Patrick Vieira meets some familiar foes
City have never come this close to the top in the Premiership. The closest is 2005 when they finished 8th. Spurs have been more successful with two 5th placed finishes in ’06 and ’07.
These two meet at the Eastlands to decide the race for fourth place and a CL spot. This is as Carlos Tevez describes it, the biggest match in club history. He comes close to flirting with hyperbole but it cannot be denied. Roberto Mancini was brought in to ensure passage into the top four.
Familiar foes take the field. Mancini is targeting Patrick Vieira to spur on City. With Toure and Adebayor, the match has the quality of a London derby.
As for Arsenal, a win by any one of these clubs could see their third place in jeopardy. They are not as disinterested as Wenger would like to pretend.
Harry Redknapp has gone on the offensive by claiming City used bullying tactics to force Craig Bellamy away from Spurs when they were interested in securing his services. City are now lawyering up over ‘arry’s statements.
These are all a couple of interesting head fakes to establish legitimacy over fourth place. City is the big bad club with the endless pockets buying their way to a title. But killjoy Michel Platini has other plans lined up so the wild, wild west days might be numbered.
Danger man Gareth Bale has been in top form and Spurs also get back twinkle toed Aaron Lennon back which should really open up the attack. Good news because Spurs have had problems scoring on the road.
At White Hart, they won against City on the strength of two goals by Niko Kranjcar and Jermain Defoe. Kranjcar is out injured and Defoe has tapered of in scoring profligacy. There is a big X factor involved. Spurs have won matches because of the heroics of players unaccustomed to scoring.
City on the other hand are heavily dependent on Adebayor, Tevez, Bellamy and the interaction of the trio up front. They have done well but at times the overemphasis on three holding midfielders has hampered their creativity. Such was the case in the Man Utd loss.
Two bright talents on display in Adam Johnson and Gareth Bale. A high scoring game on the cards. City with an edge.