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Preview: City vs Reading

This is how we all feel right now
This is how we all feel right now
Mike Hewitt

This match is going to be a weird one. Reading doesn't have anything to play for. Manchester City don't really have anything to play for either.

Reading have been relegated, and the better players on the team might still try hard to try and impress a possible suitor for a new team.

Manchester City have fired the manager, and some of the players now fully understand that no one is safe. I'm sure that they've all been furiously calling their agents, figuring out if they will fit into the system that Begiristain is wanting to fit in next season. They're also probably calling/texting players they know who played under Manuel Pellegrini, to see what kind of manager he will be.

At this point, what will we see out of our team? Brian Kidd will be overseeing the team today. His last time managing a team was back in 1999, when he was in charge of Blackburn.

At this point, everyone is assuming that we'll see the typical 4-2-3-1 from City. I doubt that we'll see Yaya Toure, with how exhausted he has been. Pablo Zabaleta is suspended after his sending off in the Cup final. Other than that, everything is a big question mark.

Last time we played Reading, we only won on a header from Gareth Barry in the 93 minute of the game. It was a terribly disappointing match, where Reading sat incredibly deep and dared City to play through their packed box. They kept 10 men behind the ball almost the entire game, getting only 1 shot on target the whole time.

I think that this game is crying out for some width, and a tall striker in the box to do something with the crosses. Please don't have Gael Clichy keep pounding in crosses to players under 5'9" !! I don't even care if Edin Dzeko loses the ball every time he touches it, as long as he can get his head on a ball and do something with it.

My starting lineup: Hart, Micah Richards, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy, Barry, Jack Rodwell, Silva, Milner, Aguero, Dzeko.