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Well, El Gordo finally ran Hughes out of Dodge

In a manner of speaking, and now he faces the new City sheriff in Mancini. This game is being built up as "the battle for fourth place" by the media, but those expecting a thrilling, end-to-end feast of football may well be disappointed. Mancini, with only eight weeks at the helm, has had plenty of issues to deal with, all debated ad nauseum on the message boards and is taking a cautious approach to the fourth-spot tangle. Rafa on the other hand is talking of attack.

You never know how you can win - sometimes it is counter-attack, sometimes it is attacking, so we will try to find the right balance," the Reds manager told reporters at his Friday press conference.
They are an attacking team and we will have to attack too, so I think it will be more open....(than the 1-0 win over Unirea in the Europa League).
Benitez also stressed the importance of not losing to Roberto Mancini's side.

Mancini's concerns may continue into the weekend with the probable absence of Carlos Tevez, and the ongoing Bellamy controversy. Hopefully, Bellamy's problems will be resolved, and with the possible return of Vincent Kompany, perhaps Mancini will be able to pick a strong squad to face Liverpool. Obviously, Patrick Vieira is suspended, and Martin Petrov is out with a knee-injury - neither are significant losses assuming Bellamy, Kompany and maybe Tevez are back. I believe that RSC is injured, too (no surprise there). For Liverpool, Torres is still injured, but Benayoun has returned to training and may be an option on Sunday.

It's a tricky one, figuring out possible line-ups and tactics. I suppose that Liverpool will use Mascherano and Lucas in midfield, with some combination of Gerrard, Kuyt, N'gog and Babel in front of them, so potentially they have plenty going forward - if Rafa allows it. The tactical style of Benitez may well suit Mancini, certainly more than the recent trench warfare of the games against Stoke, so perhaps City fans will see a different side to Mancini, hopefully a successful one.

In some ways, the Stoke encounters may have toughened City up somewhat, and against a Liverpool team that includes the likes of Mascherano, Skyrtl, Carragher, Agger, Gerrard and Kuyt that will be a good thing.

Which brings me to the uncertain form of Stevie Ireland. Recently the player has not been able to impose himself on games as we all know he can. He's not played poorly, but he lacks the drive and vision that he showed in the past. Whether this is down to Mancini's management, his fairly recent return from injury or something else is impossible to say, but unless one can be certain that the lad will be able to mix it with Gerrard, Lucas and Mascherano, I'd be hesitant about starting him.

Toure is the other concern, and although he's almost certain to play, I'd rather go with Ned or Kompany alongside the improving Lescott. Anyway, here's my line-up for the game this weekend -

----------------------Given---------------------
Richards----Onouha----------Lescott------ Bridge
-------------------Kompany----------------------
--------Zabaleta--------------------Barry-------
AJohnson---------------------------------Bellamy
------------------Adebayor----------------------

Bench Taylor Garrido DeJong Ireland SWP Ibrahim

The latest news is that Tevez won't be back, and anyway he needs to be 100% for the Stoke game. I like Kompany (if truly fit) in the De Jong role, he's better going forward and in the air, De Jong himself needs a rest in anticipation of the FA Cup replay. The same goes for Barry. So, if possible, the introduction of Ireland or Ibrahim after sixty minutes for the England international would be prudent, assuming the game is going City's way.

Zabaleta, despite being singled out by many as symptomatic of Mancini's limitations, gets the nod - his energy and commitment are real assets, and he will be useful at thwarting Liverpool's deep-lying midfielders.

The pace and football brain of Onuoha, alongside the strength and newly found leadership of Lescott looks a good combination, while Richards and Bridge make up the rest of an all-English defence.

Up front, I've gone with AJ and Bellamy behind Adebayor, again resting SWP for the Stoke game. At some point, SWP may have to come on for Bellers, with AJ moving to the left, again looking ahead to Wednesday. ~BLOOVIC~