This Saturday, Manchester City face Wigan at the Etihad Stadium in what could be Samir Nasri's home debut. Wigan have not done too well over City in previous seasons, with two defeats last season and no goals. In fact, the last time Wigan did get points off Manchester on the road was March 2008, when the teams tied 0-0 (However they did beat Manchester at home only the year before 1-0).
Wigan currently find themselves in eighth position after an unbeaten start to the season, although this will be the Latic's first real test. All three of their opening games were against newly promoted teams, and two were draws. In fact, their opening two games were 1-1 at home to Norwich, followed by a goal-less draw away to Swansea. Their first win came before the International break, a 2-0 win against QPR.
That being said, this is the first game back after the close of the transfer window, and Wigan fans will be interested to see new signings Maloney, Van Aanholt and Crusat potentially make their debuts. Wigan are a good passing side, but their defense will have to go above and beyond as a rampant City look to repeat or better their last outing, a 5-1 trouncing of Tottenham in their own backyard.
Turning to City and Roberto Mancini, it is difficult to say what team he will start out with. Keeping in mind that on Wednesday they host Napoli in their first Champions League game, Mancini may be tempted to rest Aguero and other key players. With the quality of his bench though, I do not believe that replacing Aguero for Tevez would weaken the team. Considering he scored a hat-trick a couple of seasons ago in this fixture, it may not be a bad option. City so far have walked all over their previous opponents this season, with only Bolton keeping it close, losing 3-2. That game was sandwiched between a 4-0 win against Swansea and a 5-1 win against Tottenham.
With the Rugby World Cup kicking off, the City fans may be expecting a similar Rugby score from the City side with Dzeko expected to add to his six goals that he has already! Also add to the mix the return of Kolo Toure after his ban and there only looks to be one winner after the 'Battle Of The Roberto's'.
Starting XI:
Hart, Richards, (K)Toure, Kompany, Kolarov, Nasri, Barry, (Y)Toure, Johnson, Tevez, Dzeko.
Score: 3-0 City
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