Kolo Toure

Roberto Mancini’s side inflicted a first defeat of the season on the champions last Saturday to add credence to claims they can break into the top four of the Premier League.

The win follows up an earlier success over Liverpool at Eastlands too but Toure says it is vital they not only pick up three points against the big sides but also against the so-called lesser teams – like Newcastle.

The defender said: “We just need to be consistent in our results. The Newcastle game is really important because we need to show we have improved.

“Every time we play a big team we play well but when we play a team we are supposed to beat we struggle a bit. We hope to change that on Sunday.”

City, who could move a point behind the leaders if results go their way this weekend, were held by Juventus in the Europa League on Thursday but there are real signs the expensively-assembled squad at Eastlands is beginning to gel and that they are becoming a real force to be reckoned with (City to beat Newcastle 4-0 – 16/1).

Vincent Kompany is again set to partner the former Arsenal man at centre-half against the Magpies and Toure has been very impressed with the Belgium international – whose preferred position is really in midfield.

“Vincent is a really intelligent player,” added the Ivory Coast ace. “He was strong last season and is doing really well in this campaign.

“It is not easy playing centre-half when you have been in midfield. It takes time to get used to it but he is doing really well at the back, which is good for the team.”

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Shay Given

The big-spending outfit are entering their third season under the ownership of the mega-rich Abu Dhabi United Group and have so far managed to win nothing.

Last season the club missed out on qualifying for the Champions League by a nose as Tottenham pipped them to fourth place after a long battle between City, Spurs, Liverpool and Aston Villa.

Despite failing to make it into the Champions League, City have still managed to attract some top talent as they look to bolster their squad for another charge at the top four.

Already in Roberto Mancini’s squad for next season is Germany (11/5 outright World Cup winners) international defender Jerome Boateng, Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure and Spanish star David Silva.

Those three have already cost the club £60m but that hasn’t stopped City looking at bringing in further players with the likes of Fernando Torres, Mario Balotelli and Lukas Podolski all linked with moves to Eastlands.

The club are determined to turn City into a dominant force in the Premier League and are likely to keep investing over the summer even if they have to turn their attentions away from the three previous mentioned players.

While getting into a Champions League spot will be a minimum requirement for City this season, Given is already talking up potentially challenging for the title as he now believes the club has the squad to cope with the task.

“We’re at the point where the club has invested so much and the manager understands and knows that the pressure is on to get results and trophies,” Given told The Sun.

“City have the backing to challenge the top teams in England and even in Europe in years to come.

“I don’t want to say we are going into the league to finish fourth.

“We are going in to win it and if we don’t, the next thing will be the top four.”

Last season City finished 19 points off eventual champions Chelsea but could close the gap if they can get their top stars functioning as a team.

Given went on to say that he felt despite all the big names now at Eastlands the squad morale wouldn’t suffer and felt City’s nucleus of players would keep things happy.

Manchester City will be looking to make a good start to the season but begin their Premier League campaign with a tough run of fixtures, starting away at Tottenham (5/4 to beat City) before facing Liverpool at home and Sunderland away.

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Argentina

Maradona, who scored the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986, made the appeal at his press conference ahead of Argentina’s opening group B match against Nigeria in Johannesburg on Saturday.

“Let there really be fair play, let the referees understand what the words fair play mean.”

Maradona, who captained the Argentineans to World Cup glory in 1986 and led them to the final four years later, claimed he had fallen foul to the more unsporting side of the game during his side’s opening game in 1990 against Cameroon.

“When the fair play [slogan] was introduced in 1990 I was kicked so hard they almost knocked my head off against Cameroon,” Maradona said

Cameroon went on to win that game 1-0 thanks to an Emanuel Kunde goal despite having two players sent off. Despite the loss, Argentina went on to finish runners up, losing out to West Germany 1-0 in the final.

Maradona also told the press that he believed that the finals could see Lionel Messi cement his place in footballing history and could even see him eclipse Maradona himself as the greatest Argentinean to play the game.

Argentina go into the game on the back of a 5-0 victory against Canada and will be looking for their third tournament victory after coming out on top in 1978 and 1986.

One of the main talking points in the build-up to the tournament has been Maradona’s selection policy which has seen him leave out Champions League winners Estaban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti in favour of a number of Argentinean based players.

