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Manchester City are sitting pretty right now when it comes to achieving their first trophy of the season. They’ll head to Burton Albion in midweek for the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final tie. They can truly coast into the final as they’re currently up 9-0 due to the extreme route we saw in the Manchester leg of this tie.
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Manchester City, already up by an eye-popping margin of 9-0 in their EFL Cup semi-final tie against Burton Albion, can treat Wednesday night’s meeting as a glorified friendly if they so desire. Having rolled up a massive advantage in the home leg of this tie, they can do a lot of squad rotation here, give the youngsters some game time and coast into the final, where they will meet the Chelsea-Tottenham Hotspur winner.
However, manager Pep Guardiola has promised to field a strong lineup for the midweek clash, so don’t expect to see a full reserve side out there for City in this one.
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Manchester City head into the weekend four points behind Liverpool for the league lead, but looking again like the juggernaut they truly are. Sunday brings a visit to Huddersfield Town, the league’s absolute bottom side and a team they totally thrashed 6-1 in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
Still, City boss Pep Guardiola isn’t taking this match lightly. “Forget the table, the schedule – focus on Huddersfield. It will be freezing and has always been complicated against them,” the Spaniard said. “Focus on what we have to do or else that is the first step to losing points.”
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New Huddersfield Town manager Mark Hudson certainly has an extremely tough assignment in his very first game as boss of the Terriers. Hudson replaces the sacked David Wagner, a German manager who had once been considered very promising; even called “baby Jurgen Klopp” by some.
Now he’s looking for a new gig and his replacement is set to tangle with the defending Premier League champions, Manchester City on Sunday. Let’s take a look at the health and fitness situation for both sides.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers have to be feeling pretty good as they head to the City of Manchester Stadium for what will be the final match of the weekend. (Well, sort of weekend) Wolves have just knocked Liverpool, the team that currently leads the Premier League, out of the FA Cup this past Monday night.
They also ended up all square with Manchester City when they played the defending champions in the reverse fixture early in the 2018-19 season. That all said, Wolverhampton might be catching Manchester City at the absolute worst time. Pep Guardiola’s side seems to really be hitting their stride right now, and you can bet they’ll put out a strong first team for this one.
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Manchester City head into their next fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers winners of their last four across all competitions, a run that has seen them score 21 goals in total. Yes, it appears that City have broken out of their mid-season slump with authority. The Citizens welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the blue side of Manchester on Monday night, looking for a better result than they achieved in the reverse fixture (a 1-1 draw) early this season.
Given that most recent meeting, and the fact that Wolves have taken a point from all three of their visits to big six clubs thus far, you know Pep Guardiola won’t be taking the Midlands club lightly.
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Ahead of tomorrow night’s clash of the titans, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola declared his Thursday opponent, Liverpool, the team to beat this season. Guardiola believes the Reds are currently the best team in Europe, but their manager, Jurgen Klopp is having none of that.
Klopp returned the favor, deeming City the best team in the world at his news conference today.
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola have met the media ahead of their epic clash tomorrow night, a match that is as big as one single game can be. Guardiola maintains that no one trusts his team right now to get the result given the lackluster form they have shown during parts of December.
City was undefeated domestically, until the loss at Chelsea on December 15. They have since been beaten by Crystal Palace and Leicester City. With his side having fallen to third, the Spaniard believes that Liverpool is now the team to beat, declaring them the best in Europe.
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Liverpool at Manchester City- Premier League fixtures just don’t any more significant than this. However, it’s difficult for one to like the visitors’ chances in this one upon glance at recent history. Liverpool emerged victorious in only one of their last nine league visits to the City of Manchester Stadium, three draws and five losses.
Then again, maybe this clash will be the exception, not the rule? It certainly seems to be the year of the Reds thus far, and we’re more than halfway through. Man City has lost to Crystal Palace this season, and the last time that happened, 1990, Liverpool won the league. Coincidence? I guess we’ll see and Thursday night could be a major glimpse into the future.
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It’s the biggest game of the year in the Premier League- Liverpool at Manchester City! Lately, it’s been a one-sided series, vastly in favor of the visitors. City have won just one of their last 11 meetings with Liverpool across all competitions (seven losses and three draws), but that single win was indeed an emphatic one.
The Sky Blues walloped Liverpool 5-0 at home in Premier League play last season. Also, City has not lost back to back home games since early 2016, since before Pep Guardiola was manager. Thus, you can understand why the Cityzens are favored in this one.
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“It’s a marathon, not a sprint” is as shopworn a cliche as possible, but it’s a concept that certainly applies to the Premier League title race. It’s painful to repeat that platitude, but you must remember it Thursday night when the Liverpool at Manchester City result goes final. Once this game is over, there will still be 17 matches left, and Liverpool’s lead at the top of table will either be a.) 10 points b.) unchanged or c.) 4 points.
Obviously, if it’s a.) City will be in a very deep hole with a lot of work to do in the second half of the season, b.) a big blown opportunity for Pep Guardiola and company c.) a signal that the title race is really on this season.
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After Tottenham Hotspur’s statement win on Sunday, 6-2 at Everton, positioned Spurs solidly in third place, naturally some Premier League title contention talk would ensue. Spurs are just two points behind Manchester City for second, and six off the pace of league leaders Liverpool.
They are five clear of fourth place Chelsea as we head into Christmas. Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged that the two teams in front of his side are considered the front-runners, not Spurs. However, he knows that his side isn’t far off, and will have plenty of opportunities to reach the top.
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