Blue Days

Hart – Saved the best till last with a series of excellent stops to ensure we earned a point. 9

Richards – Kept Downing quiet and made a solid return after missing out against Napoli. 7

Anfield offers a real test for City’s title credentials on Sunday. Following the defeat at Napoli there needs to be a positive response from the players against opponents who will be buoyed by last week’s defeat of Chelsea.

Anfield was also the scene of Roberto Mancini’s last poor performance on English soil with the 3-0 defeat that raised doubts about our ability to finish in the top four. All that now seems a long time ago yet the manager is unlikely to have forgotten the bruising encounter.

City managed to conjure up their worst performance of the season to go three goals down after 34 minutes at Anfield and never at any stage looked like getting something out of the game. For Roberto Mancini this was a particularly bad night as he rightly shouldered the blame.

A teamsheet that showed de Jong, Silva, Balotelli and Zabaleta being rested on the bench in such a difficult fixture was bizarre and brought back memories of Gerard Houllier in the FA Cup. Only this time we were Villa.

Hart – Started with a fine save to tip a Suarez effort onto the post. Sadly it had little effect on the outcome and Joe might have done better with the first two goals. 6

Boyata – The desperate opening period did for the composure he showed against Sunderland. Struggled and received little support. 5

Never mind Wembley and United, tonight sees City take on a Liverpool side unbeaten in the League since Kenny Dalglish returned as manager. With the other top five teams all winning at the weekend, City need three points to maintain their cushion above fifth placed Tottenham and keep up the challenge for a top three finish.

One bit of good news for City last week was the likely end of Spurs’ Champions League campaign. If Spurs had won the Champions League and finished fifth in the Premier League then they would have qualified for next season’s competition ahead of the fourth placed team. Barring a miracle from Liverpool, Roberto Mancini knows that if he finishes above Spurs we will be in the Champions League for the first time, and his job ought to be secure.

City got their home campaign off to a fantastic start with this 3-0 demolition of a Liverpool side that is considered a rival for the Champions League places. Scoring early in each half enabled City to take control of the game in a grip they never allowed to weaken.

This was particulary good given the presence of Sheikh Mansour in the stands overlooking his massive investment for the first time. Initially there was a terrible fear that ‘typical City’ would rear itself against the canny Roy Hodgson. Thankfully Mancini and the players had other ideas.

Hart – A stunning double save to protect our two goal lead brought a standing ovation. Great to see him at Eastlands again. 8

Richards – A teriffic return after a torrid time against Gareth Bale. Micah thoroughly dominated his opponent in one of his best ever defensive displays. 8

The first home match of the season sees Roy Hodgson bring Liverpool to Eastlands in a game neither manager will want to lose as they bid to claim a Champions League slot. James Milner is in line to make his debut for City as we seek our first league victory.

Last season saw City and Liverpool play out two draws with the game at Eastlands in particular condemned for a lack of adventure by Roberto Mancini and Rafa Benitez. Roy Hodgson is hardly known for his gung-ho tactics either with his Fulham side managing just four away victories in the last two seasons.

With neither Mancini or Benitez willing to go for broke, Liverpool and City cancelled each other out in a hard fought draw where all the heroes were in defence. It resulted in one shot on target apiece with Adebayor forcing the harder save from Pepe Reina.

Given – One straightforward save was all that was required as the defence in front of Shay was outstanding. Did well with a series of tricky corners in the first half. 6

Zabaleta – Won some crunching tackles and looked to get forward whenever he could. A big improvement on his recent performances. 7