West Bromwich Albion versus Manchester City, The Hawthorns.
Barclays Premier League, 26th December 2011, 15:00pm.
Top of the league and having a laugh!
Merry Christmas! For some today means recovering from over consumption, character assassinations by relatives or for those lucky few freedom down the motorway to a raucous Hawthorns. For families Blue through and through or slightly infected this Christmas must surely have been a joy for all toasting the mighty Blues top of the league! I for one have encountered some rather sheepish characters this year, unable to make eye contact or excrete the usual fountain of excrement at a Blue target. Bliss!
The man with the master plan.
Christmas runs:
Dodgy Turkey aside our opponents today couldn’t have dreamed of a better December so far. Having never previously taken a Premier League point away from home in the twelfth month they are on a run of two games undefeated. Taking six points from Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park and Newcastle United at St James’ Park or is it Sport’s Direct Arena? Setting them up for a run of two challenging home ties against the mighty Blues and Gollum’s dogged Everton lot at New Year. With relegation safety clearly on the agenda for New Year picking up points away from home especially against your rivals, Blackburn, will no doubt boost Albion’s confidence when Mancini’s men turn up.
128 meetings have seen:
City wins-53.
Draws-26.
Loses-49.
After entering December on a high then successfully gaining qualification for the Europa League against Bayern Munich, well sort of, Mr Clattenburg eased City into their first league defeat of the campaign at Stamford Bridge. The 2-1 defeat to Andre Villas Boas’ men was bitter to take as chances put away early on and stonewall penalties recognised could have seen City canter on to yet another away win. However if City are going to be Premier League Champions, can’t believe I’m saying it, then rebounding quickly is a must. An action packed free flowing game against the Gooner’s saw City find their rhythm whilst taking points off of their rival. Backing this up with a training session 3-0 victory over a lacklustre Stoke City looking for damage limitation helped secure top spot for crimbo. Roberto Mancini has said losing the Toure brothers for the Africa Cup of Nations will be hard but having all these points in the bank early on gives a good platform to build from in 2012.
One’s to watch:
A threat at the back for City will come from the energetic Irishman Shane Long. He is the leading goal scorer in the league with five goals so far this season. I expect City to control the tempo by retaining possession for long spells of the game. This usually results in our back line pinching up to the halfway line presenting a possible opportunity for a West Brom counter attack. Chris Brunt is capable of creating a chance out of nothing from open play or the dead ball. City will have to stay alert for the full 90 minutes if they want to come away from the Hawthorns with a clean sheet.
Can Shane Long be the man to make Hart’s bulge?
Gareth Barry will be the lynchpin in midfield as boxing day games can be feisty occasions. Whether he is shadowing a player like Chris Brunt and lifting the ball off of his foot or feeding the ball through the channels to make a play he’s a guy every manager would want in their Christmas stocking!
With or without the ball Gaz Baz will always make his presence felt.
Predicted line-ups:
WBA: Foster, Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Shorey, Thomas, Mulumbu, Scharner, Brunt, Odemwingie, Long.
MCFC: Hart, Clichy, Lescott, Kompany, Richards, Milner, Barry, Yaya, Silva, Aguero, Balotelli.
West Bromwich Albion 1-4 Manchester City.
A massive thanks to steveo_88 of www.mancityfans.net for this weeks Festive match preview