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Stadium: Etihad Stadium
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Kick-off: 7:30 PM (IST), Sunday, 17th of February
With the Premier League crown fast slipping from their grasp, Manchester City turn their focus to the visit of Leeds United in the FA Cup fixture at the Etihad stadium this evening. Roberto Mancini will be desperate to avoid a repeat of last weekend’s flat performance from his side, while for Neil Warnock’s men, this is one of the only avenues for real glory, while they languish in a mid-table position in their league. A 12-point gap is what now exists between the two Manchester clubs at the top of the table, and with Manchester United managing a commendable 1 – 1 draw at the Bernabeu in midweek, the Citizens will hope to find some joy of their own as well.
Manchester City: W W D D L
A total of 2 points from their last three league fixtures, which have included games against QPR and Southampton implies that Manchester City have lost that sense of being the champions of England, and are slowly descending into a lull difficult to break out of. The magic of Aguero and Silva has not been influential this time around, and the returning Yaya Toure was rendered quite ineffective against Southampton, leaving City with few people to turn to in order to dig them out. Thus, with 5 goals conceded in their last two games, City will probably waste no time bringing back Kompany with his return from injury, and should manage a better defensive performance.
Leeds United: W W L D L
Leeds, on the other hand, haven’t done too much better either, given that they have taken only one point of their last possible nine, though one of them was a narrow loss to league-leading Cardiff City. Leeds’ hope will lie in the fact that City have conceded 9 goals in five cup games at home this season, albeit three of the games were Champions League fixtures against the likes of Real Madrid, Ajax, and Borussia Dortmund. Leeds did manage a 2 -1 win over Tottenham in the previous round of the competition though, and have put in some entertaining displays this season; thus a fighting performance would very much be in keeping with expectations.
Manchester City: Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany.
Leeds United: None.
Carlos Tevez
The Argentine striker is likely to feature in this fixture, given his demotion in the preferred starting eleven for the league games of late. With Paddy Kenny in goal for Leeds, there is always the temptation to go for goal for the opposition, and Carlos Tevez is someone who does not need a second invitation to shoot. A perfect opportunity then, for the combative striker to make his way back into the team on a regular basis.
El Hadji Diouf
The Senegalese attacker has been a fairly influential figure for his club this season, in spite of scoring just 5 goals overall. He also has Premier League experience. With a City defence vulnerable to dogged attackers, of the sort that Diouf is, expect him to have some sort of an impact on this game.
A good contest, which is likely to be edged by the home side. As already mentioned, Leeds did manage to get past Tottenham in the previous round of the competition, and it would be silly to write them off. Additionally, if Vincent Kompany doesn’t play, City’s defence will likely continue to be fragile and that should prove sufficient to make it an interesting fixture.
