STUART Pearce has Ben Thatcher available for the first time since taking over as Manchester City boss as the Blues prepare to face Champions League-chasing Liverpool.
Thatcher has missed the last four games with a hamstring injury but is vying with Stephen Jordan for the left-back berth.
Steve McManaman (calf) and Shaun Wright-Phillips (knee) are both out, as are long-term injury victims Jihai Sun and Trevor Sinclair (both knee), but Paul Bosvelt returns after being ruled out of last week's trip to Charlton for 'family reasons'.
Fernando Morientes is expected to return up front for Liverpool, with Milan Baros suspended.
Morientes, who has overcome the muscle injury sustained in the Merseyside derby, was cup tied for the Champions League clash with Juventus in midweek.
Mauricio Pellegrino, also ineligible for Europe, is back in the squad whilst goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek is expected to take over from youngster Scott Carson.
Xabi Alonso is likely to feature again after a brief appearance against Juventus as substitute. Dietmar Hamann is still recovering from a knee injury.
Manchester City (from): James, Weaver, Mills, Onouha, Dunne, Distin, Sommeil, Jordan, Thatcher, Croft, Bosvelt, Reyna, Flood, Barton, Sibierski, Musampa, Fowler, Macken, B Wright-Phillips.
Liverpool (from): Dudek, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Pellegrino, Traore, Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Gerrard, Biscan, Riise, Morientes, Le Tallec, Nunez, Smicer, Carson, Warnock, Welsh, Potter.
City v Liverpool - The stats
Latest form
City - L W L L D
Liverpool - W D W W W
Recent encounters
Aug 21, 2004 Pool 2 City 1
Feb 11, 2004 Pool 1 City 2
Dec 28, 2003 City 2 Pool 2
May 3, 2003 Pool 2 City 1
Sep 28, 2002 City 0 Pool 3
Top scorers
City - Fowler 10, S. Wright-Phillips 10, Anelka (now Fenerbache) 7
Liverppol - Baros 13, Garcia 10, Gerrard 8
Referee: Mike Riley (Leeds) - No one has flashed his red card more often in the top flight than Cool Hand Mike but hopefully it will stay in his pocket on Saturday.
Danger man: Steven Gerrard - not just one of the two best English central midfielders but an inspirational captain and this season a goalscorer too.
Prediciton: City 2 Liverpool 1
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What's this??? Manchester Online predicting a City win ??? Has the world gone mad!!!!!
I agree with the prediction
CITY 2 Liverpool 1.
Come on "Blue Moon" outsing the "Never walk alone".
"Give Pearce a Chance".
Man city's headline "Thatcher is back" oh dear, really not much to get excited about. I'm a red but have a lot time for city, they have put our ex players out to pasture in style. Gonna be kind and say 2:0 Liverpool win. Garaunga!
Nothing worse I can think of than people who can't talk properly singing (they actually speak like they have a mouth full of wasps!!) a song that makes me want to jump off a bridge!!!
i for one will be shouting and singing from the very start because the boys need all our support. i feel inspired by pearce and this is the fresh start we all desperately need. c'mon city. if you're not fired up to beat scousers then you'll never be fired up again.
I don't think it would matter if you had Gregory Hines tap dancing on your stadium roof, city will go down to chinatown, upping that prediction to 3-0. You guys never recovered after Adrian Heath moved on
James, Thatcher, Dunne Distin, Onuoha, Bosvelt, Barton, Reyna, Kiki, Fowler just behind BWP. City to win 3-2. Damien to continue supporting a team he has no chance of going to see and spending his time on City pages berating free transfer left backs when he really should be worrying about his multi-million pound squad not winning anything and losing touch with the league leaders...again. Agree with drowning out that hateful, schmaltzy LFC signature tune.
Hope BWP gets a run out at some point, as Pellegrino has to be slowest player ever to play premiership football. Feels like the first home game of the season. Hope we can maintain the atomsphere even if the scousers start well.
