Man City suffer setback in top-four push
Manchester City's hopes of a successful conclusion to a mixed campaign have been thrown into doubt following the news that top goalscorer Carlos Tevez will be out for up to a month with the hamstring injury that saw him substituted in the first half of Monday's 3-0 loss to Liverpool.
The Citizens captain will consequently miss Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against former club Manchester United, which his current employers are [3.9] outsiders to win, but just as crucially will be absent for a number of games during the most critical part of the Premier League season.
With Roberto Mancini confirming that he expects to be without his star player for three or four weeks, he is almost certainly out of the matches with Blackburn and old side West Ham, but more worryingly he could be on the sidelines for clashes with bogey teams Everton and Tottenham.
The latter scenario is one that Mancini will be desperate to avoid as Spurs are their main rivals for fourth place and won at Eastlands last season - as they almost always do - in May to secure a spot in the Champions League at Manchester City's expense.
They remain hugely fancied to gain revenge this time around at [1.37] to finish in the top-four, whereas Harry Redknapp's side are [3.55] outsiders to defy the odds again, however the notorious Contrarian has argued on Betting.Betfair that the Blues will be denied again.
Tevez's setback is also disastrous news for the Argentine forward's chances of ending the campaign as Premier League top goalscorer, as he trails former team-mate Dimitar Berbatov by two goals with six fixtures left to play. It's unsurprising therefore that his price has drifted to [3.7] in that market.
Will Edin Dzeko or Mario Balotelli step up? Are they in trouble? Tell us below...
Published: 14 Apr 2011
Leave a comment