Manchester City will be looking to confirm their recent revival with a victory on Saturday when they face Middlesbrough at the Etihad Stadium. It might not be that easy though, last season the two teams met in the FA Cup and it was Middlesbrough who won that match 2-0 against all odds. The Citizens and their fans might also remember that they have suffered a shameful defeat to Middlesbrough back in 2008, it ended 8-1 at the Riverside Stadium.
Manchester City managed to bounce back from a poor run of six games without a victory in all competitions and they did that in style. First they hammered West Brom 4-0 in the Premier League last weekend and then they beat mighty Barcelona 3-1 in the Champions League. Bacary Sagna, Fabian Delph and Fernandinho should miss out because of injuries, but Vincent Kompany could make his return to the starting eleven.
Middlesbrough ended their own poor streak last weekend, they had gone eight matches without a victory in all competitions before last weekend's 2-0 victory at home over Bournemouth. They are currently 15th in the Premier League table, just three points above the relegation zone, so anything they could get out of this match would be more than welcome. They will be without one of their best players though, Gaston Ramirez is suspended after having picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.
Probable line-ups:
Man City: Bravo - Zabaleta, Kompany, Stones, Kolarov - Fernando - Sterling, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Nolito - Aguero
Middlesbrough: Valdes - Barragan, Chambers, Gibson, Friend - Clayton, Forshaw - Traore, Fischer, Downing - Negredo
My prediction: Manchester City to win 3-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Man City win - 1.22
Draw - 7.00
Middlesbrough win - 15.00
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