The Albiceste are expected to start with a three man attack with Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain playing through the middle and Lionel Messi (11/8 L Messi 5/4 D Villa 3/1 draw – Goalscorer Match Bet) and Carlos Tevez playing in the wide positions.

The experienced pair of Walter Samuel and Martin Demechlis are likely to partner each other in defence while the experienced Juan Sebastian Veron is expected to start alongside the skipper Javier Macherano in the midfield.

There is a slight doubt over right-back Nicolas Otamendi and Newcastle’s Jonas Guiteirrez is likely to deputise.

Nigeria are without their talisman John Obi Mikel, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a knee problem. His place is likely to be taken by Monaco midfielder Lukman Haruma, while Chinedu Obasi is likely to get the nod up front alongside Yakubu.

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Argentina

The South American nation are one of the favourites to win this summer’s tournament, despite a disappointing qualifying campaign which saw them scrape through by the skin of their teeth.

While little is known about how the Albiceleste will perform due to their unpredictable coach Diego Maradona they will certainly expect to make it to the knockout stages of the competition having been drawn alongside Nigeria, South Korea and Greece.

They start their World Cup campaign against possibly their toughest opponents in the first round of the tournament, with Nigeria the second favourites to win the group.

The Super Eagles (18/5 top African nation) reached the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations and topped their group in qualifying ahead of Tunisia, Mozambique and Kenya.

However, Nigeria have lost one of their star players to injury since then in the form of midfielder John Obi Mikel and haven’t enjoyed the best build-up to the World Cup, failing to beat Saudi Arabia in one of their warm-up matches.

While Nigeria did beat North Korea (1/8 to finish bottom of Group G) 3-1 in their last friendly match, Argentina will certainly fancy their chances of overcoming their Group B rivals and getting their World Cup off to a flying start.

Burdisso says Argentina need to get off to a winning start and believes it doesn’t matter how they get the victory, just as long as they take all three points.

“I give more value to starting the tournament with a win than to playing well,” he said.

“There is a lot of anxiety and to start with a win would mean a lot to us.

“We must win our first game and although it will be difficult, we have to know that a good result is all that matters.”

In the 2006 World Cup Argentina got their campaign off to a winning start, beating the Ivory Coast 2-1 as they made it out of the ‘group of death’.

The Albiceleste were looking good four years ago until they were knocked on penalties by Germany.

Burdisso says this time around the team won’t get carried away with any media hype surrounding their performances and promises they will be taking it one game at a time.

“There is no question we are candidates to win the tournament,” he added.

“We have very strong players in the team but that doesn’t mean anything.

“We must win our first game and then draw some conclusions.”

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Iain Dowie

His side currently sit in the relegation places and are three points behind West Ham ahead of them, after Hull could only manage a 0-0 draw with Birmingham at the weekend.

The Tigers face Aston Villa (11/10 to win, 12/5 draw – match bets) on Wednesday night before a real relegation six-pointer against the Hammers at the weekend.

What made matters worse for Dowie was the fact that relegation rivals Wigan Athletic (16/1 – FA Premier League relegation) produced a staggering comeback to beat Arsenal on Sunday to put them seven points ahead of Hull, and it could get even worse if West Ham beat Liverpool in the Premier League on Monday night.

Dowie knows his side need to start winning games if they are to preserve their top flight status with four Premier League games to go.

“Whether we have the quality we will see in the next four games. I believe we have,” he told the Hull Daily Mail.

“I think it was Michael Johnson (American athlete) who said the mental side is the crucial element when you get there. It’s about us making sure we have a positive attitude. Our focus is to make sure we come with a real energy.”

Dowie faces coping for the rest of the season with midfielder Stephen Hunt after exploratory surgery on an ankle problem ruled him out of Hull’s remaining games.

He joins a growing injury list which includes Anthony Gardner and Kamil Zayatte but the manager still remains convinced there is enough quality at his disposal to avoid relegation.

Another player who Dowie cannot call upon to help for the battle is Egyptian loan signing Amr Zaki, who has struggled with a knee problem during his time at the KC Stadium and this injury has ended his stay.

A West Ham win at Anfield (Liverpool 4/11, West Ham 15/2, draw 18/5 – match bets) could put them six points ahead of Hull by the end of Monday night, but Tigers fans could take some optimism from the fact the Hammers have not won away from Upton Park since the first game of the season.

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