Notts County V Man City: MaineBlue Match Preview

Team news, stats and Mancini’s words ahead of the FA Cup fourth round tie against Notts County at Meadow Lane, Sunday 30^th January:  Kick-off: 14:00 – Referee: Chris Foy.

• Notts County are one of three League One clubs paired with Premier League opposition in the fourth round.

• The Meadow Lane club go into the weekend, 59 places lower than Manchester City in the pecking order.

• Manchester City are unbeaten in nine league and cup meetings with Notts County.

• The clubs last clashed in the second round of the League Cup at Meadow lane in September 2001, when the visitors were taken into extra time and eventually won 4-2.

• The Magpies have conceded 28 goals in their last nine matches with City. But they kept a clean sheet in their most recent victory over them in 1991, when they knocked the Mancunians out of the FA Cup for the only time in their history.

• Gary Lund was on target in County’s 1-0 fifth round victory on 16 February 1991. But they could not go on and make it a double over top-flight clubs, as Tottenham beat them in the quarter-finals.

• This is the fourth time the pair have been drawn together in the competition. City have twice progressed. They prevailed in third round clashes in 1962, and in 1995 when they won 5-2 on their own patch in a replay.

• County have not won in three league games, since a three-match winning sequence at the outset of 2011.

• Under Paul Ince, County have won seven, drawn three and lost five.

• The 1894 winners are chasing a place in the fifth round for the second year in a row.

• Reaching the last 16 last season was their best performance in 18 years.

• They are also vying for a second successive Premier League scalp, having eliminated Sunderland 2-1 at the Stadium of Light in the third round.

• Last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa ended a seven-match unbeaten sequence of five wins and two draws for City.

• City – the four-times winners, who have not lifted the trophy since 1969, are hoping to avoid an earlier than fifth round exit for the third time in four years.

• Oldham were the last third tier club to dismiss them. The Latics prevailed 1-0 at Boundary Park in the third round in January 2005.

Roberto Mancini is adamant that when it comes to the FA Cup, Manchester City are in it to win it.

No matter that his priority is securing a place in the top four, the Italian wants his side to lift the trophy. Next up is a trip to League One Notts County in the fourth round on Sunday and a chance for Mancini to get reacquainted with their manager Paul Ince.

Mancini said, “We want to win the FA Cup. We want to go to the final but first we must win this game. It is a very tricky match and the FA Cup is very tricky. When you play against a team like Notts County you think the game will be easy. But not me. They won at Sunderland. We will play on a small pitch and we must fight if we want to win.”

Mancini knows all about fighting after being sent off playing for Sampdoria following a dust-up with Paul Ince, then with Inter Milan.

Sven-Goran Eriksson was Mancini’s coach and the City boss chuckled as he recalled the spat with the former Rag midfielder.

“I remember what happened, “ said Mancini, “I had the ball and saw Paul Ince arrive (raising his voice) and I nutmegged him. It was incredible. Paul Ince was a good player with a good mentality. But I do not know that much about him as a manager.”

In 2009 Eriksson was appointed director of football at Notts County and asked Mancini to become manager – an approach he rejected. Mancini was unconvinced it was the right move and his instincts were proved correct as Eriksson left his post seven months later.

Mancini said, “Sven and I talked about this situation. It was a serious enquiry. When Sven called me for this job I read their history. But that was it.”

The City boss may tinker with his side as they have a crucial league game to follow on Wednesday at Birmingham.

Winger Adam Johnson will not be risked after he suffered an ankle injury in training but defender Micah Richards could come into contention after a back problem while striker Edin Dzeko is set to make his debut in the competition.

Mancini said, “We had a problem with Johnson. He took a knock on his ankle. He went to have a scan but I hope he will be ready for the Birmingham game. It’s not serious – one week or ten days. Mario (Balotelli) will fly back at the end of the week and next week he will be here. I think from when he comes back it will be a week or ten days when he will be back working with the team.”

Mancini is keen for City to tighten up in defence after conceding eight goals in their last four games, but he pointed out that the last result against Aston Villa did not reflect the performance of the Blues.

He said, “We can change only if we work, have more concentration, but against Aston Villa they had one chance and at the end of the game we had 25 shots on goal and 65 per cent possession.”

County midfielder Alan Judge has broken a bone in his foot and could be sidelined for eight weeks.

However, the home side are hopeful centre-half Mike Edwards will return after being ruled out at Hartlepool in midweek with a hamstring injury.

Notts County (from): Nelson, Thompson, Lee, Harley, Darby, Pearce, Hawley, Judge, Bishop, Martin, Fairclough, Westcarr, Burgess, Hughes, Spicer, Smith, Burch, Williamson

Manchester City (from): Hart, Given, Richards, Zabaleta, Boateng, K Toure, Kompany, Boyata, Kolarov, Lescott, Wright-Phillips, De Jong, Vieira, Milner, Y Toure, Silva, Barry, Tevez, Dzeko, Cunningham, Logan, Nimeley.

City possible starting XI

Hart; Richards, Lescott, K Tore, Boyata; Milner, Vieira, Silva, Barry; Tevez, Dzeko.

MaineBlue’s Prediction: Notts County 1 – 4 Manchester City

It should really be a comfortable away win for Man City. Of course, The FA Cup always throws up a few surprises – such as County beating Sunderland in the last round, but there’ll be no surprises on Sunday. City have a genuine chance of trophy success in The FA Cup and I think Mancini will start with a relatively strong line up (as above) and as the game progresses, once City have a comfortable lead the likes of Cunningham, Logan and Nimeley should be given a run out. I expect Dzeko to get on the score sheet – he’s looked genuine quality so far in a City shirt and is just missing that first goal. So I’m expecting a brace and probably Silva and Tev chipping in to give City a 4-1 win and a waltz into the next round.