Agree with Dom to a certain extent, but would start with Macken or Sib (Macken might feel he has a point to prove, and has performed better in bigger games) instead of BWP, keep it tight for the first half, don't give away possession, and hit them with BWP and possibly Flood/Croft part way into the 2nd half when they're starting to tire - the tempo they played for 90 mins against Juve must have drained them. James, Onuha, Dunne, Distin, Thatcher, Reyna, Bosvelt, Barton, Kiki, Macken, Fowler, with Weaver, Mills, Sib, Croft/Flood, BWP on the bench.
Dom what is this amateur night. I go to a lot of games and have supported them all my life, I think I deserve to have my say. Liverpool are having a great season, we played Juve midweek incase you did'nt catch it! Sounds like your suffering from the second best team in the city syndrome. Why don't you just support United, you know you want to.
Its obvious to me that city have the same red-envy of our very own blue half of the city. We have no bitterness towards lesser teams. I think Dom should start to support a red team - united might be an idea!
Dom go on the other page and post comments to other people that mite care about what you have to say.
Agreed, Croft on in the second half for Reyna. Think Macken has had a point to prove for a while now though and hasn't yet. Yes, it's amateur night Damien, clearly. I can't tell if you are scouse or a rag...can you? Oh but you're from Belfast...so that would be neither. If you are LFC through and through, I find your "second best team in the city" comment a little ironic. How the mighty have fallen. The same might even happen to the rags one day, who knows. In some ways I hope not because I like City fans the way they are not too full of themselves. That's something you won't understand. I also love those derby days. Now go spend some more time on your own site and carry on resting on the laurels from the Juve game (2 legs by the way).
James , Onouha , Thatcher , Distin , Dunne , Reyna , Croft , Fowler , BWP , Musampa , Barton , Subs: Weaver , Jordan , Sibierski , Bosvelt , Flood
Dom, I think I speak for the rest of the (civilised) world when I ask...what is a rag?
Also, as regards "second best team in the city" and irony, just remember one thing...
Blackburn have won the Premiership once!!!!!! There will always be blips :)
Hopefully you lot will give the Scousers the stick they deserve after their embarrassing display before their match against Juve the other night.
forget it City fans your team aint up to it---2-0 to Liverpool and thats an opinion of a Man Yoo fan!
Gerry who are Brentford playing this week???
Hey Mark, Encoulez - vous idiot, Liverpudlians can rightly hold their heads up high after the performance of both players and fans. You obviously have had one french stick too many to the back of the head. Suggest you move south
Hey Blue, your are as funny as a wet lettuce, leave off Gerry, he's broken ties with your girl so no hard feelings. I can't wait til you guys are hammered, think of me when your crying into your pint. Hey Dom going very quiet there, need a hug?
Hey Damien!!! Somehow don't think I'll be crying into my pint cause let's face it if your playing second fiddle to Everton you have nothing to shout about!!! With your small little ground face it you are a club with a PAST and no present or future oh and next season when Gerrard goes to a big club you are knackered!!!! City 3 Scouser's 0!!!! Come on City!!
Damien you are very very boring, I hope you lot are on here after saturday when we beat you. Who do you support again, cork was it????? CTID.
why do my comments always get edited, they arent as bad as some others on here ed???? (We only edit comments that are potentially libellous or too personally offensive - Ed)
mark m,i think the term rags,refers to the time many,many years ago when 'the worlds biggest club'(TM)nearly went out of business.they were so poor that they asked city could they have our old kits to play in as they couldn't afford to buy their own,hence 'rags'.
Damien, By 5pm tomorrow you will be well and truly consigned to fourth place. City to win 2-1. And by 9.30pm on Wednesday, you'll be out of Europe too. Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!! So much for the "greatest side in the world" (sic)! Or was that "sick"! And as for Gerry from Brentford, we don't have Rags in Brentford. You must be from Southall or something cos that's where the Rags live! And if you can't be bothered to support a decent team like City then at least have the decency to support your local team, The Bees!