Liverpool's luck set to run out
By Dave Walker
Roberto Mancini was dubbed ‘Uno Fortunato’
– ‘The Lucky One’ throughout his glittering playing and managerial career with
the likes of Sampdoria, Lazio and Inter Milan.
It wasn’t intended to undermine his
achievements with Serie A titles and Coppa Italia’s aplenty, it was just the
Italian media’s way of saying he was somehow blessed with good fortune as well
as outstanding ability.
City are stuck on an unlucky 13 all-time
wins at Anfield but must fancy their chances of recording their 14th
as they begin their away record in defence of their Premier League crown.
It could be argued Mancini used all his
luck up when City won the title in the last minute of last season, not
forgetting last weekend’s narrow win against a plucky Southampton.
He’ll be hoping his team will banish their
strangely inept opening day showing – albeit they won - and revert to type, to
heap more dismay on new Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers after the Reds’ 3-0
walloping at West Brom.
City fans are all playing the guessing game
as to when Mancini will roll out the 3-5-2 formation that served the team so
well in pre-season – and asking what’s the criteria for switching to the very well known 4-4-2 that helped us to Premier League glory last season.
The bid to bring Daniele De Rossi in from
Roma would have given the City boss an array of riches at the back and in
defensive midfield. Sadly De Rossi is staying put in Rome, but only after City
insiders had believed they’d clinched the signature of one of the most
influential players in the game.
However, we move on, with the City boss
still keen to reinforce his squad before 11pm on 31 August.
Doubtless we’ll see changes in the line-up
at Liverpool. James Milner was incredibly unfortunate not to start in the opening
fixture after a superb performance in the Community Shield and as an
influential sub for England against Italy.
Likewise Nigel De Jong was at his tigerish best
against Chelsea in the Community Shield. Will they both play to add some bite
against what is traditionally a physical Liverpool side?
Sergio Aguero is an obvious casualty, but
hopefully only until mid-September. City’s title challenge would be severely
hindered if Sergio was sidelined for a prolonged period.
Who will partner Carlos Tevez up front? The once
errant Argie is now back to his best and one of the first names on the teams heet,
so will Edin Dzeko or Mario Balotelli get the start?
As much as Samir Nasri came alive against
Southampton, David Silva was the polar opposite, subdued and out of touch. Not the
form to be showing when you are allegedly asking for £200k a week in wages!
Hopefully normal service will be resumed by the man from Gran Canaria.
Events in Liverpool this week could have a
profound effect on the early stages of the title race. A rare Anfield win, aligned to Manchester
United’s failings at Everton will keep City well on course.
There’s a certain unpredictability about
Liverpool and City matches so let’s hope City make it a lucky 14th
or, at the very least, emulate last season’s 1-1 and 2-2 draws in the red half
of Merseyside.
Player watch
David Silva vs Steven Gerrard
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| Photo 1: Alex Livesey/Getty Images Europe Photo 2: Clint Hughes/Getty Images Europe |
City’s ‘Merlin’ failed to conjure up his
usual magic against Southampton after a long, but victorious, summer with Spain
at the Euros 2012. City fans will forgive Silva the blip, but if he’s off the
pace on Sunday it will give England skipper, Gerrard the chance to dominate.
Silva’s silky skills and vision need to be
deployed creating openings and feeding the ball through to Tevez & Co with
pinpoint precision.
Gerrard – so long the soul of the Liverpool
team – will want to engineer another uncomfortable Anfield experience for the
men in Sky Blue so City need to smother him and deny him both time and space at
every opportunity.
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