Sports Mole previews Cardiff's trip to the Etihad Stadium as former Man United favourite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks to halt Man City's unstoppable home form.

Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has the unenviable task of stopping the seemingly unstoppable on Saturday when he takes his Cardiff City side to Manchester City's Etihad Stadium fortress.

Manuel Pellegrini's side have scored 46 goals in the process of winning their last 10 matches at Eastlands and several of those games have been played without top scorer Sergio Aguero, who made a goalscoring return in the 5-0 FA Cup thrashing of Blackburn Rovers.

The 13-goal Argentine striker may get some more game time off the bench this weekend, but Samir Nasri will not feature having been ruled out for eight weeks with knee ligament damage.

His fellow playmaker David Silva is a doubt for the Citizens having picked up a knock in the 2-0 win over Newcastle United, but Yaya Toure is expected to shake off back pain to start in central midfield as City attempt to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 17 matches.

Gael Clichy, Joleon Lescott, Matija Nastasic, Costel Pantilimon and Micah Richards are all probable dropouts from the team that thrashed Rovers, as Pellegrini reverts back to his regular back five, while Javi Garcia may be retained if Toure is unfit but is otherwise likely to be demoted to the substitutes.

Footballing power has shifted in Manchester since Solskjaer's trophy-filled days with the Red Devils, but the Norwegian will be hoping to get one over on an old nemesis and end Cardiff's five-match winless top-flight run in the process.

Magnus Eikrem could be in line for a full Bluebirds debut after making a cameo in the defeat to West Ham United, and another Solskjaer signing, Mats Moller Daehli, is in contention to feature for the visitors.

Craig Bellamy is another whose second-half introduction last weekend improved Cardiff's display, and he is expected to make his first Premier League start since November 9 in place of Peter Odemwingie.

Jordan Mutch and Andrew Taylor remain sidelined, while Mark Hudson, back in favour under the Welsh outfit's new manager, should get the nod ahead of Ben Turner to partner Steven Caulker in defence.

Recent form

Man City: WWWWWW

Cardiff: LLDLLW

Possible starting lineups

Man City: Hart; Zabaleta, Demichelis, Kompany, Kolorov; Navas, Fernandinho, Toure, Milner; Negredo, Dzeko

Cardiff: Marshall; Theophile-Catherine, Caulker, Hudson, John; Noone, Whittingham, Medel, Eikrem, Bellamy; Campbell

Sports Mole says: 4-1