This is City

Vassell up for the Villa

DARIUS Vassell faces his former club Aston Villa for the first time tonight since his move from the Midlands club.

Hopefully he will be partnered by Andy Cole who looks set to return after missing last week's game against Arsenal.

But all eyes will be on Vassell who joined Villa as a schoolboy and went on to gain a place in the England squad whilst playing at Villa Park.

The last few months of his career at Villa seemed to turn sour as niggling injuries and a poor run of form saw manager David O'Leary sell the striker.

One player missing from the City team tonight is Claudio Reyna who has not been able to shake off a knock he picked up at Highbury.

So we will be seeing Joey Barton and Stephen Ireland in the middle, with possibly Lee Croft out on the right.

It will be interesting to see if Stuart Pearce is willing to attack Villa from the off as they have struggled in the last few games, including a home defeat to Wigan.

After the showing at the City of Manchester Stadium against West Ham the Blues should be confident of gaining maximum points and so climbing into the top four.

Prediction: 2 - 0 to the Blues with Vassell and Ireland scoring.

Heading to the Arsenal

IN the past a trip to the Arsenal would have filled me with dread and a depressing bout of radio listening as the ball pinged around the City box.

Too often ending up in the back of the net.

Now though things are changing and it might be time for the Blues to secure a win at Highbury.

That positive feeling

I KNOW I should be very careful about feeling positive when it comes to City but I can't help it, I really do at the moment.

In the build-up to this Sunday's game against West Ham (KO4pm) I noticed that Andy Cole is keen to play for at least another year or two.

And he would be quite happy to finish his career at City and after seeing him this season I'd be really chuffed if he did.

His words come on the back of Ben Thatcher saying he wants to extend his contract and it is this 'planning ahead' that is giving me that feel-good factor.

After spending countless years wondering who would be turning out from one week to the next, Pearce and the club seem to be on an even keel with an idea of where they are going.

So what of the game?  Well West Ham visit us on the back of a good run of form with Teddy Sheringham still pulling the strings and knocking the odd one in.

The 39-year-old he can still influence a game and has not lost any of the skills he has to open up a defence, hopefully the back four will be on their guard.

It should also be interesting to see Israeli midfielder Benayoun as well as Nigel Reo-Coker, who looked good in recent England U-21 games.

And I'm sure West Ham will come to play, unlike Everton in the last game, so we may see some real entertaining football.

Prediction: 3 - 2 to the Blues, with plenty of chances missed as well!

Early start for Everton match

IT is a stupidly early morning start tomorrow for an 11.15am kick off at the City of Manchester Stadium for the game against Everton.

If there were ever two teams in need of a win then the Sky Blues and Dark Blues are they.

City's last three games have all been defeats, with only a penalty against Doncaster to trouble the scorers.

Preparation is key in Cup

CITY boss Stuart Pearce is looking to go all the way in this season’s Carling Cup seeing it as a chance to pick up some silverware.

He believes that if the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea don’t want to play their full strength teams then the cup is there for the taking.

First derby of the season

ALL the talk ahead of the first derby of the season is about the influence that Stuart Pearce has had on Man City.

Pearce, who was named manager of the month for August, faces the sternest test of his short managerial career against United.

Build up for Pompey

CITY go into today’s game against Portsmouth sat in third place and on the back of a great 11 match unbeaten run.

Despite victory in mid-week over Sunderland there is talk that Nedum Onuoha could come in at the back to replace Jordan or Danny Mills.

Man City head to Sunderland

CITY are looking to extend their unbeaten run this evening against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Having gone ten games without defeat if City avoid defeat tonight they will record their best top-flight run since 1977.

City up against the Brummies

MAN City come up against a Birmingham team who have been very busy in the transfer market during the close season.

They have taken Nicky Butt from Newcastle, spent £3million on Uruguayan striker Walter Pandiani and hope to take Chelsea midfielder Jiri Jarosik on a season-long loan.

New year, new season

IT’S the start of a new year with City returning to action with a game against West Bromwich Albion this afternoon.

I’ve never measured years out via January 1, it’s always been by the start of the new season so this is year 2005 – 06.

And a game against the Baggies at home should be a good way to start, giving us a chance to knock off any rust spots and ease our way into the season.

But this is the Blues and there is a good chance we will make hard work of it, Russell Hoult kept them in the home game last season and the performance at The Hawthorns was dire.

We are boosted by the news that Richard Dunne is back after making a miraculous recovery from a suspected fractured toe, the wonders of modern medicine.

The shock news, or kiss of death, for the start of the season is that Lawro is predicting City will go one better than last year and finish seventh.

I like the look of City this season. Stuart Pearce seems to be doing a fantastic job and they had a strong end to the 2004-05 campaign.

That’s all we need!

Prediction: City 3 –1 WBA. Russell Hoult can’t play as well as last season.