Some football matches pass the world by. Some are remembered for a quirky moment or two, some are a flicker in the eye of a statistician, but then, every once in a while, comes a match of such massive significance, with international ramifications, of an earth shattering magnitude that the entire planet stops and stares. This is such a match.
The two BEST teams in the Premiership (2011/12 season) so far collide at the Reebok this weekend in what can truly be described as a ‘title decider’, a ‘six pointer’, a proper, genuine Super Sunday.
First then to the underdogs, who overcame a gallant Swansea side by the finest of margins this past Monday night. Manchester City are the wealthiest club in the world following their takeover in 2008 by Sheikh Mansour, and have spent the intervening years throwing their money around like it’s going out of fashion. In that time they have seen some reasonable footballers pass through their ranks; Robinho, Tevez, Aguero and Wayne Bridge.
The reward for this investment so far has been a sole FA Cup, the winning of which was tempered by the withdrawal of the favourites, Bolton, in the Semi Final round due to fixture congestion.
City come to the Reebok in poor form, with the aforementioned victory over Swansea being, so far, their only win of the season. Their manager, Mancini, will be under pressure if things aren’t turned around soon.
Their superstar opponents, Bolton Wanderers who are at the top of the league, come into the game in fantastic form, with a 100% win ratio, having demolished the other Richest Club in the World™ by an astonishing FOUR GOALS TO NIL. Goals coming from Cahill – the best defender in the world, an own goal, Klasnic – the best striker in the world and someone else.
Bolton have strengthened massively over the summer, bringing in international superstars such as Reo-Coker, Pratley, Eagles and Mears – along with the captain of the Turkish national side, Tuncay. All of whom are definitely probably going to be chosen for their international sides for the forthcoming World Cup Qualifiers – something that can’t be said for
Manchester City and their supposed ‘stars’.
Previous matches between the two appear to have been stricken from the record, so it remains for me to consult the league table for a guide on the likely end result – as such I can only see this going one way – a home victory. Probably by four goals.
They played for both teams
Jamie Pollock
Nicolas Anelka
Peter Beardsley
Brian Kidd
Dietmar Hamann
Colin Hendry
Francis Lee
Paul Warhurst
Martin Petrov
Paul Ritchie
Shaun Wright-Phillips?
