Sunday, February 21, 2010

Mancini - Pressure On Reds


Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says all the pressure is on Liverpool ahead of their Premier League clash on Sunday.

The Reds travel to Eastlands for a crunch game in the hunt for a fourth-spot finish and a much-coveted place in next season's UEFA Champions League.

Liverpool are currently one point behind City in the table having played a game more than their opponents, which Mancini says means his side have the upper hand.

"We want to win and so do they, so it will be difficult but more so for Liverpool," he said.

"We are above them and they have to try to get past us. We have to be positive, if we can win, we will go further ahead of them so that's what we must try to do.

"We are in a good position with 13 games to go and I hope that Sunday is a fantastic game for our supporters."

Mancini will be without important players Carlos Tevez, Martin Petrov and Patrick Vieira for the match at the City of Manchester Stadium.

The Italian tactician still believes his team can come out on top, though, but is not underestimating the ability of the men from Merseyside.

"Torres and Gerrard are great players but they have (Jamie) Carragher, (Dirk) Kuyt, (Javier) Mascherano, (Jose) Reina as well. That's not a bad squad to pick from," he added.

"Gerrard is really respected throughout Europe, he has everything you would want in a player and we know we will have to work hard to deal with him.

"Liverpool are a good side, with some good players and a good manager that have lots of experience from many years in the Champions League and being near the top in England.

"They have some players out injured but it will still be tough for us because they have a lot of strengths."

Mancini played down a row with striker Craig Bellamy earlier in the week, and the Welshman could feature against his former club if fit.

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