Manchester City can close the gap on the league leaders to nine points on Saturday lunch-time, albeit if it’s only for a few hours before the game at Old Trafford. I’m covering the match for Sky Sports and I’m interested to see what the atmosphere is like after the Wigan disaster. David Moyes and his players came under a torrent of abuse and although it may have been a bit harsh, the performances have not been good enough of late.

This would have been a serious test for City a few weeks ago, but now it looks a much easier assignment. City are doing everything they can to keep the pressure on the league leaders with four wins on the bounce in all competitions. The most impressive element to those wins is that they haven’t conceded once and Everton’s forwards are all over the shop.

Nikica Jelavic is struggling for confidence and looks devoid of ideas. Carlos Tevez is the complete opposite and he has scored five times in his previous three outings. The Argentinean got the equaliser when the sides last met and I fancy him to score again here. At around 2.09 on the exchange, City are a great shout to take all three points.

At the other end of the table there’s an absolute cracker of a game when QPR travel to Villa Park. Aston Villa head into this contest on the back of a 2-1 win at Reading and can take another huge step towards safety with a win here.

Harry Redknapp has done brilliantly to get Rangers into a position where they have a shot at survival. They remain bottom of the table, but the gap is down to a more manageable four points. They arrive in Birmingham on the back of two successive wins and the players for the first time this season will be feeling confident.

It finished 1-1 when the sides met at the start of December and another tight game is predicted. I’ve been impressed with Villa in their past two outings, even though they won only once. The first of those games was a narrow 1-0 defeat to Man City and if Villa can match that desire then they are a good thing.

Christian Benteke continues to show why he was one of the signings of the season and I wouldn’t be surprised if he got on the score sheet here.

I’d recommend backing Villa at 2.33 to complete a memorable fortnight that should see them staying up come May.

Betting on BETDAQ – Alan’s Punts:
Everton v Man City – Back Man City at 2.13
Aston Villa v QPR – Back Aston Villa 2.33

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