Blackburn v Manchester City: Day 1 after Tévez (preview)

How Manchester City will react to the Carlos Tévez saga in the league return against Bolton is still a doubt, but manager Roberto Mancini certainly wants a focused team, so that the Citizens don’t let Manchester United escape on the lead.

The Italian manager is expecting a positive response from the team to prove they were able to overcome the Argentine’s alleged refusal to come off the bench in Munich.

Edin Dzeko may another of the ‘Munich’s victims’ as he didn’t show he anger at being replaced. The Bosnian striker may be dropped from the starting XI despite having apologised to his manager later on.

This scenario seems rather favourable to controversial Mario Balotelli, who came on for Dzeko in the last league fixture and opened the score for City.

Blackburn try to capitalise City turmoil

After a surprise home win over Arsenal (4-2), Blackburn have another chance to grab points from one of the big title contenders and move out from relegation zone. The Rovers are 18^th with the same four points as WBA and have failed to beat their opponents of tomorrow for the last seven games.

However, manager Steve Kean lost several players in the defeat against Newcastle last weekend, with Scott Dann, Salgado and Givet out with injuries and Martin Olsson suspended.