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Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany feels that “something has to go disastrously wrong” for Pep Guardiola‘s side not to beat relegation-threatened Leicester City in Wednesday’s Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.
The Citizens enter this contest on a high after securing a 2-1 comeback victory over Bournemouth on Sunday to progress to the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley at the end of April.
Guardiola’s side had previously come out on top in only two of their last six Premier League fixtures and they are embroiled in a hotly-contested battle to secure Champions League football for next season, sitting fifth in the table – at the time of writing – and only one point behind Chelsea in fourth spot.
Leicester, meanwhile, have been struggling at the wrong end of the table for some time and relegation for last season’s Championship title winners beckons for Ruud van Nistelrooy‘s side, who sit nine points adrift of safety after losing 13 of their last 14 top-flight matches.
McInerney is confident that Man City will get the job done in comfortable fashion against a struggling Leicester outfit and believes that Wednesday’s clash can be considered a “must-win” for the Citizens if they wish to secure at least a top-five finish, which is likely to be enough to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Man City should “win pretty comfortably” against Leicester
“It’s a must-win and [City] must score a lot of goals if I’m being honest,” McInerney told Sports Mole. “I think top five is [almost] confirmed now, so essentially there is very little excuse for City to not get top five, given the quality of the squad that they’ve got and given the resources that we’ve got compared to other sides.
“Leicester are resigned to going down, you would argue, their form is abysmal to put it simply. In any other season they’d be bottom, but Southampton have been an even lower level of abysmal. They’ve barely been present, unfortunately for them. That losing streak is suffocating for them.
“I’m expecting City to win and win pretty comfortably. We’ve not had a game where we filled our boots for a while. It feels that way anyway… [Even without Haaland, City] should still have more than enough.
“We know Leicester have got some experience there with [Jamie] Vardy and [Conor Coady] and so on, and some quality with [Wilfred] Ndidi and [James] Justin and people like that, good players, but they’re not happy in their own skin and they’re struggling… everyone is tonking them right now.
“City should, in theory, be able to put most combinations of players out on the pitch and at home, at the Etihad, given everything, we should be comfortable there. Something has to go disastrously wrong for City not to win this game.”
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How many points do Man City need to secure top-five finish?
McInerney has also shared his thoughts on how many of Man City’s remaining nine Premier League fixtures they need to win in order to qualify for the Champions League and fend off competition from as many as six other clubs currently below them who still have a realistic chance of securing a top-five finish.
After facing Leicester on Wednesday, Man City will take on rivals Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Everton, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Southampton and Bournemouth before concluding the season at Fulham on May 25.
“If City win five out of nine, that should just be about enough to get City in the top five,” said McInerney. “A couple of draws in there as well, and a couple of losses, and they would almost certainly be safe. So that’d be 17 points. That will be enough I reckon.
“I suspect that’s very attainable for City. A couple of tough games there, Villa will be difficult, but it is at home, [also] Fulham away, but I think we should be all right at that point already.”
Meanwhile, McInerney has discussed the possibility of Guardiola freshening up his starting lineup for the midweek fixture against Leicester, with the Catalan required to make at least one change as striker Erling Haaland is ruled out for an indefinite period with an ankle injury.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion ahead of Man City’s clash with Leicester.
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