In what is being billed as a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final Manchester City and Wigan meet in the Premier League just a matter of days after booking their tickets to Wembley in May. For City the competitions showpiece is something to relish for their supporters in a season of underachievement at the Etihad Stadium. Roberto Mancini’s men go into the game 15 points behind leaders and arch rivals Manchester United after watching their title defence alarmingly disintegrate over the course of an erratic campaign. But there is a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel with victories over United and Chelsea in their last two games putting City in pole position for second spot with Arsenal
The stakes for Wigan are much higher as they continue their bid to secure top-flight safety. The Latics will be riding the crest of a wave after progressing to their first ever FA Cup final with victory over Millwall last Saturday and have the luxury of games in hand on the teams around them. Despite dropping back into the bottom three Robert Martinez’s men have been in good form of late, winning three of their last five in the league, and make the short trip to Manchester in high spirits regardless of the opposition that awaits them. The three teams above them, Aston Villa, Stoke and Sunderland, are all locked on 34 points and a draw would undoubtedly keep the heat on them.
Team News
Jack Rodwell (hamstring) is back in contention for Manchester City, as is Maicon, but Roberto Mancini is unlikely to risk David Silva. Micah Richards could play some part after six-months out.
Wigan have no fresh injury concerns after Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final triumph meaning manager Roberto Martinez has a fully fit squad to choose from.
What the managers said…
“We’ve got such an important game now that we’re not allowed to celebrate too much. We have the final in front of us and we will enjoy that occasion, but now we’ve got to go into that mode again and think about the league. I think we have shown a natural way of switching from the Cup to the league and that’s what we must do again.” Roberto Martinez insists Wigan are focused on Premier League survival (Mirror Football)
“United deserve to win this title but we deserve to fight until the last two or three games. Our target at the start of the season was the Premier League and FA Cup. We knew the Champions League would be difficult because we had a difficult group. We had a chance to win another Premier League if we worked well last summer. But we didn’t. We made some mistakes. We are frustrated about that but we know we are a good team. Roberto Mancini says he Man City won’t just hand the Premier League title over to rivals United (Daily Mail)
Pre-match Statistic: Manchester City strikers Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero have two of the last three home against Wigan at the Etihad Stadium.
Prediction: Manchester City 3-0 Wigan Athletic
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