Premier League title holders Manchester City can return to the top of the table on Wednesday, all they need is a victory over Cardiff at the Etihad Stadium. The reverse fixture ended with a comfortable victory for the Citizens, they won it 5-0 with goals from Sergio Aguero, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and a double from Riyad Mahrez. That was the third consecutive win for Manchester City over Cardiff in all competitions, but Cardiff did get a Premier League win over the Citizens in the 2013-2014 season, when they got relegated to the Championship.
Manchester City are looking forward to their return to the top of the table, Wednesday's match is the game in hand they have on Liverpool and the three points would see the Citizens leapfrog the Reds into first place. Last weekend Manchester City secured a 2-0 victory at Fulham with goals from Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero, their 12th consecutive victory in all competitions. The Citizens are also proud of having kept a clean sheet in five of the last seven matches in all competitions. Sergio Aguero picked up a slight knock in last week's match and he might not be risked here, while Vincent Kompany and Claudio Bravo remain sidelined. Fabian Delph and Benjamin Mendy are fitness doubts ahead of this game.
Cardiff have their own race to win during the final weeks of the season, they are down in 18th place at the moment and 17th-placed Burnley are five points ahead, if they don't bridge that gap they will return to the Championship after just one season in the top flight. Last weekend Cardiff battled bravely against Chelsea, they took the lead in the second half through Victor Camarasa but then conceded two goals, including a controversial one in the last minute, and lost all points. That was their fourth defeat in the last five matches. Sol Bamba, Callum Paterson, Matthew Connolly and Jazz Richards are all injured and expected to miss out.
Probable line-ups:
Man City: Ederson - Walker, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko - B. Silva, Fernandinho, De Bruyne - Sterling, Jesus, Sane
Cardiff: Etheridge - Peltier, Manga, Morrison, Bennett - Arter, Gunnarsson - Murphy, Camarasa, Hoilett - Zohore
My prediction: Manchester City to win 3-0, there's no hope for Cardiff to get something out of this match.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Man City win - 1.07
Draw - 15.00
Cardiff win - 34.00
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