Man City v Leicester Preview By Simon Mack!

Machester City vs Leicester City

Saturday 21^st December 2019 17:30

Etihad Stadium

After a dramatic penalty victory against Everton in the Carabao Cup ¼ final the foxes northern travels continue on Saturday evening with a visit to the Etihad to play reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.

Sky Blues boss Pep Guardiola will be licking his woulds a little prior to this top 3 clash as not only are Leicester 4 points clear of his charges in 2^nd spot but in additional he has just lost his assistant coach. Mikel Arteta has headed south to take the role many in the media had touted foxes boss Brendan Rodgers for at Arsenal and whilst Arteta has quite a task on his hands to turn the gunners around at the same time the Man City camp will be hurting from the loss within their ranks.

Last time out the ‘Blue Mooners’ has a fairly routine 3-1 victory away to a spunky Oxford United in the Carabao cup to line up a semi-final derby with Manchester Utd. Previously in the league Man City were comfortable winners at the Emirates with a 3-0 victory against Arteta’s new charges. Interestingly the Arsenal management tried to speak to Arteta post defeat but the Spaniard was loyal to his role and made the contingent fly north to speak with him late that night as he was adamant in travelling back with his staff.

The sky blues have been playing ‘mid-week – weekend’ week in week out for a while as their league, cup and Champions League duties come thick and fast and an away 4-1 victory at Dinamo Zagreb preceded the Arsenal away win.

Man City’s talisman Sergio Aguero made a BBC fans Premier League team of the decade this week and the Argentinian has 9 league goals to date this term equalling the tally of England ace Raheem Sterling. Aguero is rumoured to be back from injury and in contention and has a shout to be involved in the match day squad for this weekend. Belgian midfield star Kevin De Bruyne has been in fine form too of late and his 6 goals including a sublime side footed rocket against the gunners last weekend have paid testament to the once Mourinho reject finding his very best once again.

Guardiola may be able to welcome back David Silva to the 1^st team squad for this vital top 3 clash as the Spaniard seems to have recovered from a leg injury and Gabriel Jesus who was rested for the mid-week trip to Oxford should return to the line-up. John Stones remains side-lined having limped out of the Manchester derby earlier in the month whilst a rejig from the cup win Wednesday might see rising star Phil Foden drop back to the bench as Guardiola shoehorns in all he can muster in anger.

For the foxes Brendan Rodger’s team selection for the Carabao Cup ¼ final up at Everton surprised many Leicester fans. The only changes from the side that faced Norwich the weekend prior were Wes Mogan in for Caglar Soyunchu, Marc Albrighton taking Youri Tielemans place and Perez returning for Iheanacho. Tielemans had been the only Leicester player to appear in every match so far to date this season and the mid-week breather was surely with an eye on the weekend’s looming clash.

Rodgers has no new injury concerns to ponder so it’s a fully available match day squad and having come off the bench last week and not played at all in mid-week young wide man Harvey Barnes will be eager to get back in the side. Machester Utd’s recent victory at the Etihad was largely attributed by the experts to the red devil’s ability to run at the sky blue’s defence with pace and with that in mind Barnes may be an important weapon in the coming war. Marc Albrighton also did his chances of a start no harm at Everton where he put in an ever committed and passionate display that nearly saw him seal the tie with an off the bar effort. Demari Gray failed to impress last weekend having replaced Kelechi Iheanacho early on, but the Nigerian did not feature at all in the week’s cup antics and it makes you wonder if he was kept up Rodger’s sleeve for the weekend’s tussle too?

Ayonze Perez has also been in and out of 1^st team action of late as the foxes gaffer rotates the pack to keep things fresh. His performance on Merseyside was another mixed bag but his best form has largely been found on the road and Rodger’s may well give him the nod.

The foxes defence has been an every present and efficient machine this season and with 8 fewer goals conceded than their rivals going into this one you’d expect the same bank of 4 to sit in front of penalty hero Kasper Schmeichel in goal.

With league leaders Liverpool out in the middle east in the World Club Championships Leicester can shorten the gap to 7 points on the team in 1^st spot with a victory against the sky blues, and whilst the weekend’s clash will see Rodger’s meeting up with his former protégée Raheem Sterling it’s the team they were once at together that both sides will have an upward eye on catching in the 2^nd half of the season.

Riyad Mahrez I hear you cry? What a shame it was to hear him be so disrespectful about his latter time at King Power Stadium. You might think it…. But don’t say it out loud! I personally only see the former foxe’s genius warming the bench this time out. What sort of reception will he get from the Leicester faithful if he hits the touch line to warm up?!?

 Man City possible line-up:

Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Mendy, De Bruyne, Rodri, D Silva, Bernardo, Jesus, Sterling

Leicester possible line-up:

Schmeichel, Ricardo, Soyuncu, Evans, Chilwell, Ndidi, Tielemans, Perez, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy