City will aim to close the gap on Spurs when they entertain Wigan on Monday evening.

Victory for the blues will move them to within two points of the London club and one point clear of Liverpool, who regained fifth place with a 3-0 win over Sunderland on Sunday. City will also be looking to erase the memory of last Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Everton which meant the blues missed out on overtaking Spurs in fourth.

The blues welcome back Emmanuel Adebayor following the completion of his four match ban for his sending off at Stoke. Stephen Ireland is a doubt for the blues with a shin injury, while Wayne Bridge, Joleon Lescott, Michael Johnson and Martin Petrov are all sidelined through injury.

Wigan are just four points clear of the relegation zone but will go into the game having lost only one of four meetings in the Premier League. In their last game, Wigan needed three minutes of injury time to break the deadlock against fellow strugglers Burnley.

The Latics have virtually a full strength squad to select from. Only Emmerson Boyce and Charles N’Zogbia are doubtful through injury.

League Form (Last Five)

City: DWDWL

Wigan: LWLLW

Over The Blue Moon Prediction: City 3-0 Wigan

Traditionally, this fixture has ended 1-0 but City will change that tonight with a comprehensive victory.

City take on Everton at Eastlands with the prospect of going fourth in the league should they win.

The blues sit two points behind Spurs but will overtake the London club with a win while also preventing a league double by the Toffees.

City will be missing Joleon Lescott through injury while Emmanuel Adebayor completes his four match suspension following his sending off during the FA Cup defeat at Stoke.

Wayne Bridge is out with a hernia while Michael Johnson and Martin Petrov both have knee injuries. Adam Johnson could retain his place at the expense of Shaun Wright-Phillips while Roque Santa Cruz may retain his place in the starting line-up following his goal at Fulham.

Victor Anichebe could make the game for Everton after being a doubt with a kidney problem but Phillippe Senderos and Marouane Fellaini are definitely out through injury.

Danger Man: Louis Saha

The United reject has scored 16 goals this season, 13 of them in the Premier League.

Over the Blue Moon Prediction: City 3-1 Everton

City into third with a hard fought win.

City go to Fulham eager to make ground on Spurs who are now sitting five points clear of the blues in fourth after their 2-1 win at Stoke on Saturday. Liverpool, who are one point ahead of City in fifth, travel to Old Trafford looking to repeat last year’s impressive 4-1 win over United.

The blues go to Craven Cottage without striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who is in the middle of a four match suspension following his sending off against Stoke in the FA Cup. Also missing from the side are Michael Johnson and Martin Petrov, who are both out with knee injuries. Wayne Bridge is also sidelined with a hernia.

Bridge’s absence could give Javier Garrido the chance to impress at left back. The Spaniard was signed by former manager Sven Goran Eriksson in 2008 but his appearances in a blue shirt have been limited.

For Fulham, Andrew Johnson and John Pantsil are definitely out while former City man Dickson Etuhu and David Elm are doubtful for the game.

Possible Starting XI:

Fulham: Schwarzer, Kelly, Hangeland, Hughes, Shorey, Davies, Murphy, Baird, Dempsey, Gera, Zamora.

Manchester City: Given, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Garrido, Wright-Phillips, Zabaleta, De Jong, Barry, Bellamy, Tevez

Danger Man: Bobby Zamora

The former Brighton man has scored 16 goals this season and is rapidly showing he is a handful for any defence.

League Form (Last Five):

Fulham: DWWDL

City: WDDWD

Last Seasons Result:

Fulham 1-1 City

Over The Blue Moon Prediction: Fulham 1-3 City

Fulham will still be on a high after their midweek European win and City should take full advantage and bring them back to Earth

City face Liverpool hoping to preserve their unbeaten home record and avoid making at a Merseyside double weekend.

United lost 3-1 at Everton on Saturday and Roberto Mancini will be hoping City fair better against the scousers and put some clear distance between the two as the race for fourth place hots up.

The City manager believes all the pressure will be on Rafa Benitez’ men as they attempt to leapfrog the blues and increase their Champions League qualification chances. “We want to win and so do they, so it will be difficult but more so for Liverpool,” explains the Italian.

“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.”

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez will be hoping for a similar performance to the one in last season’s fixture when his team came back from two goals down to win 3-2. Victory today will take the Merseysiders two points clear of the blues in fourth place, but defeat will increase the pressure on the Spaniard, whose job has been rumored to have been on the line for a good part of the season.

Team News

Patrick Vieira starts his three match ban and misses today’s game which may give Stephen Ireland the chance to impress. Craig Bellamy could also feature despite the rumoured bust up between him and manager Mancini in midweek. Martin Petrov will also miss the game with a knee injury which could keep him out for a month while Carlos Tevez is still in Argentina on family matters.

Fernando Torres is still out for Liverpool as is Glen Johnson who are both sidelined with knee injuries while Yossi Benayoun is still struggling with a rib injury.

Teams:

Manchester City (from): Given, Taylor, Richards, Zabaleta, Onuoha, Toure, Lescott, Boyata, Garrido, Sylvinho, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Barry, De Jong, Ibrahim, Johnson, Bellamy, Adebayor.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Skrtel, Agger, Carragher, Insua, Gerrard, Lucas, Aquilani, Rodriguez, Riera, Benayoun, Ngog, Kuyt, Cavalieri, Pacheco, Spearing, Babel, Aurelio, Degen.

League Form (Last Five)

City: LWLWD

Liverpool: WDWWL

Danger man: Steven Gerrard

Always a threat in the Liverpool engine room but has not been playing his bet lately

Over The Blue Moon Prediction: City 2-1 Liverpool

While both teams are not playing particularly well, I fancy the blues to nick it