‘Attractive’ City expect to win EPL title now

MANCHESTER CITY boss Manuel Pellegrini “expects” his side to seal the Premier League title on Sunday and said they have done it playing the right way.

Friday, May 09, 2014

Sunday

Cardiff City vs. Chelsea 17: 00

Fulham vs. Crystal Palace 17: 00

Hull City vs. Everton 17: 00 

Liverpool vs. Newcastle 17: 00 

Man City vs. West Ham 17: 00 

Norwich vs. Arsenal 17: 00

Southampton vs. Man United 17: 00 

Sunderland vs. Swansea City 17: 00 

Tottenham vs. Aston Villa 17: 00 

West Brom vs. Stoke City 17: 00 

MANCHESTER CITY boss Manuel Pellegrini "expects” his side to seal the Premier League title on Sunday and said they have done it playing the right way.

City’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa on Wednesday effectively means a point against West Ham on the final day will secure their second crown in three seasons.

"Winning the title is very important but so is the way we are going to win it,” Pellegrini said.

"There are many ways to win it but I choose this one - attractive football.”

City had been top of the table for only 11 days of a campaign lasting eight months before returning to the summit with their convincing win over Villa, which saw them score their 100th league goal of the campaign.

A victory for Pellegrini’s men against a Hammers side whom they have already beaten three times this season, scoring 12 goals in the process, will make certain they finish as champions.

Even if they draw, City have a vastly superior goal difference over Liverpool, which means the Reds would need to beat Newcastle by 13 goals in their final fixture to overtake them.

City has been through some last-day drama before, famously clinching the title through Sergio Aguero’s injury-time winner against Queens Park Rangers in 2012.

But Pellegrini is not contemplating a tense finish this time, stating for the first time that he is confident of getting his hands on the Premier League trophy, to go with the League Cup won in February.

"Of course, I expect to win the title now,” he said. "It is the last game and we know if we win the last game, we will win the title.

"It has been a strange season because we have never been at the top of the table. Everybody was talking about us being the favourites but, in March, we were nine points behind Liverpool and eight behind Chelsea. We had three games in hand but we had to win all of those games.

"Now we are top and I hope we are not going to lose on Sunday, but we must play the way we have played against Villa, and the way we have played all season.”

He praised his players for the character they have shown to put themselves within touching distance of the title and is proud that they have done it by playing attacking football.

"We have a style of play which makes us an attractive team,” he explained. "We score many goals and we always think we can score more. That for me has the same importance as winning the title, and I am very happy to win the title playing that way.

"We got some criticism at the start of the season when we lost two or three away games but we have shown a lot of character and personality to carry on playing the way we believe in, which is the best way to win.”