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Manchester City v QPR – Preview

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After last year`s incredible finale I doubt this week`s fixture will be anywhere near as epic. This summer you couldn’t turn on Sky Sports without seeing that Sergio Aguero goal and part of me feels slightly bitter that we didn’t win the game. However, it was very pleasing that Manchester United didn’t win the league and who am I to complain as most importantly we stayed up. So all in all everybody was a winner…well except Fergie. This week at QPR players are signing left right and centre. Incredibly, the R`s managed to persuade Julio Cesar to join this week along with Esteban Granero and Stephane Mbia. These are players that none of us would`ve dreamt about 2 or 3 years ago and it is astounding that they are now QPR players. With all the new additions it might be that we finish the second half of the season stronger as the team gels over the next few months.

Manchester City have been fairly quiet this transfer window (for them), signing Jack Rodwell from Everton for a reported £12 million, Richard Wright on a free and Maicon from Inter Milan. Roberto Mancini has made noises that he is unhappy with City`s lack of activity and I wouldn`t be surprised if they sign a few more players on deadline day. At the time of writing this, attacker Scott Sinclair joined in deal worth £8 million deal. Whether he`ll be another Adam Johnson remains to be seen. I hope for Sinclair`s sake his progress doesn`t stall as he could be a quality player. Tactically, Mancini has adopted a 3-5-2 formation in pre-season. It was used last week and it`s fair to say it didn`t work very well against Liverpool. Mancini will be hoping for a much more fluid and attacking performance against QPR.

Last Fixture


QPR 3 (Wright-Phillips, Zamora, Bosingwa)
Walsall 0

Team: Green, Bosingwa, Nelsen, Ferdinand, Fabio, Park Ji-Sung, Faurlin, Hoilett, Wright-Phillips (Traore), Johnson (Dyer), Zamora (Cisse).

Liverpool 2 (Skrtel, Suarez)
Man City 2 (Toure, Tevez)

Team: Hart, Kompany, Zabaleta, Kolarov, K Toure, Milner (Silva), Nasri (Rodwell), De Jong, Y Toure, Tevez, Balotelli (Dzeko).

Manchester City Team News:

Man City will be without Sergio Aguero, Micah Richards and Gareth Barry.

Possible line up:

Hart

Zabaleta – Kompany – Lescott – Clichy

Toure – Rodwell – Silva

Nasri – Tevez – Balotelli

Player to watch: Carlos Tevez

Carlos Tevez has been identified as the player to watch ahead of Saturday`s match against Man City.

For Vital QPR’s comprehensive review of the strikerClick Here >>>

QPR Team News:

Samba Diakite is absent owing to personal reasons. Jose Bosingwa could start after impressing against Walsall. Julio Cesar isn`t available because he is awaiting international clearance. Esteban Granero could make his debut.

Possible line up:

Green

Bosingwa – Nelsen – Ferdinand – Fabio

Wright-Phillips – Park Ji-Sung – Granero – Hoilett

Zamora – Cisse


Player to watch: Rob Green

Part of me feels sorry for Rob Green because I`m sure he wouldn`t have signed for us had he been aware that he would`ve been the second choice keeper. He`s a decent player but lacks self-confidence which is imperative for a keeper. No doubt Julio Cesar will be first choice and it will be interesting to see how Green reacts in the next game. A good performance could mean he keeps his place for another week. Like Paddy Kenny last season he will be kept very busy on Saturday and here`s hoping he steps up to the task.

The Stat Attack

LAST FIVE

Queens Park Rangers: WDLDW
Man City: WWWWD

HEAD 2 HEAD

Queens Park Rangers: 12
Man City: 21
Draw: 15

LAST TIME OUT

Premier League – 13/05/12
Etihad Stadium

Man City 3 (Zabaleta, Dzeko, Aguero)
QPR 2 (Cisse, Mackie)

Team: Kenny, Hill, Taiwo, Ferdinand, Onuoha, Derry, Barton (Sent Off), Wright-Phillips, Mackie, Cisse (Traore), Zamora (Bothroyd).

Attendance: 48,000

Ref Watch:

Referee: C Foy
Assistants: D C Richards & H Lennard
Fourth Official: M Oliver

Chris Foy is the match official for Saturday`s game. Last season Foy issued 86 yellow cards and 8 red cards in 35 games.

Match Prediction:

The match tomorrow is a hard one to call in terms of the way QPR might approach it. Judging by Mark Hughes` time in charge of the R`s, I expect us to be very cautious and look to hit them on the counter. City will certainly dominate possession and create plenty of chances but whether QPR will cause them much concern I`m not so sure, as we certainly haven`t hit top gear just yet. Although, so far this season City have looked beatable, conceding 4 goals in two games. Mark Hughes will definitely raise the players for this one and QPR do have a habit of playing better against the big club, so maybe a shock could be on the cards. Personally, I think QPR will give City a good game but ultimately fall just short.

2-1 City win.

Next Up

Who:Chelsea
Where:Loftus Road
When: 15/09/12

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