksin Shinawatra.
It has been less than three years, and yet, Sven returns tonight to a completely unrecognisable Manchester City. Of his entire match-day squad, only Joe Hart now remains. The ownership has changed, with Shinawatra selling to the much more reliable, and crucially, wealthy Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi. Seperated from Manchester United at the top of the Premier League only by goal difference, and with an array of world class household names, led by his one-time prótegé Roberto Mancini, Mr. Eriksson could undoubtedly be forgiven for thinking he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere on the M1.
So, it's a second chance for both sides to progress to the Fourth Round of the F.A. Cup tonight, following last Sunday's exciting 2-2 draw, in which The Foxes started in spectacular fashion, with Sol Bamba capitalising on horrendous City defending to score after less than a minute. They pushed on from then and continued to cause uncertainty, until James Milner showed a touch of Premier League class to rifle home a stunning effort after 22 minutes. City started to seize the initiative from then on and, on the stroke of half-time, a fantastic backheel from Carlos Tevez took City into the break in the lead. An uncharacteristic howler from Joe Hart gave Leicester a gilt-edged chance though, which skipper Paul King made no mistake to capitalise from.
Sven has unquestionably made an instant impact on his new side's season. Having arrived to a side lying perilously above the relegation zone and horribly low in confidence, the wily old Swede has injected a new lease of life into Leicester City, which has seen them shoot up to 12th, and within only six points of the playoff places; an unimaginable scenario only three months ago. His well renowned smooth talking has also worked wonders, with Everton striker Yakubu agreeing to join the club on a six-month loan deal. The Nigerian made an instant impact, scoring on his debut against Preston on Saturday. Highly rated Spurs defender Kyle Naughton has also joined the club on loan, and continues to impress, while Darius Vassell, who was coached by Eriksson in both City and England squads of the past, has been rescued from his Turkish nightmare and has weighed in with four goals to date.
For the home side, meanwhile, manager Roberto Mancini this morning insisted that his squad has the firepower to overcome the Foxes' threat, while resting a number of key figures with the trip to Aston Villa this Saturday in mind. New signing Edin Dzeko, who impressed all and sundry at the weekend, is ineligible, while Micah Richards and Mario Balotelli remain absent through back and knee injuries respectively.
"Patrick Vieira will probably play. He is an important member of our squad, he is a good player and he has experience. But we also have Jerome, James, David, Jo, Lescott. We have other players that we can win this game, and we want to win." remarked Mancini.
Despite the obvious inequalities in playing talent, tonight's encounter is no foregone conclusion. Leicester look menacing from set pieces and reasonably sound defensively since Sven's arrival, and of course he himself will be eager to show Mancini that he remains the master. City will likely be under instruction to start strongly and look to take a quick advantage, enabling them to slow the pace of the game down and retain energy for the run of games coming up. If that tactic fails to succeed, though, energy levels may be the least of the side's worries.
Either way, it promises to be a thoroughly entertaining encounter between the finalists of this very competition in 1969. City fans everywhere will be hoping a new Neil Young is born in 2011.
Colin the King
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