Citeh build up (1st leg semi)

[Muddled]

Even with the Toures away, Kompany out and if Silva, Dzeko & Balotelli can't play...

Hart
Richards
Savic
Lescott
Zabaleta
De Jong
Barry
Milner
Nasri
Adam Johnson
Aguero

Hardly a walkover for us.

True.

I'm hoping they start with Kolorov (sp).

Although, to be fair, if Nasri - and to a lesser extent - De Jong, play like they did against United, there could be areas we could exploit.

[Nicey]

Johnson whilst great going forward, positionally is weak and does not track back nearly enough for me, Milners form recently has been sketchy, Nasri also has been a little hot and cold. We can get at this team for sure, obviously exploit that new CB partnership

Looking forward to this game, think we are more than capable of getting a result and handling this team, lets hope the Referee is not the star of the show

[BigChief]

Even with the Toures away, Kompany out and if Silva, Dzeko & Balotelli can't play...

Hart - class keeper, can't keep having world class days against us
Richards - in for the height, vulnerable without Kompany to mop up his lapses
Savic - not heard of him, Man City obviously don't rate him
Lescott - could be in for a world class display knowing our luck
Zabaleta - old man, had his purple patch earlier this season
De Jong - non-footballer, will get red-carded (our players will make sure)
Barry - first touch of a Kuytist
Milner - shown up everytime Silva isn't on the field
Nasri - wtf happened to him? worst player in the top 6 so far?
Adam Johnson - dangerous, yet sterile, strange
Aguero - got lucky with us, useless without service and that ain't available tonight

I jinxed ourselves last time I said this, only for Reina to let us down big time. But I'll risk it again...Man City, even the first team, are not that strong. The team above is positively mediocre (comments above).

[Craig_H]

Ridiculously one-sided and not remotely objective or honest...

Hart - top class
Richards - very good RB having a very good season
Savic - not seen enough of him, could be good, could be rubbish
Lescott - more than capable
Zabaleta - not top quality but not exactly ****
De Jong - more than capable
Barry - solid without being spectacular
Milner - as Barry, good player
Nasri - poor season but capable of quality
Adam Johnson - doesnt play enough but very good player
Aguero - top class

[BigChief]

Craig, if you just offered the bias from City's viewpoint then its still looking far from convincing for them.

[Craig_H]

I dont know what you want them to convince you of?

Even with the players missing, they are still going to field a very good team. That's kinda what happens when a club invests £500m into the playing squad.

Can we beat them? Of course. But pretending most of their players who are likely to play against us arent that good, is delusional IMO.

[BigChief]

A team with Hart, Silva, Dzeko, Yaya and Vincent should have gotten beaten 5-1 at our place. We lost 3-0 at there's and everyone agrees it was more to do with our bad luck than anything. Now the above mentioned players are not available.

They could do with convincing us they are worthy league leaders, and not just 3 points ahead of a team that has 12 key first team players injured in one unlucky period.

[dww]

A team with Hart, Silva, Dzeko, Yaya and Vincent should have gotten beaten 5-1 at our place. We lost 3-0 at there's and everyone agrees it was more to do with our bad luck than anything. Now the above mentioned players are not available.

They could do with convincing us they are worthy league leaders, and not just 3 points ahead of a team that has 12 key first team players injured in one unlucky period.

Or the fact that they totally controlled where we played and we created nothing. There was fortune to two of their goals but I'm buggered if I can see how anyone can claim that the Toure one was anything but a well executed corner.

I'm with Craig they will put out a very good team no matter what the situation. Two of our most productive players (Gerrard and Bellamy) need to be carefully managed and no one else can really claim creative or goalscoring for in our squad. It'll be a tough game that an objective observer would have us second favourite for in my opinion.

[yamiedo]

Or the fact that they totally controlled where we played and we created nothing. There was fortune to two of their goals but I'm buggered if I can see how anyone can claim that the Toure one was anything but a well executed corner.

I'm with Craig they will put out a very good team no matter what the situation. Two of our most productive players (Gerrard and Bellamy) need to be carefully managed and no one else can really claim creative or goalscoring for in our squad. It'll be a tough game that an objective observer would have us second favourite for in my opinion.

I don't think we deserved anything out of the city match. You can have all the possession you want but if you can't create chances from it then you don't deserve to score goals. City got their tactics spot on and we got ours all wrong. We hardly pressured Joe Hart and though they had less shots than us, every time they did go forward they looked like scoring. Every time we went forward we looked boring.

[Chris]

City still have 1000s of tickets left apparently.

[Icon]

I am getting up for this one - so that'll **** it up...

[pondus]

Massive massive game for us today! A good result here will set us up nicely for the return leg at Anfield, and if we go through it could really set us up for a good finish to the season. If we reach the final we SHOULD win it considering the opposition, and I don't think we should underestimate the importance of winning silverware, no matter which competition it is. It will give the whole club a boost, and will no doubt help us in our climb back to the top(ish). As I said, massive, massive game for us today!!

[Shaggy]

Rumours on Twitter that Silva has broken his foot - which is good for us re these semi final ties but a massive blow for them re the title race.

[The Birdman]

So is this game on Sky tonight??

[Shaggy]

BBC1 mate.