MX23RW : Wednesday, November 6 01:28:03| >> :120:6708:6708:

Preview: Manchester City vs. West Bromwich Albion

Sports Mole previews Manchester City's home match with West Bromwich Albion as Manuel Pellegrini attempts to salvage the champions' Premier League title aspirations.

The buzzards are circling around Manuel Pellegrini as he aims to resurrect Manchester City's Premier League challenge against West Bromwich Albion.

After their midweek Champions League elimination in Barcelona, City's season, and likely the future of their manager, rests on their fading title aspirations.

The heroics of Joe Hart were not enough in the Camp Nou on Wednesday as the Citizens failed to overturn their 2-1 first-leg deficit and reach the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in their four attempts.

The unsuppressed appetite for European glory within City's boardroom puts Pellegrini's job in jeopardy despite last season's domestic league and cup double.

Defending their title could now be the Chilean's only salvation, and those hopes were delivered what many deemed to be a fatal blow by Burnley last Saturday.

George Boyd's volley at Turf Moor ensured that City would end the weekend six points behind Chelsea at the top of the table, having played a game more.

Saturday lunchtime's visit of West Brom, with Chelsea not facing Queens Park Rangers until Sunday, again opens the door for City to move within striking distance, a chance that was passed up in defeats to Liverpool and Burnley.

Albion have proved difficult to beat under Tony Pulis, though, losing just two of their 10 top-flight games since the Welshman's appointment in late December.

A 1-0 victory over his former club Stoke City sent the Baggies eight points clear of the bottom three and effectively put their relegation worries to bed.

Brown Ideye, who broke his Premier League duck with the consolation in Boxing Day's 3-1 defeat to City, bagged the winner with his seventh of the season.

His strike partner Saido Berahino may be aggrieved to have missed out on today's England squad announcement and will therefore be looking to prove a point to Roy Hodgson at the Etihad Stadium.

Also missing from the 24-man Three Lions party was Ben Foster, who has been ruled out for a month with a knee injury. Boaz Myhill will deputise for him in the Baggies goal, as he did off the bench against Stoke.

Captain Chris Brunt has been banned for one match after admitting an FA misconduct charge and joins Claudio Yacob in being suspended. Jonas Olsson may be recalled and Joleon Lescott asked to fill in at left-back.

Pellegrini has a fully-fit squad to choose from and is expected to revert to the 4-4-2 formation that he abandoned for City's trip to Catalonia, but has proven to be very effective at home to bottom-half opposition.

Wilfried Bony's slow integration into the first XI could continue with another start ahead of Edin Dzeko. Both Pablo Zabaleta and Gael Clichy should be recalled in defence at the expense of Aleksander Kolarov and Bacary Sagna.

Man City:

Form in Premier League: DWWLWL
Form in all competitions: WLLWLL

Possible starting lineup: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy; Nasri, Toure, Fernandinho, Silva; Bony, Aguero

West Brom:

Form in Premier League: DWDWLW
Form in all competitions: WDWLLW

Possible starting lineup: Myhill; Dawson, McAuley, Olsson, Lescott; Gardner, Morrison, Fletcher, Sessegnon; Berahino, Ideye

Sports Mole says: 1-0


ID:212227: cacheID:212227:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7454:No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
West Bromwich Albion's Welsh manager Tony Pulis shouts from the touchline during the English Premier League football match against Everton on January 19, 2015
Read Next:
Preview: West Brom vs. Stoke
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!