2014 starts off for Manchester City with a visit to Wales to play Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium. This could be a tough game for The Blues against a team who have often troubled the Manchester side since the Swans’ promotion to the Premier League in 2011. In the last two months or so, the visitors have massively picked up following a rocky start to the season, but the visit to Wales will be a stern test for Manuel Pellegrini’s men.
After surrendering their top-of-the-league position to Arsenal following the Gunners’ win at Newcastle in the year’s final set of Premier League games, the Blues will be keen to ensure a good start to the New Year. A win in New Year’s Days’ lunchtime game would put the Citizens top of the Premier League table before Arsenal’s game against another Welsh side Cardiff City later in the day.
The last time this pair met was just a few weeks ago, at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium. Michael Laudrup saw his side put up a fight against his strong opponents, but a fine performance from the French midfielder Samir Nasri allowed his team to come away with the spoils in a 3-0 win. However, City are yet to win at the Liberty since the Welsh side’s return to the top-flight, which bodes well for Wednesday’s hosts. In the two previous meetings in Wales, The Jacks have come away with a 1-0 win in 2011-12, and a 0-0 draw in last season’s meeting.
Sergio Agüero is still absent from the City side with a calf injury, along with Micah Richards who has a hamstring injury. A new name on the injury list is Martin Demichelis, who picked up his own hamstring complaint in training prior to his team’s victory against Liverpool on Boxing Day. However, with Matija Nastasić and Joleon Lescott now both available to Pellegrini, Demichelis will not be massively missed. Stevan Jovetić is thought to be out of tomorrow’s clash as well with a hamstring injury, although it is believed the Montenegrin attacker is starting to near match fitness again after a series of problems.
Meanwhile, Swansea City have a number of key players out. Michel Vorm has been out for some time with a knee injury, and it is unknown when he will be back in the side – whilst the Dutchman has been out, German keeper Gerhard Tremmel has been filling in between the sticks. Spanish forward Michu is a new name on the injury list, after the 27-year-old underwent an ankle operation recently. Winger Nathan Dyer is thought to be in with a chance of returning after several weeks out with a foot injury to ease the Swansea worries, but Garry Monk is still absent with a knee problem.
Swedish striker John Guidetti is rumoured to have been selected for the 18-man squad for Wednesday’s game, completing his recovery after several months spent recovering from a very serious career-threatening injury. The 21-year-old is thought to have a lot of interest from several clubs who are interested in signing the Swede on loan in January, and this could be the perfect chance for the former Feyenoord loanee to show his talents to possible suitors right at the start of the transfer window. Clubs thought to have an interested include Wednesday’s opponents Swansea, Championship side Wigan Athletic and La Liga side Málaga.
After a poor result on their last trip to Wales in August, a huge shock in a 3-2 loss at newly-promoted Cardiff in City’s second game of the season, The Blues will be keen to avenge their defeat. That was the beginning of several poor results on the road for The Citizens which saw them fail to get a Premier League win away from home until October at West Ham United. Swansea’s visitors tomorrow are now unbeaten on the road since early November, but ‘Typical City’ dictates that that run eventually ends in surprising circumstances. Manuel Pellegrini will be keen to come away from Wales’ second city with three points in the first game of 2014, but equally Michael Laudrup will be eager to excel his managerial credentials with a win over one of the title challengers. Whatever happens, Wednesday’s clash is sure to be an interesting one.
