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Pellegrini harbours ambitions of Man City quadruple

1 Is it fair to say that City have been cruising in a lower gear for much of the season so far? “As you could see, we have no problems with matches against Manchester City!” he told his post-match press conference at St Mary’s.

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David Silva is widely regarded as the most skillful player in a star studded Manchester City line up.

The Potters will look to the flanks as their talented duo of former Bayern Munich man “the Messi of the Alps” Xherdan Shaquiri and ex-Inter man Marko Arnautovic, who scored the winning goal against Chelsea FC earlier this season.

“We as a team are working well defensive wise”.

But he’s taken it by storm.

The 1-1 correct score at a general 7/1 appeals, as does selling total goals at 2.75 with Sporting Index.

4 And who has been your biggest disappointment?

“I lean towards City due to their squad”. Liverpool have won three of their last five league games and head to Saint James’s Park on the weekend to face a struggling Newcastle side. With Vincent Kompany out with a calf injury, it is likely that Nicolas Otamendi will be paired with Martin Demichelis, because Eliaquim Mangala is suspended.

Pellegrini has been left reeling by a succession of injuries to key players this season that threaten to derail his chances of landing silverware. But they got blown away by Liverpool so it does depend whether they show up or not.

If Guardiola signs a new deal at Bayern Munich that should put an end to it, for a time, but there will still be pressure on Pellegrini to deliver the league title and do better in the Champions League. “Every team needs a player like that”, said team-mate Raheem Sterling.

“Some people might criticise their defence but they’ve got a great squad and their players are not at a team like Man City for no reason”. Stoke is a good team.

Manchester City made a strong start to the month of December after earning a 4-1 victory over Hull City in the Capital One Cup quarterfinal on Tuesday.

I knew already what level Manchester City was at.

The Portuguese played down suggestions of a breakdown in relations with Costa after the incident which followed a touch-line spat during the Champions League win over Maccabi Tel Aviv. Potters boss Mark Hughes will attempt to set his team up in a manner that best quietens Kevin de Bruyne.

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“It was a decision last year because we have the three players injured a lot of times before, so we didn’t want to take the risk to finish the year in the same way”.

Joe Hart