Manuel Pelligrini will have been dogged by rumours of the impending take over of Pep Guardiola next summer and I am sure more than one of the pre match questions will be aimed at the Spanish man’s reign as City Manager.
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The former City manager, who was sacked by billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour, says he not be daunted by City’s wealth when they meet tomorrow.
Premier League leaders City were blown away inside the opening 15 minutes at the Britannia Stadium with Xherdan Shaqiri setting up Marko Arnautovic to score twice for the rampant hosts and they barely threatened Stoke’s goal thereafter. I will return to Independiente when my contract with City expires. I didn’t think they were great against Southampton but they got the win.
City continued to grow under Mancini and Pellegrini, winning two top-flight titles in three seasons, and a B#265million investment from China this week suggests they could soar to another level yet. In 2003 he joined his first club – Independiente.
Sanchez has scored six goals in the Premier League and nine overall, and it’s unclear how long he will be out.
The final takes place at Wembley on Sunday, February 28. “It’s a completely different club from when I was there”.
City last won the competition in 2014 and will discover who they play later today.
Pellegrini added: “He (Kompany) is a very important player for our team”.
“We had a lack of reaction, too many games for the same players”, the Chilean told the BBC.
“You need game changers like that”.
It presents a good opportunity to strengthen their position at the top.
Skipper Ryan Shawcross is back from a one-match ban, while Mame Diouf’s return from a short paternity leave could put Jon Walters under pressure in attack.
Pellegrini has refused to rule out the prospect of leading his side to a clean sweep of trophies this season.
With a massive 6-1 win over Southampton at St. Mary’s on Wednesday evening, Liverpool advanced to the semi-finals of the League Cup.
“At times we were selling players to get cheaper versions in, we sold Vedran Corluka and got Pablo Zabaleta in for half the money”.
City’s top scorer Sergio Aguero is likely to miss Saturday’s game with a foot injury, but Pellegrini is hopeful the striker will be fit to face Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Champions League on Tuesday.
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Pellegrini is also without Toure, with the Chilean confirming he has a “muscle problem”.
