City’s Probable Team v Birmingham and Match Preview
Posted on September 20th, 2011 | by MAN CITY ISSUES in Birmingham,Carling Cup,previewThe Carling Cup is a competition dismissed by many and cherished by few. It’s often completely disregarded by Premier League managers of teams haunted by the prospects of relegation. However, City are an entirely different story. With the depth in our squad today and the resources at our disposal, we shouldn’t slip-up in the early rounds like we did last year. My hope is that Mancini will use these early stages to blood our developing youngsters and rest the big-game players. After all, the Carling Cup represents a very good chance of winning some silverware this year.
City Team News:
Tomorrow’s game should see the introduction of some fresh faces alongside some of the more experienced regulars. Summer signings Costel Pantilimon and Stefan Savic should make their full debuts whilst exciting academy talents Gai Assulin and Abdul Razak could also make their first starts. Assulin should be included as he is at risk of not featuring in enough competitive matches this season due to his ineligibility in the NextGen Series. Denis Suarez is another exciting youngster who could make an cameo from the bench after impressing in the Dublin Super Cup matches.
Kolo Toure is expected to make his first start in seven months after successfully completing his drugs ban, I’m sure he’s thoroughly looking forward to making his return. The other big news is that Owen Hargreaves should make his City debut, after Mancini said yesterday that he should be fit enough for around thirty minutes of action. Finally, James Milner could return after concussion whilst Tevez, Balotelli and Adam Johnson should all start in attack.
Here is my predicted team:
Birmingham City, our opponents and the current holders managed to avoid a second round tie due to their own commitments in Europe. For this reason, they are likely to make a number of changes. Hughton has been given permission by West Brom to select Boaz Myhill in goal, however Wade Elliot is cup-tied and cannot play after playing for Burnley in an earlier round. Adam Rooney is expected to start in the place of Marlon King.
Match Prediction:
Birmingham have lost virtually all of their good players – Ben Foster, Craig Gardener, Barry Ferguson and their central defensive duo, Roger Johnson and Scott Dann. They’ve struggled to cope with the demands of the Championship and the Europa League and should play a weakened team against City. With the likes of Tevez and Balotelli set to start, I envisage City having no problems with brushing Birmingham aside.
City 3 – 0 Birmingham
