please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Hello and welcome to the official match thread for Sunday’s Barclays Premier League encounter between Manchester City & Liverpool. The game is scheduled to be played at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday 3rd of February 2013 with a kick-off time of 4PM. Sky Sports One will be showing the game (Build-up begins at 3.30PM) & BBC Radio Five Live will have the radio rights to the game. (Build-up begins at 3PM) Preview. Manchester City host Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in what is a vital game for both sides. Manchester City go into the game in 2nd place but they are 10 points behind rivals Manchester United so a positive today is vital for their title chances. Liverpool currently sit 7th in the Premier League and will be looking to get a positive result which will extend their recent good form in the league and push them higher up the Barclays Premier League. Both sides go into today’s game on the back of draws in their previous Premier League games. Manchester City travelled to West London to take on bottom side Queens Park Rangers. Manchester City went into the game five points behind Manchester City in the title race so they were looking for the victory that would have moved them to within two points of Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. It wasn’t to be as an outstanding goalkeeping display from the Q.P.R ‘keeper, Julio Cesar, got Q.P.R a point and frustrated City. Roberto Mancini’s side created a number of chances but Cesar was on top of his game and City weren’t able to get past the Brazilian international. It was two points dropped for City and the results that have followed mean that City go into this game ten points behind Manchester City. Liverpool also travelled to London in midweek but they were in North London as they took on Arsenal. Liverpool got off to the perfect start as Luis Suarez continued his excellent season in front of goal to score his 22nd goal of the season and put Liverpool ahead in the 5th minute. It got better for Liverpool as Jordan Henderson scored for the second consecutive game in the 60th minute to give Liverpool a 2-0 lead. However, Arsenal fought back and Olivier Giroud got Arsenal back in the game in the 64th minute with a powerful header past Pepe Reina. In the 67th minute, Arsenal were back on level terms. Some nice passing left Giroud to lay off Theo Walcott who smashed a shot into the net. It was hit with such power that Reina wasn’t able to react in time and Arsenal were back in the game. It finished 2-2 in what was an excellent game of football to watch. Both sides would say that a point was a fair reflection of the game itself but both sides had chances to win the game. With Manchester City possessing such a strong squad, it is difficult to pick out a key player for them in today’s game but I feel that, first of all, we should look at the players that aren’t available and the impact it could have on City. At centre-back, there are some concerns for Roberto Mancini. Kolo Toure is away at the African Cup of Nations (Along with his brother and City teammate, Yaya Toure) and their captain, Vincent Kompany, has a calf injury and is out for at least three weeks. This is a massive blow for City as Kompany is one of their best players. He hasn’t been at his best this season (If we are comparing to last season) but he is still up there with the best centre-backs in the league and his presence will be missed. With these players missing, it seems likely that Joleon Lescott will start alongside Matija Nastasic. There are slight doubts over Nastasic with a knee injury leaving him as a slight doubt for today’s game but he should be passed fit. Despite these injuries, City still possess outstanding quality throughout the squad and the Liverpool defence will certainly be tested by City’s attacking players. If City play with the 4-2-3-1 formation (As they did against Q.P.R) we can expect to see the likes of David Silva, Carlos Tevez & Sergio Aguero all start. These three all started against Q.P.R in midweek and all are quality players. Silva & Tevez seem likely to start in the three behind the lone striker with Silva most likely on the right-hand side and Tevez just in behind the striker. The ability of Tevez & Aguero to move about between the lines (Football cliché number one… and create chances for each other will put some serious strain on the Liverpool backline. The positional interchange could be important for City tomorrow as it gives the Liverpool defence a more difficult job on the marking front. For Liverpool, Luis Suarez will be key. Every match thread I seem to point out Suarez as the key threat in this Liverpool side but it is true! The striker has been in top form this season with 22 goals in all competitions and 17 goals in the league which makes him the second highest scorer in the league this season. His ability to create & score chances in just about every game he plays in makes him one of the best players in the league and Liverpool will be looking to him as the focal point of the Liverpool attack. Suarez is now supported in attack by a number of attacking players and this includes the likes of Daniel Sturridge & Fabio Borini. Sturridge is in line to make his 100th league appearance against the club which gave him the first. The England international has 3 goals in 5 appearances and will be looking to increase that impressive goalscoring start in the red of Liverpool and try to help Liverpool get a positive result. One player who won’t be involved for Liverpool is their new signing Philippe Coutinho. The attacking midfielder isn’t expected to return to Merseyside until early next week and