Manchester City vs West Brom: Premier League match preview

A must-win fixture for a Man City side who have become far too used to losing

Manuel Pellegrini watches Manchester City slump to defeat against Barcelona (Reuters)

There is a gloomy air of despair around the Etihad Stadium at the moment, following four defeats in Manchester City's last five games which has left their season in tatters. Having been sent crashing out of the Champions League by Barcelona once again, Manuel Pellegrini’s side find themselves six points adrift of Chelsea in the title race having played a game more.

West Brom bounced back from their double-whammy of defeats at Villa Park with yet another efficient three points at The Hawthorns, beating Tony Pulis’ old Stoke side 1-0. With City suffering something of a crisis in confidence, the Welshman will fancy his chances of taking a point or three on Saturday morning.

KICK-OFF: Saturday, 12.45pm.

PAST THREE MEETINGS...

West Brom (Ideye) 1-3 Man City (Fernando, Toure, Silva), Premier League, December 2014

Man City (Zabaleta, Aguero, Demichelis) 3-1 West Brom (Dorrans), Premier League, April 2014

West Brom (Pantillimon og, Anichebe) 2-3 Man City (Aguero, Toure 2), Premier League, December 2013

ODDS: Man City 1/3 Draw 19/4 West Brom 11/1

STATS...

Man City top the Fair Play chart so far this season, with just 49 yellows and no red cards accumulated so far.

Sergio Aguero has scored in just three out of 12 games since returning from injury on January 10.

The hosts are unbeaten against West Brom in ten league games, winning nine of them.

Nigerian striker Brown Ideye has a shooting accuracy of 62.5 per cent and has scored five goals in his last eight appearances.

CLASSIC MATCH...

West Brom 0-2 Man City - 2010

If there was one game to show both the brilliance and the madness of Mario Balotelli, it was the November clash in 2010 at the Hawthorns. While his two well-taken goals in the first half set the visitors on their way to an emphatic victory and underlined his importance to the team, it was his reckless challenge on Youssuf Mulumbu midway through the second half that earned him a red card which perfectly demonstrated his immaturity and flaky temperament.

TV: BT Sport 1/BT Sport 1 HD