Mancini Should Take a Long Hard Look in the Mirror
Manchester City now have virtually no chance of retaining the Premier League title unless something hilariously catastrophic happens over at Old Trafford. Don’t bother with the long-shot odds on City in the latest Premier League betting – if Chelsea were in any reasonable form, City would be looking over their shoulder instead of looking far into the distance.
The manager’s gut reaction to the recent defeat away at Southampton is to blame the players. Players who have been predominantly consistent throughout the time the Italian has been in charge of the side.
Manchester City most likely to win Premier League
According to the prediction model developed by the CIES Football Observatory, Manchester City are most likely to win the Premier League in 2012/13 and finish ahead of rivals Manchester United and Arsenal.
The CIES model includes four main criteria for league success: international activity of players, their league experience, squad stability and the quality of signings.
The combination of all these elements suggests that the City, United and Arsenal have the best chances of finishing in the top three positions of the rankings, with City having the highest probability of winning the Premier League. City finishing in the top three in the Premier League this season looks to be as sure a bet as getting a four-of-a-kind hand at www.partycasino.com, but are they really the favourites for the title?
City get the perfect Champions League group
The champions of England have been drawn with the champions of Spain, Germany and Netherlands in their 2012/2013 Champions League group, giving Manchester City another ‘group of death’ to begin with.
There is no controversy here (or is there?) but it has more to do with City’s seeding in the Champions League and the fact that they are newcomers to the European stage, putting them in the second pot in UEFA’s seeding policy.
Still, when you consider that the only way this could have been a tougher draw was to have drawn an Italian team and the odds for getting such a tough draw were higher than the toughest casino games at Lucky Nugget, you wonder what City will need to do to progress beyond the group stages this year.
Manchester City 2012-13 season preview
Winning the Premier League title is one thing, but Manchester City now face the tough test of defending their crown in 2012-13. With the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea strengthening this summer Roberto Mancini’s troops will have a job on their hands to top the pile once more, but the club is in a confident mood.
Manchester City season review: A historic campaign for Roberto Mancini’s men
Manchester City ended a 44-year wait to be crowned as England’s top team in 2011-12, in what was a nail-biting but massively exciting campaign for the Etihad Stadium faithful. Premier League glory was the number one goal of the big-spending outfit, however it took last-day drama to ensure this ambition became reality. After a summer of strengthening City will look to push on next season, and although they are the newly-crowned English champions, dominance domestically and making waves on the continent (and new soccer footwear sponsorships, if they go by Dalglish’s mantra) will be their next objectives.
Chelsea’s title hopes hang on their ability to stop Manchester City
Premier League leaders Manchester City travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea this Monday, in an important game for both sides. The hosts can all but wave goodbye to their title aspirations with a defeat, whilst if the visitors are beaten they may see their lead at the top cut to two points going into a hectic festive season. The latest football betting odds have Chelsea as favourites at odds of 7/5, but City have been in excellent form domestically and will take some beating.
Manchester City and life without the UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League has come and gone in the blink of an eye for Manchester City this season as their otherwise magnificent season gets its first reality check. Roberto Mancini’s side have blitzed virtually every team in England on their way to the top of the Premier League table, the Carling Cup semi-finals as well as being in confident mood to dispose of rivals Manchester United in the FA 3rd round.
Which is why Wednesday night’s elimination from Europe’s premier competition comes as an even greater shock to the system of Blues’ fans but the hotels in Manchester will hardly be complaining since the Europa League will only confirm extra games for the Citizens to play. But Group A is in the past now and the Italian tactician must ensure his squad brimming full of superstars are focused on their domestic matters at hand as well as making sure his team do well in the Europa League.
Liverpool, Arsenal and Bayern Munich to test City’s resolve
Manchester City have started their 2011-12 season at a blistering speed as Premiership betting odds declared them favorites for the title, but any club fans that thought the Etihad Stadium outfit were simply going to whitewash every team that crossed their paths with ease may now be having a second thought. The 2-1 defeat to Napoli in Italy on Tuesday night will test Roberto Mancini’s men’s resolve, as three difficult opponents lay in wait over the next 11 days.
Confident City ready for Villarreal climax
This season you can also play live, legendary football with Heineken Star Player. Play live with every UEFA Champions League match on TV and anticipate the outcome of live match moments to score. See video at the end for more information.
Manchester City will travel to Spain to take on Villarreal at El Madrigal in the form of their life as they seek to secure Champions League knock-out action. The Group A moment of truth will kick-off at 7:45 p.m. on 2nd November and an explosive match it to be expected as both sides pass the halfway mark of the group stage.
Mario Balotelli - Love him or hate him, nobody can slate his talent!
Man Utd 1-6 Man City: Blue dominance in Manchester established
Manchester City humiliated Manchester United in a 6-1 victory as the visitors opened up a five point gap at the top of the Premier League table. Braces from Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko as well as strikes from Sergio Aguero and David Silva put Sir Alex Ferguson’s men to the sword while a stunning consolation from Darren Fletcher proved futile. The Manchester City statistics cannot be disputed because after weathering the early storm from their hosts, they tore them to shreds and the scoreline fairly reflects that.
Star of the show: David Silva
The hosts kicked-off in a much brighter fashion to their big-spending rivals as they dominated possession early on. Ashley Young in particular was proving to be a thorn in Manchester City’s defence but the home side couldn’t unlock their rearguard as Wayne Rooney and Anderson were restricted to long-range efforts.
However in the 22nd minute against the run of play, the visitors grabbed the lead. James Milner collected Sergio Aguero’s incisive pass and the Englishman pulled it back for Balotelli, who passed it precisely into David de Gea’s bottom left corner. Ferguson’s men were jolted by conceding as Roberto Mancini’s men finally got a foothold on proceedings and began to enjoy long spells of possession themselves but there were no significant chances before the end of the first half.
Within a minute of the restart, Manchester United’s day got worse as Jonny Evans hauled Balotelli down on the edge of the box. The Northern Irish defender received a red card since he was last man back and their defence never got to grips with their cross-city rivals since then.
Mario Balotelli after netting the opener
Balotelli doubled City’s lead on the hour mark when he converted Milner’s cross as Patrice Evra’s indiscipline was exposed at the back. Micah Richards and Sergio Aguero combined to complete the same feat down the right flank as the right-back’s back post cross was converted by the Argentine attacker to make it 3-0 to City.
However with nine minutes left, Darren Fletcher produced a stunning 25-yard curling effort that found Joe Hart’s top left corner as hopes of a United comeback materialised. But nothing was going to take this day away from the FA Cup holders as Edin Dzeko kneed in Joleon Lescott’s cross in the 90th minute to make the scoreline 4-1.
The Premier League champions defence disintegrated further in injury time when David Silva was allowed to ghost though their sieve-like defence and slot the ball under the helpless de Gea. There was still time for Dzeko to snatch a sixth as he latched onto Silva’s sublime pass and calmly slotted past the young Spanish ‘keeper once again.
Alex Ferguson was bamboozled
The crushing defeat of Manchester United puts a chasm between the two sides as Man City are now five points clear of them in the race for the Premier League title with a vastly superior goal difference of +26, 12 more than their championship rivals. The size of the win will have a long-term positive psychological effect on Macini’s squad as a powershift looks on the cards in the city of Manchester.
Visit WhoScored.com for more detail match reports and football statistics.
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