Man City v Cardiff City. Match preview

Last updated : 18 January 2014 By Michael Morris

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has the unenviable task of taking his Cardiff City side into the fortress of the Etihad Stadium where free scoring Man City have won 10 out of 10 home games.

Cardiff City become the 11th team to visit The Etihad and hope to come away with a result.

The previous 10 sides all failed to get anything and is most cases they left after being thrashed.

Norwich conceded 7, Arsenal and Spurs both let in 6. Make no mistake this is not going to be a comfortable afternoon for Cardiff or the fans.

Two bookies have Cardiff at 25/1 to win.

Shocks happen though, you only have to look at the reverse fixture. Cardiff's first home game in the Premier League ended 3 - 2 to The Bluebirds.

No one expects anything other than a home win. This is one if those games where you can only hope you get something to shout about.

 

Early team news

Manchester City trio Yaya Toure, David Silva and Vincent Kompany are all back in contention to face Cardiff in the Barclays Premier League this weekend.

Captain Kompany and midfielders Toure and Silva were all rested for the 5-0 FA Cup third-round replay win over Blackburn in midweek. Sergio Aguero, who came off the bench in midweek after eight games out, could again be a substitute.

Striker Stevan Jovetic and midfielder Jack Rodwell (both hamstring) are close to fitness while playmaker Samir Nasri (knee) is a long-term casualty.

Cardiff are set to be without Andrew Taylor and Jordon Mutch.

Taylor has an ankle problem, while Mutch is also sidelined by injury, but Craig Bellamy could start after making an impact off the bench against West Ham last week.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also has to decide whether to hand first starts to new signings Magnus Wolff Eikrem and Mats Moller Daehli.

 

The managers:

Manuel Pellegrini

"We will try to do a good game for the fans, so far we are doing well but every game is different. They only lost to Arsenal late on in the game so we are not thinking it will be an easy game.

"All of the players must know that winning tomorrow is the only important thing. It's not important for us to think about what happens in one or two months.

"I know nothing about any [transfers], we are not concerned about this at the moment. We are just thinking about Cardiff at the moment."

 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (and Peter Whittingham)

 

Match Appointments

Referee: Neil Swarbrick. Assistants: L Betts, A Halliday. Fourth Official: M Oliver.

 

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

  • Cardiff were 3-2 winners in the first top-flight meeting between the two clubs for 51 years last August.
  • Manchester City have never played Cardiff at the Etihad Stadium, but were unbeaten at Maine Road in seven league and cup matches between 1963 and 1985.

Manchester City

  • City are vying to register seven consecutive league wins for the first time since August 2012, when success against Southampton on the opening day extended a run of six straight victories at the end of the previous campaign.
  • It is two months since City lost a league game, away to Sunderland.
  • City have scored 99 goals in all competitions this season.
  • Manuel Pellegrini's side have scored almost four times as many goals (59) as Cardiff (15) in the Premier League.
  • They have scored a league-high five last-minute goals this season.

Cardiff City

  • Cardiff have only taken one point from their last five games (D1, L4)
  • Defeat for the Bluebirds would extend their winless run to six games - the first time they have endured such a sequence since March 2008.
  • Only Crystal Palace have failed to score on as many occasions as Cardiff City (11) this season.
  • Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer never won against City in four attempts as a player with Manchester United, although he did score once (D2, L2)

 

Teams

Manchester City (from): Hart, Pantilimon, Wright, Boyata, Clichy, Demichelis, Kolarov, Kompany, Lescott, Nastasic, Richards, Zabaleta, Garcia, Fernandinho, Milner, Nasri, Navas, Silva, Toure, Aguero, Dzeko, Guidetti, Negredo, Nimely.

Cardiff (from): Marshall, Connolly, Caulker, Hudson, Turner, Whittingham, Medel, Cornelius, Campbell, Odemwingie, Brayford, Kim, Smith, Eikrem, Noone, Gunnarsson, Cowie, Mason, McNaughton, Theophile-Catherine, Lewis, Bellamy, John, Daehli.