EPL ~ Balotelli & Silva ruled out of crunch clash at Arsenal
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Mario Balotelli and David Silva injuries rock Manchester City as pair are ruled out of crunch clash at Arsenal
Playmaker: Spaniard Silva has been in fine form for Manchester City over the past few weeks of the season
Wednesday, January 5 2010
Arsenal v Manchester City 3:45am (Thur Morning) Mio Channel 102 / 110
Manchester City will be without David Silva and Mario Balotelli for Wednesday's crucial Premier League encounter at Arsenal.
The pair have both been struck down by knee injuries, with Silva possibly out for two weeks.
'It is a big problem,' said manager Roberto Mancini. 'Neither of them will be available.'
Silva in particular will be a huge loss at the Emirates given his growing influence on the Blues in recent weeks.
'David has been an important player for us and has been doing well recently,' said Mancini. Hopefully, he will be back for the Wolves game on January 15.
'Mario might be back for the FA Cup tie at Leicester on Sunday.'
Meanwhile, Mancini claimed that his side are still outsiders in what he accepts is now a five-team pursuit of the title.
City are joint top with neighbours Manchester United, although they have played two games more.
Big loss: City will miss Balotelli up front when they take on Arsenal in north London on Wednesday night
And Mancini, who has previously claimed that Chelsea would stroll to the championship, feels that City's inexperience in such situations could count against them.
'Arsenal, Chelsea, United and Tottenham all have more experience than us,' he said.
'Probably one of those four teams will win the title. We just want to work, so we can improve and try to keep getting better.'
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just open the cheque book la.. what's the worry??