Wigan v MAN CITY: The PREVIEW – City’s Probable Team

15 Jan

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After a pair of disappointments in cup competitions, it’s time to return to domestic action and grasp the opportunity to establish our lead at the top of Premeir League table. A visit to Wigan, on paper, should prove a relatively simple one and ought to be a perfect chance to restore our three point advantage, but having been defeated in our past two matches, it will take a certain amount of character and belief to bounce back.

With Manchester United winning again at the weekend, returning from the DW Stadium with a victory is imperative and we should have the quality to accomplish just that. One aspect where we’ve struggled recently is trying to break sides down when they’ve packed the midfield and defence, but Wigan are a side who enjoy playing attractive, open football and that should suit us. Were it to become an open game, the extra ability our players possess should be in evidence and few would bet against us.

Looking at team selection, and there are a couple of interesting dilemmas for Roberto Mancini. Notably, Stefan Savic looked unsure against Liverpool and although I have high hopes for the Montenegrin in the future, I’d like to see Nedum Onuoha given an opportunity. That, however, is unlikely to happen to it’s vital that Joleon Lescott, as the more experienced centre-back, takes command. Aleks Kolarov is likely to replace Gael Clichy, with Micah Richards set to play as captain.

In midfield, Nigel De Jong has been below-par in the past couple of games and could miss out, but David Silva has trained the past two days and should start. Edin Dzeko is fully fit again and could take his place up front, whilst Samir Nasri, who looked sharper against Liverpool, has been superb by all accounts in training this week and may well come into the side.

Here is the team Mancini could select:

Manchester City 4-2-3-1 football formation

Wigan have struggled this season and currently lie bottom of the table. In Victor Moses and Hugo Rodallega, they possess talent going forward but have had trouble keeping clean sheets and have lost to City on the past four occasions without scoring a goal. They aim to play aesthetically pleasing football and ought to be commended for that, but unless they rectify their defensive errors, it could be a challenge avoiding relegation.

Referee: Martin Atkinson – He was also the official earlier in the season when Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick as we defeated Wigan 3-0, whilst he officiated in our games against QPR (2-3) and Liverpool away (1-1) when he controversially sent off Mario Balotelli.

Prediction: Wigan 0 – 2 MAN CITY – Depending on whether Wigan continue to play pretty football or decide to pack the midfield and defence, it could be quite an entertaining and open affair. Goals to be scored by Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero.

 

4 Responses to “Wigan v MAN CITY: The PREVIEW – City’s Probable Team”

  1. Siamack 15/01/2012 at 9:27 pm #

    Is Clichy injured? Why on earth Mancini would start Kolarov instead of Clichy.

  2. Peter Bangkok 15/01/2012 at 11:17 pm #

    Strong line up provided Dzeko version #! turns up and not he Bosnian moron of late. Happily Johnson returns to the bench, P… poor in the last 2 games despite loads of ball time. Kol has been a joke, Sun Jihai standard. He wasted so much against Liverpool that even SWP could have got us the draw given the same ball. Sadly the support cast has been found out. The 3 nil against the bleating scousers wasn’t much better. Johnson and Kol are top 8 team players at best and are nowhere close to what we need, De Jong sadly struggling and Savic to come good.

    • Ian Kay 16/01/2012 at 12:34 pm #

      In a fantasy world, where the rules of Footie were aligned with those of Gridiron, Aleks would be on the special team and brought on when we had fee kick on the right side of the opponents box, although probably not the left.

      Lamentably this term he has shown that he lacks the pace to beat a player on the outside, the guile to beat him when he cuts inside or the intelligence/selflessness to find an effective pass on the rare occasions when he does succeed with one of the above.

      I wonder how soon it will be after we win the league that RM decides to give Rekik a go. He may have a window of 4 or 5 games.

      But then again I am a hopeless optimist.

      • Siamack 16/01/2012 at 2:54 pm #

        Spot on. We have promising Youth players like Rekik, Boyata that given the opportunity can turn into great players. I believe Mancini needs to be a bit bolder in giving Youth opportunity. Sell Kolarov to cut your losses and Keep Nedum [I know he made a stupid comment about Mancini but a second chance does not hurt and I am sure he is willing to prove it]. We have Zaballeta, Clichy and Rekik as LB.

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