***official blackburn vs city match thread***

[Nigels Tackle]

big week of cup football kicks off for us today at ewood park
as long as we don't play garcia then i'm confident that any xi we pick will be good enough to see off rovers
be nice to see some of our promising youngsters running out today but given the strength of the xi pellers picked vs leicester, i think that may be unlikely
i'm going for a comfortable 1-3
come on city!

[failsworthblue]

Setting off in about half an hour.

Expecting a difficult game , need a strong team out.

3-1 City.

[Spurge]

big week of cup football kicks off for us today at ewood park
as long as we don't play garcia then i'm confident that any xi we pick will be good enough to see off rovers
be nice to see some of our promising youngsters running out today but given the strength of the xi pellers picked vs leicester, i think that may be unlikely
i'm going for a comfortable 1-3
come on city!

Garcia in for me - 4-0 City!

[Spurge]

big week of cup football kicks off for us today at ewood park
as long as we don't play garcia then i'm confident that any xi we pick will be good enough to see off rovers
be nice to see some of our promising youngsters running out today but given the strength of the xi pellers picked vs leicester, i think that may be unlikely
i'm going for a comfortable 1-3
come on city!

Garcia in for me - 4-0 City!

Sorry I was living in cloud cuckoo land - they are bound to score a consolation goal, so I've revised it to 4-1 City.

[stevefromdonny]

who ever plays,hope we will win.

[Green & Blue]

Hope to see a blend of youth and experience but I have a feeling Manuel P will not be taking any risks.I think he's out to win as much as possible.In fairness he does already have a large squad of established players to keep happy so it does make it more difficult for him to introduce the younger players.If things are going well hopefully we might see a couple of youngsters introduced.

[sheblue]

Hope to see a blend of youth and experience but I have a feeling Manuel P will not be taking any risks.I think he's out to win as much as possible.In fairness he does already have a large squad of established players to keep happy so it does make it more difficult for him to introduce the younger players.If things are going well hopefully we might see a couple of youngsters introduced.

Yes he clearly wants a trophy. Expect to see a stronger side than most think.

[CuteMancs]

TEAM NEWS: Pantilimon, Boyata, Lescott, Nastasic, Clichy, Milner, Fernandinho, Garcia, Silva, Negredo, Dzeko

[Nigels Tackle]

garfuckingcia

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Hope to see a blend of youth and experience but I have a feeling Manuel P will not be taking any risks.I think he's out to win as much as possible.In fairness he does already have a large squad of established players to keep happy so it does make it more difficult for him to introduce the younger players.If things are going well hopefully we might see a couple of youngsters introduced.

Yes he clearly wants a trophy. Expect to see a stronger side than most think.

Judging by the training yesterday there is no way there will be more than 2 "young" ones in the team and that's if Boyata fits that category. I expect he will play as Zaba must be rested/protected.I also expect the skipper to play as I think he sees it as his job to be on the pitch all the time to lead the team.

The questions will mainly be the blend in the middle.I fully expect Silva to play after missing Swansea and also Milner and Garcia but it's about who feels needs the rest more of Yaya,Fern and Nasri. Will he play 2 up front like he seems to want to do. Probably yes but or will he only "risk" one as we only have 2 fit ones.

Having said all that maybe Guidetti will turn up as a surprise.He has trained with them all week apart from yesterday.Perhaps he was talking somewhere yesterday about a loan deal and will be back for this one.

[Ted Hughes]

TEAM NEWS: Pantilimon, Boyata, Lescott, Nastasic, Clichy, Milner, Fernandinho, Garcia, Silva, Negredo, Dzeko

Glad to see he's resting Zabba, Vinny & Yaya, but don't understand both strikers playing.

[aaron bond]

TEAM NEWS: Pantilimon, Boyata, Lescott, Nastasic, Clichy, Milner, Fernandinho, Garcia, Silva, Negredo, Dzeko

Strong team whilst being able to rest a few regulars.

Always a risk whenever Nastasic or Garcia play though. Would have preferred Rodwell in for Garcia.

Plenty of attacking threat which should see us cause Blackburn plenty of problems.

[mr_nool]

That's a bloody strong line up. Any kids on the bench?

[Esky]

Hopefully some/all of Rodwell, Guidetti and Lopes (if on bench) see minutes in this one. Fernandinho can't play every single game.
Edit: Just Lopes

SUBS NEWS: Hart, Kompany, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Yaya, Navas, Lopes

[Green & Blue]

That's a bloody strong line up. Any kids on the bench?

Very strong bench.Just lopes

[CuteMancs]

That's a bloody strong line up. Any kids on the bench?

Pretty immense ....

SUBS NEWS: Hart, Kompany, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Yaya, Navas, Lopes

[Ted Hughes]

That's a bloody strong line up. Any kids on the bench?

Very strong bench.Just lopes

Yaya to play half a game perhaps & Lopes on if we're comfortable.

[Slim]

If we're 3-0 up within the first 10 minutes, I hope they bring Lopes on for the remaining 80.

[blues2win]

Surprised that Fernandinho is playing but maybe he'll sit out the West Ham game. Garcia was bound to play. Not keen in seeing Negredo and Dzeko. Hasn't really worked so far but perhaps it will today.

[Moonchesteri]

say what you want but I really like how Pellegrini plays strong teams in cups. Fully confident now we'll go through and hoping to see a bit more of Lopes as well!
Come on City!!