From www.theswanseaway.co.uk Swansea City v Manchester City Barclays Premier League Saturday 04/05/13 15:00pm K.O. The Liberty Stadium Referee: Mike Jones The Match Swansea are still on the hunt for their first win since turning Newcastle over in the wake of the Carling Cup win, although the recent run of games has included Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal, so to criticise too heavily would possibly be a tad harsh. That being said, the performances over the last few games haven't been to the same standard as those displayed earlier in the season, and Laudrup will be keen to finish the season with a bang. Last time out these two sides played out the longest game in PL history (a 1-0 City win) - a game which saw 12 minutes of injury time due to injuries to Michel Vorm and Micah Richards. Both managers will be hoping for a shorter affair this time around as no doubt there are tired legs throughout both squads. Man City have Champions League football more or less guaranteed, but in the short term they'll be looking forward to the FA Cup final, a week to the day after the Swans game. You have to hope some of the Man City players will have one eye on the upcoming final, but with a squad bursting with talent it's unlikely there'll be any perceivable letup from the Citizens. Whether Mancini will rotate his squad is up for debate, as any regular first-team players will be looking to nail down their place in the side for the FA Cup final, and with no real injury problems any City XI which takes the field will be clear favourites over a Swansea side who've been assembled at a fraction of the cost. Prior Form (most recent at top) Premier League Chelsea 2 - 0 Swansea Premier League Swansea 0 - 0 Southampton Premier League Norwich 2 - 2 Swansea Premier League Swansea 1 - 2 Tottenham Premier League Swansea 0 - 2 Arsenal Premier League Man City 2 - 1 West Ham Premier League Tottenham 3 - 1 Man City Premier League Man City 1 - 0 Wigan FA Cup Semi-Final Chelsea 1 - 2 Man City Premier League Man Utd 1 - 2 Man City Team News Swansea are sweating on the fitness of Chico Flores, who bruised his arm in training (I know, it doesn't sound that bad to me either), while Roland Lamah is out with a hamstring injury. Neil Taylor is pushing for a start after making his first appearance since returning from injury against Chelsea last week. Manchester City are only sweating on the fitness of Joe Hart, who tweaked his back last time out against West Ham, but other than that don't have any injury worries. Trivia - "Courtesy" of Opta, the BBC and various other sites; •Excluding penalties, Swansea have scored the lowest percentage of goals from set pieces (11.6%) and conceded the highest (40%). •All three Barclays Premier League meetings between Swansea and Man City have seen the home side win whilst keeping a clean sheet. •Swansea have won four and lost just one of their last six home league meetings with the Citizens. •Samir Nasri has made four assists in his last five league games while he has either scored or assisted four goals in his last four games (in all competitions). •Michu has scored a higher percentage of his team's goals than any other player in the top-flight this term (39%). •Ashley Williams has made the most clearances (362) and the most blocks (47) in the Premier League this term. •Man City have played the highest percentage of short passes in the top-flight this season (92%). •The Swans have conceded at least two goals in five of their last six games. •Both teams average 85% pass accuracy, but City just edge the average possession with 58% to Swansea's 55%. •Over a third (15/44) of the goals Swansea have conceded this year have come in the 15 minutes before half time. •Given that Man City score most of their away goals in the fifteen minutes before both half time and full time, that may spell disaster. •The Swans haven't won in six, but remarkably Man City haven't drawn in nine - a run which has seen them pick up seven wins. Completely guessed lineups: Swansea Vorm Davies Williams Chico Rangel Ki De Guzman Michu Pablo Dyer Moore Man City Hart Zabaleta Kompany Nastasic Kolarov Milner Yaya Toure Barry Nasri Dzeko Tevez Straight from the "horse's mouth"; Michael Laudrup acknowledges that recent performances deserve attention: Aalysis I fancy Man City to go at the Swans all guns blazing from the off. After last year's opening day defeat, where we held out valiantly for 60 minutes before City's added quality in attack saw them disappear into the distance 4-0 winners, the Swans have given Mancini's men a run for their money in both the subsequent games, and they won't fancy another cagey 90 minutes. Whether Laudrup will change things up too much is doubtful, but I do see him going with Michu in midfield in what will undoubtedly be a bid to add a bit of "beef" to our midfield. I'm doubtful of the effect Michu has on the Swansea midfield, but I'm happy to be proved wrong. If he does go with that I'd expect him to go with Ki, who was excellent against Chelsea, and then obviously one of Leon or De Guzman alongside him. It's highly doubtful he'll go for the three wingers formation, put it that way. Whoever he does select will likely be up against Yaya Toure and Gareth Barry. This is the kind of midfield that a Swansea side bereft of confidence will not enjoy playing against, so it's vital we control the game from the off. A nod to the Swansea of last year (or even of Paolo Sousa) could see us retain the ball without necessarily looking to bomb on straight away, as has become somewhat of a hallmark this year. Hopefully