A look ahead to tomorrow's game at The Etihad
Manchester City vs Norwich City
Date: 3pm Saturday 2nd November 2013
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Referee: Phil Dowd. Assistants: D England, R West. Fourth Official: S Martin.
Odds: Manchester City 2/9, Draw 13/2, Norwich 18/1
Tickets: Sold out.
Manchester City
Manager: Manuel Pellegrini
Squad (from): Hart, Pantilimon, Wright, Boyata, Clichy, Kolarov, Lescott, Nastasic, Demichelis, Richards, Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Milner, Nasri, Rodwell, Navas, Silva, Toure, Aguero, Dzeko, Negredo
Injured: Kompany, Jovetic, Garcia
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Form guide: LWWLWD
Norwich City
Manager: Chris Hughton
Squad (from): Bunn, Nash, Ruddy, Ayala, Bassong, R Bennett, Garrido, Martin, Olsson, Turner, Whittaker, Hoolahan, Howson, Fer, Fox, Johnson, Pilkington, Redmond, Snodgrass, Becchio, Elmander, Hooper
Injured: Tettey, van Wolfswinkel, E Bennett
Doubtful: Snodgrass, Redmond
Suspended: None
Form guide: DLLWLL
City will have been extremely disappointed to lose at Stamford Bridge, after a late mix-up between Joe Hart and Matija Nastasi gifted the points to Chelsea. However, the Blues will take heart from an impressive performance, particularly in the second half, which merited a point.
Manuel Pellegrini rotated his squad for the midweek League Cup win at St James Park, and wholesale changes are expected once more on Saturday. The likes of Yaya Toure, Fernandinho, David Silva and Sergio Aguero will all be restored to the starting line-up. Vincent Kompany is once again absent, whilst Stevan Jovetic misses out after suffering a calf injury at Newcastle. Javi Garcia is also unavailable.
It remains to be seen if Pellegrini will keep faith with Joe Hart, much maligned after his error on Sunday, or give a rare opportunity in the league to Costel Pantilimon, who impressed midweek.
Norwich have endured a difficult start to the season, and go into the game in 18th position in the league. Their away form, in particular, is poor with just three points picked up on their travels. Alexander Tettey and Ricky van Wolfswinkel miss out with knee and foot injuries respectively, whilst Robert Snodgrass and Nathan Redmond are also major doubts.
City's last home league game against Norwich ended in a 3-2 defeat, in the final game of last season following the sacking of Roberto Mancini, but the Blues have dominated the fixture in recent years, with six victories in the last eight meetings. Overall City have won 33 of the 63 games played against Norwich, with 21 draws and just 9 defeats.
Prediction: City 3 Norwich 0
Read the views of Norwich City fan Gary Gowers here.