EPL: Manchester City V Blackburn Rovers – Saturday, 11th September

Manchester City V Blackburn Rovers

Saturday, 11th September – 15:00 GMT

Manchester City

League Position: 9th
League Form: DWL

Following two very positive results against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, where City earned a 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane before confidently despatching of Liverpool 3-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium – The venue for Saturday’s encounter, City were brought down from the clouds with a thud a fortnight ago, with Darren Bent punishing Manchester’s lavished stars for their glaring misses with an injury time penalty – An early reminder for City’s foreign recruits that any complacency at this level will be punished with aplomb.

We couldn’t go on any further without mentioning Carlos Tevez’s glaring miss at The Stadium of Light. Midway through the first half of their fixture with Sunderland and Argentine ace Carlos Tevez was presented with a glorious opening – An open goal with no Sunderland defender to be seen – but, despite the goal at his mercy, Tevez produced one of the misses of the season. And that miss was basically the start of City’s downfall, as they contrived to spurn every decent opening presented to them in a first half they largely dominated.  That wasn’t the case in the second half and it does make you wonder whether City’s excessively paid stars are as committed to the club and motivated enough in getting the results needed to make the positive strides the clubs lucrative owner demands, because there wasn’t a great deal of desire to make up for Tevez’s earlier miss; a performance which lacked any gusto or umph thereafter.

Next up for City should be a fairly easy encounter, on paper anyway, but those of you familiar with Sam Allardyce’s teams over the years will know Blackburn won’t be easy to turn over on Saturday, that despite the seemingly obvious huge gulf in class between the two parties. City’s opponents won’t make it easy for them at Eastlands, and there are questions marks over the mental strength of their mega-paid superstars, as they won’t like Blackburn’s physical approach to this fixture one little bit. Mancini will need to make some wise decisions ahead of this game, like binning players such as David Silva and Shaun Wright-Philipps and replacing them with men, players who actually boast that passion and determination to succeed in these type of fixtures.

Mancini’s only fresh injury concern is over Vicent Kompany, who complained with a muscle injury during the week, although the news is both Wayne Bridge and summer singing Jerome Boateng have made positive inroads in their bids to get back to full fitness and in match contention, so the Italian should have adequate cover regardless – Although that does go without saying considering the size of their squad. Adam Johnson will return to camp buoyed by his recent two-goal haul for England, while Tevez was also on target for Argentina as a whole host of other big names return from positive trips away with their respective national parties.

Blackburn Rovers

League Position: 15th
League Form: WLL

Despite glimmers of promise in Blackburn’s opening three league encounters, Rovers still find themselves nursing similar problems to last term, which was their failure to convert valiant and industrious displays into points. They began brightly enough when beating Everton 1-0 at Ewood Park, although even that win came in fortuitous circumstances, but failed to capitalise on their winning start by following up with back-to-back defeats to Birmingham City & Arsenal.

The aim for the club this season, well foremost anyway, is to avoid the drop and despite a topsy turvy start to the campaign, Blackburn do at least look capable of comfortably avoiding the drop providing they get their act together in the forthcoming weeks. The pushed both Birmingham City and Arsenal right to the mettle in two tricky encounters, even boasting a 1-0 lead against Birmingham as well as having the conviction and determination to claw back a one goal deficit against the Gunners, but it’s a results business nowadays and judging solely on results, Blackburn really have made a pig’s ear of their start to the new season.

The one thing I do love about Sam Allardyce, and positives traits with ‘Big Sam’ are at a premium, is he won’t allow his players to dwell on their early disappointments for one second, so expect a fired up and highly strung Blackburn side to take to the field for Saturday’s clash with Manchester City. The primary objective will be to defend in numbers and in an organised manner, while it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see a few rash tackles flying in here and there, just to keep City’s high-rollers alert and on their toes. And Allardyce is the master at rustling feathers and against a team of mercenaries, players merely at the club for a pension, it may well prove an effective ploy as the likes of Yaya Toure, David Silva and Mario Balotelli won’t enjoy Blackburn’s over-the-top tactics. However, were this a contest judged purely on footballing ability, City would win hands down and that’s the worry for Blackburn.

‘Big Sam’ does at least have a fully fit squad to choose from, although ending a run of two straight defeats at the City of Manchester Stadium, for a team which didn’t get the necessary reinforcements needed for Blackburn to really push on from merely being mid-table mediocrity, will be difficult.

Match Prediction: Manchester City to WIN – 1.36 PaddyPower

I don’t think this will be a walk in the park for one moment, that is unless City make the early breakthrough, but at the same time we’re finding it difficult to contemplate City’s high-rollers not finding the back of Paul Robinson’s net at some stage. There’s just too much attacking flair and quality for them not to create a couple of decent openings, the sorts even Tevez would struggle to miss. A point is the best Blackburn can manage in this contest but they’ll be hard-pressed to come away with a share of the spoils in a game we fully expect City to came away as the victors.

Soccer-Betting Value Tip: Adam Johnson Anytime Scorer – 4.00 bWin

Match Odds:

Manchester City – 1.36 PaddyPower
Draw – 5.00 WilliamHill
Blackburn Rovers – 11.00 Coral