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Mancini is canny enough to realize that all the good vibes and great results can come to an ugly end, so one would expect him to prep his players appropriately for a Wolves outfit ready to gain some revenge for the CCup defeat. He'll also have one eye on the huge game coming up at Villareal - arguably a tie that is more important to win than the United encounter last week. Everyone is fit with the exception of Hargreaves, so Mancini will probably roll out a team that includes some of the lads that played in the cup game and some of the "first eleven". I'd go with this line-up, with starred player to be subbed at about 60 minutes if all is going to plan -

-----------------------Hart----------------------------
Richards------Kompany---------Lescott-----------Clichy
---------------(Savic)--------------------------------
--------De Jong--------------------Barry--------------
----------------------Yaya*---------------------------
Silva*-------------------------------------------Nasri
---------------------Balotelli*-----------------------

Bench: Pants, Zaba, Kolarov, Savic (Kompany), Milner (on for Yaya), AJ (on for Silva), Dzeko (on for Mario) (Aguero rested for the Villareal tie)

I've gone with one striker to allow De Jong and Nasri to get games under their belts; but also because Aguero must be 100% for the Champions League game. Formation is nominal these days of course, and with the cover of Nige and Barry, Yaya often ends up being a support to the striker anyway. It will be interesting to see how Mancini makes his selection for this one, as it will tip his hand regarding the Villareal clash - one issue that does concern me is whether Kompany can keep going week-in and week-out. He's vital to the team, but resting him for one or even two of the three games City will have to play in the next week or so is tricky. I do like the look of Savic (seems to have all the tools except sheer physical presence), so maybe Mancini will risk him against Wolves in order to save Vinnie for the trip to Spain.

Tactics - carry on as we've been going! T&T posts may be redundant for "bread-and-butter" games now that Mancini has finally got in the groove - much of City's success will now be based on confidence and diligence. Heady days indeed.

BLOOVIC