Tevez Out of Semi-Final Squad as City Battle United

Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson take their teams down to London for the first of the weekend’s FA Cup semi finals, as Man City face Man Utd at Wembley on Saturday.

City, who were hammered 3-0 on Monday night against a rejuvenated Liverpool side, will be without their top goalscorer Carlos Tevez for the match. The Argentinean international was substituted in the first half with a hamstring injury, meaning City will be looking for goals from either Mario Balotelli or Edin Dzeko, both of whom are expected to start.

City will also welcome back defender Micah Richards, who is back from a hamstring injury.

City’s loss on Monday was their 10th successive game without a win on the road, as the side look to cling on to hope of a trophy after being eliminated from the Europa League last month, whilst also falling behind in the race for the league title. Their last trophy success was the League Cup in 1976.

Despite spending heavily in the transfer market, and looking set to finish within the top four to qualify for the Champions League, a trophyless season may not be enough to save Mancini’s job; eliminating fierce rivals United from the FA Cup and obliterating their chances for another treble could do wonders to keep him at Eastlands for another season.

United’s in-form striker Wayne Rooney will be serving the second match of a two-game ban for swearing at a television camera during the club’s 4-2 win over West Ham. He is the only short-term absentee as United are close to full strength as the season draws to a close.

“Everyone is fit from the other night,” Ferguson admitted on Friday. “We're missing Wayne obviously which is the only downside.”

“We’ve got a strong squad; our bench the other night reflected that.”

Ferguson will be able to call on Dimitar Berbatov into their attack; however Darren Fletcher (virus) and Jonny Evans (suspension) will both miss out.

The winners will face either Bolton or Stoke in the final on 14th May.

Form
All Competitions:

Man City: WWLWL (7 goals for, 5 against)
Man Utd: WWWWW (10 goals for, 3 against)

FA Cup:

Man City: WDWWW (14 goals for, 3 against)
Man Utd: LWWWW (6 goals for, 2 against)

Premier League 10/11:

Man City 0-0 Man Utd
Man Utd 2-1 Man City