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Manchester City v West Brom Preview | Team News, Key Men and Stats

Two sides with contrasting ambitions will be vying for 3 points this Monday night at the Etihad, as Manchester City take on Pepe Mel’s West Bromwich Albion. Having lost ground in the title race in recent days, Manuel Pellegrini’s men should be aiming to claim maximum points from this home fixture, in order to push this exciting race for the title to the final day of the season. For West Bromwich and Pepe Mel, it is all about staying in the top flight.

Manchester City Vs West Brom

The Citizens are currently 6 points off the pace with a game in hand over both Chelsea and Liverpool. Anything less than a win against West Brom at home should come as a hammer blow to their title hopes. The fact that a David Silva-less Manchester City had to labour at home to earn a point against Sunderland, a team that is rock-bottom at the moment, should be something they would not have expected, by their lofty standards. Manuel Pellegrini has refused to give up on his team’s chances, but in reality slipping up twice in the final stages of the season could seriously hamper City’s title charge.

West Bromwich Albion’s shortcomings in recent weeks were evident in the disappointing draws against Tottenham Hotspur and Cardiff City when the Baggies threw away three-goal leads, something Pepe Mel won’t be proud of. They’ve lost twice, drew twice and won twice in the last six, sitting three points from relegation with a game in hand. After this game they face West Ham at home, Arsenal and Sunderland away, plus a final day showdown against Stoke City at home. That’s 3 winnable fixtures for the Baggies in the run-in, which might allow them to play with more freedom against an out-of-sorts Manchester City.

Team News

Manchester City playmaker David Silva is a doubt for Monday due to an ankle problem. Manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed winger Jesus Navas – who, like Silva, missed Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland – has also been struggling with an ankle issue, and Monday’s game will come too soon for midfielder Yaya Touré to return after his leg injury, who is out for a fortnight according to the manager. Defender Matija Nastasic, out of action since February because of a knee complaint, remains unavailable.

James Morrison  (ankle) and Swedish defender Jonas Olsson (Achilles) will both be assessed late on the weekend to ensure if they would face City while veteran Zoltan Gera (hamstring) is set to miss out. On-loan winger Scott Sinclair will definitely sit the match out as it is against his parent club.

Interesting Statistics

  • Albion’s last victory over City in Manchester – a 2-1 win through Darren Moore’s late strike – came in the 2002/03 season, when they were relegated. Repeat?
  • City have managed only one victory at the Etihad in the last three games. Damning.
  • Sergio Aguero is a prime candidate to hook the ball in on Monday after scoring three times in the past four encounters with the Baggies. Consistent.
  • Albion earned two vital away wins in their last four outings – against fellow relegation-threatened sides Swansea and Norwich.

Possible Lineups

Manchester City – (4-2-3-1): Hart; Zabaleta; Kompany, Demichelis, Kolarov; Fernandinho, Garcia; Navas, Nasri, Milner; Agüero.

WBA – (4-2-3-1): Foster; Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Mulumbu, Brunt; Amalfitano, Sessegnon, Dorrans; Vydra.

Key Players

Fernandinho – Manchester City

Fernandinho in my opinion has been the best player for Manchester City this season. Mind you, they have some fantastic players in Silva, Toure, Aguero and Kompany who would feature in anybody’s dream Premier league team, but this man from Brazil has been the unsung hero for Citizens this season, doing the dirty work in the middle of the park and scoring timely goals as well. His abilities on the ball is quite evident being a Brazilian but what goes unnoticed is his mettle off it.

fernandinho

To start with, he’s put in a total of 82 tackles, only behind Pablo Zabaleta (96), out of which 62 have gone in favour of Fernandinho with a remarkable success rate of 76%. That is 28 minutes per tackle attempted by the way, which is laudable. His 64 interceptions – highest in the team, is a testament to his positioning and awareness off the ball. He’s won 49% of his ground duels while a 72% aerial duel win rate proves he can be good in the air as well. He’s played 27 games for the Citizens managing 3 assists from open play and 4 goals, which is quite a formidable return for a player that plays in front of the back 4. In the absence of Yaya Toure, his presence in the middle would be key to Manchester City’s chances of winning this tie.

 Chris Brunt – West Bromwich Albion

Chris Brunt has been missed sorely by the Baggies as he’s more often than not come up with the goods that normally dragged them over the line. Captain of the team, his all round play in the middle that also includes incisive set-piece deliveries, could grab the Baggies a goal or two come Monday.

Chris

Chris Brunt’s impact on the team is evident by the fact that he still leads the assists chart despite missing quite a few games due to injury. He has 5 assists to his name – 3 from open play and 2 others from set play. Talking about set pieces, he has created 18 goal scoring chances from set play situations alone which is commendable, while he’s created a total of 41 goal scoring chances for his teammates – the highest in the team. His crossing ability could be key as well, having attempted 167 of them in total with 50 finding a teammate. His presence and leadership on the pitch coupled with set piece deliveries are the key to Pepe Mel and Albion’s chances of getting something out of this game.

Prediction

Both the teams go into this fixture looking for nothing short of a win that could put the pressure on the other teams around them in the league table. West Bromwich Albion can’t be taken lightly at this stage, but at the end of the day, Manchester City at home is a tough nut to crack and I could see no miracle happening in this fixture.

Manchester City 3-1 West Bromwich Albion

Aashish Murali
Aashish Murali
I can bore you to tears.
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