Match Preview: Manchester City vs Everton

Does Pellegrini have the Hart to keep number one between the sticks?

By Aaron Leggott

Everton will be travelling to the Etihad Stadium for the early lunchtime kick off with realistic hopes of putting a further dent in Manchester City's title hopes. 

After Wednesday's defeat at home to Bayern Munich, City have endured a mixed start in all competitions - whilst Everton come into the game in a rich vein of form after winning all their games in September under the guidance of Roberto Martínez.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

It seems like the Spaniard's deadline day signings have made an immediate impact. Romelu Lukaku, James McCarthy and Gareth Barry all made the decision to move to Goodison Park - with the latter missing out tomorrow as he can't play against his parent club.

In the Spotlight: Everton

No. 8: Keeping Leighton Baines, new signings and a bold prediction!

By Aaron Leggott

Following two consecutive defeats against Aston Villa and Bayern Munich, the Blues are set to face Everton in the day's early kick off. We caught up with Toffees fan Nick Bailey (@nbabsolutely) to get a perspective from our upcoming opponent.

Photo: Official Everton Facebook

Match Preview: Reading vs Manchester City

City hope to bounce back after difficult weekend

By Aaron Leggott

Cup final defeats and managerial departures are just two of the things that wouldn't seem out of place at Manchester City, as the tag of "Typical City" came to rear it's ugly head these past few days in Manchester.

Of course, the misery started at Wembley on Saturday following a shock defeat in the FA Cup final as Wigan fully deserved to lift the trophy. A lot of people pointed to the leaking of Roberto Mancini's impending departure as to the reason for the defeat, and the Italian eventually left his post as manager of Manchester City last night.

Gutted: A tough weekend for all...
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It has left Brian Kidd as the stand in gaffer for the remaining two games, with the first a trip to the Madejski Stadium to play already relegated Reading.

Swansea 0 - 0 Manchester City: Thoughts and Ratings

By Aaron Leggott

My thoughts

This game had a proper end of season feel about it and a draw was a fair result. It was a game of two (very unentertaining) halves - with Swansea shading the first half, and City becoming much stronger after the break.

You can tell that the motivation for some players has totally gone in terms of the Premier League and it is hard to shake them out of that mindset - we just need to ensure that Champions League football is secured which I'm fairly confident we will manage. 

David Silva in action against Swansea
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With games against West Brom, Reading and Norwich we should be expecting a full nine points in return to finish the league season off strongly. And a win at Wembley on Saturday wouldn't be too bad, either. 

Match Reflection: Manchester United 1 - 2 Manchester City

"Aguerno?" Sergio silences Old Trafford crowd with superb winner

By Aaron Leggott

Magic - one of the many superlatives appropriate for the goal that closed the gap at the top of the Premier League to 12 points on Monday night.

David Silva, nicknamed Merlin, is more commonly seen by City fans as the magician in the team but Sergio Aguero's winner at Old Trafford created parallels to the goal which carved his name into the record books last May.

Agueeroooooooo: Sergio grabs the winner against United
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In terms of significance, the goals' were polar opposites - but Aguero's sudden turn of pace had Phil Jones and co. scrambling, just like against QPR. 

Perhaps it was fitting that an Argentine scored the winner on the day Margaret Thatcher died - but I'll leave that judgement to you.

City vs Ajax: Match Preview

City need to 'pep' up for Mancini

By Dave Walker

Manchester City are no different from the overwhelming majority of teams in the world in that they would love to play like Barcelona and emulate the success of the Spanish giants.

Unlike most teams though, City have appointed the top executive team of Ferran Soriano and Txiki Bergiristain. The duo that, along with President Joan Laporta, led Barca to their glorious recent history.

The Catalan connection is destined to take City to the ‘next level’ in their meteoric rise under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour. The big question is whether ex-Barca boss Pep Guardiola – presently on a self imposed sabbatical in New York – is destined to join to make it a Manchester-Barcelona 1-2-3?

City vs Ajax: Match Preview

"Dambusters": City on a European mission 

By Dave Walker 

As reigning champions of England and the Netherlands, Manchester City and Ajax are waging almost carbon copy defences of their domestic crowns.

Both remain undefeated and yet both are perceived to be under-performing in their respective leagues.  Ajax have won four and drawn five of their nine games so far, whereas City have won five and drawn three of their opening eight fixtures.

Whether that is a harsh judgment - based on games in the Eredivisie and the Premier League - is debatable.  City are, on a game-by-game comparison,  six points ahead of last season’s haul of 89 - so much for perception and reality.

But the criticism carries weight in Europe,  when it comes to results – if not performances - in their Group D Champions League campaign.