seems likely to be involved in next Monday’s game with West Bromwich Albion. So, an important game in prospect for both sides! The stats would seem to back up City… Will City continue that extraordinary home league record and close the gap at the top of the table to seven points? Or will Liverpool spring a big surprise and become only the fifth side in 41 games to take anything from the Etihad? You’ll find out the answers to these questions, and more, on the official match thread on the Not606 Liverpool board. Do join in. (That includes the guests that read this thread. Sign up and get involved in the match chat!) Injury News. Manchester City. Micah Richards: Cartilage Knee Injury. Maicon: Knee Injury. Vincent Kompany: Calf Injury. Liverpool. Martin Kelly: ACL Knee Injury. Jon Flanagan: Knee Injury. Suspension News. Manchester City. No suspensions currently recorded. Liverpool. No suspensions currently recorded. Manchester City 2 - 2 Liverpool Goalscorers: Manchester City... Edin Dzeko: 22nd minute. Liverpool... Daniel Sturridge: 29th minute. Liverpool... Steven Gerrard: 73rd minute. Manchester City... Sergio Aguero: 78th minute. Manchester City: Hart - Zabaleta Maicon Lescott Clichy - Milner Nasri Garcia Kolarov - Dzeko Aguero SUBS: Pantilimon Nastasic Rodwell Barry Sinclair Silva Tevez - Manchester City Substitution: Matija Nastasic comes off to be replaced by Aleksandar Kolarov. (56th minute) Manchester City Substitution: David Silva comes off to be replaced by Maicon. (74th minute) Manchester City Substitution: Gareth Barry comes off to be replaced by Samir Nasri. (88th minute) - Liverpool: Reina - Johnson Carragher Skrtel Agger - Gerrard Lucas Henderson Allen Downing - Suarez SUBS: Jones Wisdom Enrique Shelvey Sterling Borini Sturridge - Liverpool Substitution: Jose Enrique comes off to be replaced by Martin Skrtel. (75th minute) Liverpool Substitution: Daniel Sturridge comes off to be replaced by Joe Allen. (91st minute) - YNWA.
@ Chris match thread... Cmon, at least money wasn't that depressing. Was there needs for mentioning Ardenals goals and city's fabulous home record? X
I'm surprised someone has read it! I do try and be positive to Liverpool on these threads but its quite hard to find negatives about City when they play at home! I have mentioned City's defensive injuries which give us some hope but it's going to be difficult. I'm not too confident to be honest...
I still think City are there for the taking. They're not half as good as they should be with all that money and group of mercs. Most teams think they'll lose, and go there with a losing attitude. If we go there to press hard and attack, we'll come away with something. Defensively, they suck - as long as you attack.
**** you and your couch Zingy. Still think we will go for a draw, but would like to see us go at them from the go. We normally struggle at City don't we?
We all read your threads religiously, Chris. I think, on the match thread opener, you do have to be as even-handed as possible. And you do a bloody good job. It can descend into chaos later.
Nice thread Chris, I too believe this is the best chance of us beating City, but we will have to score a few as our defence has been leeky all season. I don't think a draw would be a bad result either, and as the teams around us perhaps with exception of arsenal are struggling we need to put in a good run after this game to be in the running for 4th. Ok, never gonna make 4th comments, GO!
Both teams badly need a win, us if we want to stay in the hunt for fourth and capitalise on the inconsistency of the other teams in a similar position and Citeh if they want to hang onto Ushited's coat tails. Because of this I think it will be a close game. Citeh have that home advantage, but if we play some fast paced attacking football from the off, as we did against Arsenal, stun them and do a better job of holding the lead I think we can get a result, though a draw would be ok.
I thought at arsenal in midweek,Liverpool were excellent for an hour or so with the game plan spot on but inexplicably retreated deep and very nearly lost a game they were in control of. Similar tactics at city however probably won't play out as well. City need stifling at home and filling the space between Silva and Aguero is a must,it amazes me how the CL teams know how to do it but its a rarity in the PL as most prefer to sit back and hope for the best. If Liverpool look to dominate and swamp us in midfield like in the carling cup game the year before then I think city are in for a tough afternoon,the likes of which we've not really had this season since we were outplayed and outfought in the 2-2 draw at Anfield earlier in the season when Kompany and yaya toure were both playing. Pointing at the omission of Kompany and yaya won't make the difference for me as the excellent Nastasic is a very capable replacement alongside Jolean and javi Garcia has blossomed with game time under his belt but it will be a matter of who gets their tactics right out of Rodgers and Mancini I expect city to line up Hart Zabaleta Nastasic Lescott Clichy Milner Garcia Barry Tevez Silva Aguero By the way sunderland drew 3-3 at the Etihad last season in the 41 game period
think we are in for a tough afternoon personally. just hope City forwards don't have their shooting boots on today, and we may nick something from this game.
This I think we should take them by surprise by attacking them from the outset. A slow passing game will play into their hands. No one is expecting us to win so we have nothing to lose and everything to win by pushing forward. Without Kompany and Toure they are not the same team. The last thing I want to see is Suarez on his own. Both Sturridge and Suarez should start.
