Come on then. Let’s get going. Roberto Mancini’s waiting, talking Italian. Yes, he’ll be moaning about “Carlo” again but amongst that he may just spit out a few miracle tidbits about his Rover teamsheet…
“We’ll need to change the team, you must if you play every three days.”
Right you are Roberto. Tell us more.
No such luck. City’s lineup for this evening’s visit of Blackburn Rovers to the Etihad is the major focus prior to this morning’s Fantasy deadline. With rich resources at his disposal and aching limbs from Wednesday’s soggy Europa League routing of Porto, Mancini is itching to frustrate us once again. Will it be David Silva and Sergio Aguero preserved on the bench? Will the full-backs fall by the wayside once more?
With limited information at our disposal, we can only turn to those who we’d expect to be in the know. We leave no stone unturned in our efforts, breaking down the opinion of this morning’s press boys one by one…
Starting with the The Daily Mail and for once, there’s little to be scared of here. They go with just one change from the side that brushed off Porto – Mario Balotelli in up front to partner Sergio Aguero with Nigel De Jong making way.
The Guardian also keep the same back four, but retain De Jong in midfield. Balotelli comes in with Samir Nasri the man sacrificed. Sensible stuff.
The Telegraph make a change at the back – Kolo Toure coming in for Joleon Lescott – a surprise but there’s a bigger one to come. De Jong is again retained here, with no place for Yaya Toure (no really) as James Milner also comes into the midfield. Balotelli starts up front as Nasri makes way for a 4-4-2.
The Independent go with one change in the defence – Aleksandar Kolarov coming in at left-back for Gael Clichy. Milner also makes an appearance in midfield for De Jong, while Balotelli’s inclusion is again at the expense of Nasri with the team formation shifting from the 4-5-1.
The Sun also make a change at full-back, but they choose to bring in Pablo Zabaleta, with Micah Richard’s dropping out, perhaps feeling his knock from Wednesday night. Milner comes in for Gareth Barry (who also took a knock) in midfield with De Jong retained. Balotelli again starts with Nasri making way.
Reassuringly, we end on The Times, who rather bizarrely perhaps, decide to cast aside Mancini’s promise of changes and predict the same starting XI to the side that took the field in Wednesday’s tie. Nice, but unlikely.
So what can we gather from all this? For starters, whatever Mancini uttered in his full conference, none of the press feel that either Sergio Aguero nor David Silva will miss out against Blackburn. That should reinforce the message sent out by our Scout Picks. There’s always a doubt of course, but that doubt doesn’t appear to have dented the confidence of many when it comes to arguably City’s two most important attacking players.
Mario Balotelli is also hugely fancied to start against Blackburn. Every paper this morning has him in their selection and, having backed him in the Differentials last night, we’d have to go along with that. Mario is your real wildcard pick this week if you need to gamble. Minutes look assured – Balotelli could easily turn those minutes into points against the Rovers defence.
Finally, there are clearly issues at the back. While only a couple of today’s press boys hint at changes – there’s enough variation to concern us. Significantly, Vincent Kompany is in every one fo the lineups this morning, while the likes of Richards, Clichy and even Lescott suffering rotation. That basically reinforces the message and tells you all you need to know about security in the City back four – if you don’t want to spend mornings deliberating Mancini’s tweaking in defence, you get Kompany and breathe easy for the rest of the season.