Leon will be back to his best after an off day in London last time out (in fairness you can consider his "off days" as collector's items), and Ash Williams too will be looking to prove a point after receiving some criticism for his own performance against Chelsea. I didn't think he was too bad to be fair... It'll be really interesting to see who Laudrup picks at left back. My gut instinct is that Davies will start - it still seems a little soon to be pushing Davies out of the team but ultimately it may well be that Davies will retain his position for the rest of the year. He's shown no signs of fatigue and is no doubt itching to play every minute of every game as he looks to cement his place in the starting eleven. Whoever plays, they could be up against any one of David Silva, James Milner, Samir Nasri or even Scott Sinclair, so there's plenty to worry about in terms of opposition attacking threat - and we haven't even mentioned any centre-forwards yet. I think Mancini may well give Dzeko a game - the guy is class and can feel unlucky to not have played more, and as part of an old fashioned centre-forward partnership he's something akin to the ultimate "big half" of a big strong guy/little fast guy partnership. Tevez has been enjoying a lot of game time and his combative nature may well see him get the nod too as Mancini looks to avenge the 1-0 defeat inflicted on City in the counterpart fixture last year, where the Swans had Luke Moore to thank for an excellent header late on which was enough for all three points. It's going to be a very tricky game. If we can get to half time at 0-0, then I fancy us to get a point. Whether we do that is another thing though. The level of performance across the team will have to improve - of the players who started at Chelsea I can honestly say I was only really impressed with Ki, Chico and Vorm - there seemed a lethargy across the team which needs to be addressed before this poor run of form starts to affect the atmosphere of the dressing room. It's got to be harder to motivate a group of players if you haven't won in two calendar months, and we need to get back to winning ways even if it's only for morale. The main question is though - can Luke Moore do it again? Answers on a postcard. Iechyd Da.
Looking forward to a good game. Man City have been playing some good football recently so the Swans will do well to get a point tomorrow
Man City dont play 4-4-2 as a rule so the formation is likely to be 4-2-3-1 Cant see Dzeko playing either,it appears a done deal that he off to the bundesliga likely starting line up HART ZABALETA KOMPANY NASTASIC CLICHY MILNER BARRY TEVEZ YAYA SILVA AGUERO
Dortmund we think Should have been a fixture here but Mancini has used him poorly in my opinion His greatest asset is the old style centre forward play receiving balls in from out wide and we never use wingers, not even as a plan B Shame,very good player
all i want to see is commitment and signs of improvement, Man city are a very good side we all know that but we have beaten them before and we can do it again if we play to our strengths and not worry about just containing them....If we go into the game with a defensive strategy then we have little hope of beating them but if we play like we did last time and keep the ball then we could get a goal from a break away....
..If we go into the game with a defensive strategy then we have little hope of beating them but if we play like we did last time and keep the ball then we could get a goal from a break away.... Mustn't have seen the game last season at the liberty Swansea were worthy winners
Roberto Mancini hints at Scott Sinclair departure Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has hinted that winger Scott Sinclair's future could lie away from the club. The 24-year-old has started just three games for City since his £6.2m move from Swansea last August. Mancini accepts he has not given the player much opportunity and could understand if he was frustrated. "This situation with Sinclair is difficult because I didn't give him a lot of chances to play," he said. Sinclair, who has made 15 appearances in total for City this season, has been linked with a return to Swansea ahead of City's Premier League trip to the Liberty Stadium this weekend. And Mancini added: "He is very unlucky. It is my fault, not his fault. A young player like Scott who is a good player deserves to play always. "For him, it was a really difficult year this year. I think it is better if he can have another solution. "If he stays here, maybe, everything can change but I can understand his frustration in this moment because he didn't play a lot of games." I would not mind him coming back.....I would love to see him start for man city but i wont hold my breath....
was it Sinclair who nearly "did a Pratley" towards the end of the game last season when Hart had come up for a corner? yes, would love to see him start on Saturday, I suppose there is a decent chance now City have relatively little to play for. He missed a penalty in the corresponding fixture last season, that was the last time we were awarded one!!!!
Hi see Mancini is saying Sinclair could be out of there end off season, Im sure he would be a welcome back at Swansea what you guys think yes or no, we know he can be a good player he did get us to the prem.
I think theres a thread on that Lauds. It would be nice to see him come on today - cos it will probably mean we are three nil up
If we are not at our best, we'll go down to another defeat! 1-1 draw for me, hopefully.................................
