Freshly promoted side West Borm who has turned into one of the nice surprises in the Premier League this season take on Roberto Mancini’s millionaires Manchester City in what promises to be an entertaining Sunday afternoon affair. WBA are coming into this game after a bizarre defeat against Blackpool (as we had predicted) in which they had two players send off and had a penalty whistled against them. Meanwhile, Man City are on a bad run of three straight losses. It’s one Italian manager versus another, as Di Matteo squares up against the more experienced Mancini.
This game is like David against Goliath but the outcome would be slightly different from the Biblical version. We are going to give it to you straight – our pick is for City to win this game and the odds offered by online bookies are worth it – 2,30 meaning that you will double your money!
There are a lot of reasons why we feel the Citizens will escape with all three points here. First of all, they have lost their last 3 games (2 in the EPL and 1 in Europa League) so it’s about time for them to get back to winning ways. Secondly, City are the way better team with more quality players so even in theory they should be able to brush away WBA. Now don’t get us wrong, West Bromwich Albion are a tricky side and their 2-2 draw at Old Trafford is a testament to this fact, but they will be missing some key players for this game and given their lack of squad depth (normal since they don’t have the money City has), it should make it almost impossible to get something out of this game.
Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie is arguably WBA’s best player and he missed the team last 3 games, but is expected to return for this one. However, given his lack of playing time lately, he won’t be at his best which will damage West Brom’s chances of getting points from City. Also, Gonzalo Jara who got send off against Blackpool will miss through suspension, but the other red-carded player Pablo Ibanez got his booking rescinded by the English FA so he will feature. However, Roberto Di Matteo won’t be able to rely on his best midfielder James Morrison while Jonas Olsson’s Achilles complaint could put him out until Christmas. Thesea re two major losses for the team. Miller, Mattoc and Cech are the other absentees.Achilles complaint could put him out until Christmas. These are two major losses for the team. Miller, Mattoc and Cech are the other absentees.
Manchester City’s head coach Roberto Mancini has reasons for optimism going into this clash as his best player Carlos Tevez is expected to make his return after missing the team’s last two losses. The fast and furious Argentine should come straight back into the starting lineup along with top players like the Toure, brothers and goalkeeper Joe Hart who didn’t play against Lech Poznan. Fact of the matter is that Roberto Mancini has a full squad to choose from with only reserve Michael Johnson being left out of the group because of an injury. These team news certainly work in favor of the Citizens.
WBA v Manchester City – List Of Available Players
West Bromwich Albion: Carson, Ibanez, Morrison, Barnes, Bednar, Brunt, Reid, Myhill, Fortune, Dorrans, Shorey, Thomas, Mulumbu, Zuiverloon, Meite, Odemwingie, Fortune, Tchoyi, Scharner, Thomas, Tamas, Cox, Downing, Sawyers, Allsopp, Kiely.
