Soccer – Barclays Premier League – Manchester City v Aston Villa – Etihad Stadium
The Premier League serves up a mouth-watering clash this weekend as second place Manchester City face third place Chelsea, with just four points separating them as the league enters its final 12 games. Both were on the winning sides of 4-0 victories against lower league opposition during the FA Cup last weekend and will want to improve on their disappointing league form that has left them looking at second spot and automatic qualification to the Champions League as their prime goal.
Manchester City seem jaded this season. The spark and elegance that was almost ever present in the 11/12 campaign has only flickered this time around. Had you been told in August that Manchester City’s fifth-round FA Cup tie vs. Leeds United at the Etihad might decide Roberto Mancini’s fate as manager, you would have laughed at the suggestion. To win had been the only thing that mattered to Mancini and his band of under-performers. The previous time the City congregation witnessed a victory was back in the previous round, on 26 January, when Stoke City were knocked out. After 52 minutes Carlos Tevez had made it 3–0 against a weak Leeds United side and thoughts began to turn to Chelsea’s visit there on Sunday. From the team that lost 3-1 at Southampton last time out Joe Hart, Samir Nasri, Gareth Barry, Edin Dzeko, Gael Clichy, and Joleon Lescott were omitted and only Barry was injured. Hart is yet to feature in the FA Cup this season, so Dzeko, Nasri, Clichy and Lescott can consider themselves dropped and fingered for the blame for that dismal display at St Mary’s. City are 12 points behind Manchester United. Here are the next five matches for United in the league: QPR away (20th on the table), Norwich (14th) at home, West Ham (11th) away, Reading (18th) at home and Sunderland (13th) away. Maybe United will not get all 15 of those points, but it is hard to imagine United taking fewer than 10 in that span. So City is left clinging to its hold on second place in the league table and watching the Champions League on television. It is odd to say, but City must now look at the FA Cup and second spot as their best chance to salvage respectability from an otherwise disappointing campaign. Too quiet in recent times, Aguero exploded in the cup tie with two goals and a beautiful assist on Tevez’s tally after Yaya Toure opened the scoring early on. The Argentine is a key player in big matches like this and City will need his talent here.
For being so inconsistent this season, Chelsea should consider themselves lucky to be in third place and four points behind the champions. The Blues became the final club to solidify their status in the fifth round of the FA Cup last weekend as they won 4-0 over League One side Brentford in a fourth round replay. After a first half that was packed with missed opportunities, Chelsea came out on fire in the second half. Juan Mata opened the scoring in the 54th minute before Frank Lampard, Oscar and John Terry contributed to the winning effort with a goal each. Prior to last weekend they ended a bad patch of form with a 2-1 win over Wigan in their last league game which brought an end to a four game winless streak and will want to continue on their winning form now which also includes a 1-0 win over Sparta Prague in the Europa League. Juan Mata has been the engine that drives the Chelsea attack. From the opening kick of last Sunday’s match, Juan Mata was running up and down the pitch providing scoring opportunities for his teammates. Going into the match, Mata had a club-high 12 assists and also 17 goals in all competitions and as his form continues to impress, and the Chelsea attack continues to score on passes provided by the Spaniard.
Manchester City won this fixture 2-1 last season and also beat Chelsea 3-2 at Wembley in the Community Shield at the beginning of this season. However, against some of the big teams this season City have failed to dominate home fixtures and created very little going forward. Chelsea haven’t looked good in their last two away matches, losing 3-2 to Newcastle and drawing 2-2 with Reading. The draw is tipped in what should be another low scoring affair like the first round’s 0-0 draw.
