Everton Vs Manchester City Preview 3rd May 2014

4th place Everton,host title contenders Manchester city today,looking to casue an upset.

Kick Off : 17:30 BST 

Everton with69 points are chasing Arsenal for the last champions league place.with 9 wins in their last 10 home games ,newly appointed Manager Roberto Martinez has somewhat transformed Everton from a mid-table to one that can push for titles and trophies. they host Manchester City Tonight looking to get all three points ,and close the gap for the last champions league spot. 

Belgian international and Everton striker  Romelu Lukaku has been a hit this season for Everton ,scoring 13 goals. his compatriot ,Kevin Mirallas,has also been putting in good perfomances from the wing ,scoring 8 goals and providing 8 assists.Everton have the squad and the tactical ability to beat any team. its do or die as they  face the formidable Citizens at home with 2 games remaining ,Martinez try to bring out the best in players to make a final push for the 4th spot on the rankings table .  

Martinez tactical ability and Soccer philosohy ,has Revived everton this season

Manchester City currently 3rd with 77 points  ,and  a game in hand ,are guaranteed the tile If they win their next 2 games.it should be quiet easy as they play both of them at home in front of their own fans.  non of the top 3 teams can afford to lose anypoints , or they risk losing the title by a small margin. City have a solid away form ,with 3 wins and a draw out of their last 5 away games. with stars like Sergio Aguero ,David Silva ,and Yaya Toure , who have a combined tally of 42 goals between them they are a side that can intimidate any home  team no matter how confident they are .  

the premiere league title being the only silver ware man city are fighting for this season ,the pressure is on manager Manuel Pellegrini to justify the vast spending in acquiring more then 50 million $ of talent if city fail to win anything this season , his position as manager of the team can be become somewhat unstable. The argentine knows all about this kind of pressure however ,as he suffered almost the same fate when he was removed form his managerial position at a little club known as Real Madrid , after they failed to win a single trophy in two seasons. 

Lukaku has been at time Unstopable this season.

Injury News  

Everton captain Phil Jagielka returns to the squad  after a 2 month  absence with a hamstring injury.first pick centre-back Sylvain Distin is still a doubt after a similar problem forced him to miss last weekend's defeat at Southampton.On-loan Gareth Barry is unavailable against his parent club while fellow midfielder Steven Pienaar is still not available. 

Manchester City, meanwhile, have playmaker David Silva available but fellow Spaniard Jésus Navas, who has missed the last three games, remains on the sidelines with his own ankle problem. 

Final score Prediction  

Everton Manager Roberto Martinez has a knack for upsets. although city are favored ,Everton's resilience and Martinez's tactical knowledge  might actually be enough to win this game.  

Everton : 2         Man city : 1 

Its Darby Time as The Gunners Look to Shoot Down High Spirited Chelsea

  High flying Chelsea visit the emirates stadium on Saturday for a mid day kickoff against local rivals Arsenal. They have had a hectic schedule. Coming off a victory over Spanish and European heavy weights FC Barcelona in the first leg of the champion’s league semi finals. Chelsea will no doubt fancy their chances against the north London club. Arsenal has managed to win four of their last five games, suffering a shock defeat at home to Wigan ended their 6 game winning streak at home. They are currently 3^rd on the premier league standings, trailing second place Manchester city with 13 points. Chelsea has not had a good away from this season managing only a win in their last 5 away games in the domestic competition. Chelsea are currently 6^th in the league standings, trailing 4^th place Tottenham Hotspur  by two points ,Newcastle United are the surprise package of the season look to steal the last champions league spot from under their London clubs nose .

 The first fixture was played in the Stamford Bridge with arsenal achieving an impressive victory. Turning a 2 goal deficit and eventually wining 5 goals to 3. The flying Dutch man Robin Van Persi scored an impressive hat trick to give his side all 3 points

Arsenal Captain Robin Van Persi has been  Fantastic for the gunner this season so far 

The Netherlands international is currently top of the goals scorers chart with 27 goals scored in the league. That’s 3 more than frank Lampard, Juan Mata, Fernando Torres, and Didier Drogba efforts put together.

Van Persi has been subject to transfer speculation, as his current contract expires in 2013, and due to his current form many major European club will fancy their chances at signing the player. He was spotted visiting the Barcelona camp on Monday when the Spanish side was preparing for their champions league tie against Chelsea.

Chelsea have played 3 matches within a week, and the games have taken a toll on the aging squad .Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has dismissed suggestions that his team stand a better chance of winning due to this fact . Speaking to the press he had the following to say:

“I don’t believe that they will be tired at all,” he said. “You expect to be playing Chelsea at their best and you cannot expect them, with the players and numbers that they have, to be tired.

Probable Line ups and injuries

Arsenal is without midfield maestro Mikel Arteta, as former Everton player is out for the rest of the season following a dreaded ankle injury. Gunner’s youngster Jack Wilshere was due to be back after a long term absence but has failed to recover on time and so he remains sidelined. Francis Coquelin and Abou Diaby are both likely to make the bench after recovering from minor injuries.

Szczesny
   Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Santos 
Ramsey, Song, Rosicky
Walcott, Van Persie, Gervinho

The gunners will look to use their strength on the flank, with quick passing and fluent movement, Chelsea will have a difficult time keeping up with Arsenals pace. They are extremely dangerous in the counter and are likely to catch the Chelsea back line off guard on several occasions. Look out for Theo Walcott and Ashley Cole s 100 meter foot race though out the game.

Chelsea will have to make without right back Branislave Ivanovic as player is out serving a 3 game suspension. The Serbian international is punished by the FA for violent misconduct against Wigan FC attacker Sean Maloney. Jose Bosingwa will be looking to make good impression on care taker manager Di Matteo as the Portuguese international has not been largely involved in the blues campaign this season. .Didiere Drogba is likely to be rested after playing a full  90 minutes in the midweek fixture, with the 50 million acquisition; Fernando Torres ready to make a rare start as the focal point of Chelsea’s attack.

Cech
Bosingwa, Cahill, Terry, Cole
Lampard, Essien
Ramires, Mata, Sturridge
Torres

Chelsea’s Spanish duo Juan Mata and Fernando Torres hold the key for Chelsea. Mata posses great creativity and will look to find Torres throughout the game. The arsenal defense will have torrid time keeping el ninio quiet. As his movement off the ball and quick feet has on many occasions has left opposition defenders bamboozled.

Final verdict

 Arsenal are a hard team beat at the emirates, taking Chelsea’s recent away form into consideration mixing it  with the recent games Chelsea have been involved with ,I’m gonna have to give this one to arsenal ,simply because they are the home team and have a better record against the blues .

    Arsenal                            Chelsea

2                                             1

The Citizens Look For Victory as They Visit The London Fortress

Manchester city will travel to London, to face off a free scoring opposition in Arsenal.  the north London Club have had a good run of games managing 4 wins n their last 5 games ,a shock defeat to Queens Park Rangers ,last week ended their 6 game winning streak . Man city Manager Roberto Mancini is hoping to gain all three points he he admitted losing to arsenal today will most likely end their title hopes. Trailing league leader Manchester united with 5 points and 8 games remaining there is no room what so ever for slip ups. 

With all that in play man city are anxiously waiting to whether or not Sergio Aguero can play. The Argentine striker picked up a Stupid Injury as manager Roberto Mancini called it in training, non the less Manchester city have a rich pool of player to call upon with Mario balotelli , Edin Dzecko and Carlos Tevez all Available. Samir Nasri, Joeleon Lescot are both likely to  likely to return after missing the encounter against Sunderland due to slight injuries. 

City Manger has issued a rally cry , asking his player to step up their games 

Arsenal will need a win to stay ahead of local Rivals Totenham, as the two sides are competing the champions’ league spot. Manager Arsene Wenger will be without German International per MerterSacker and young midfielder Jack Wilsher. Alexander Song and Michael Arteta are likely to start. Robin van Persi will look to add to his goal tally, as the Flying Dutch Man is currently leading the Goal charts with 26, 5 a head of United Striker Wayne Rooney.

Probable Line Ups

Szczesny
Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs
Arteta, Song, Rosicky
Walcott, Van Persie, Gervinho

Hart
Zabaleta, K Toure, Kompany, Kolarov
Barry, Y Toure 
Nasri, Aguero, Balotelli
Dzeko

Final Verdict 

we in for some attractive and exciting attacking football , this is a game you don't want to miss , its goals galore and a few  Controversial  decision by the referee are likely to fill the Monday papers head lines.  arsenal have won the last 6 home games at the emirates , Manchester city have only manged two win in 6 away games in the league with the most recent being a 1- 0 win over Aston villa ,the last time man city managed to beat arsenal at home in the league was 4th of October 1975 . 

             Arsenal                                                        Manchester City 

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