At the moment, seven points separate the Blues and Tim Sherwood’s side, but the Chilean is refusing to believe there are any clear runners just yet.
“I don’t think that we are just three teams in the title race. I think Tottenham continue with chances, Everton and Liverpool continue with chances and Manchester United continue with chances,” he declared.
“In football you never know. We have to play 48 points more and if you add 48 to 37 it’s 85 and that’s an important amount of points.”
...Manuel Pellegrini...
James Milner and Javi Garcia were both absent for Saturday’s 4-2 win over Watford and the manager revealed they will also miss the trip to London.
“James Milner, Javi Garcia are both injured. Negredo is in the squad list with no problem,” he said.
“Samir Nasri is of course also still out. Milner and Garcia’s injuries are not very serious, but I think that this week it would be difficult for them to be fit. But I hope that next week they will be without any problem.
“Sergio played without problem for the 90 minutes [against Watford] and he is OK, so he doesn’t have any problems. He’s in the squad list, he has no problem to play tomorrow.”
The Blues managed to overturn a 2-0 deficit against a spirited Watford side on Saturday and Pellegrini admits it was a good experience for his side.
“It was a good lesson, because in football the difference between a win and a loss is very, very sight. So I think that was a good lesson,” he asserted.
“I think we made the correct arrangements during the game, so I think it was very important the reaction and the way we finished that game.
...Pellegrini on Watford...
“Normally when you play so many matches, maybe in that match we didn’t have the motivation that we need, supposing that we are going to win in another way.
“The only way to win is to play well and if you don’t play well it’s very hard to win against a Championship team or Premiership team. So, I repeat, it’s important, but more important was the way we reacted.”
Spurs have gone on an impressive run since new manager Tim Sherwood took over and Pellegrini believes former Blue Adebayor has been a key part of their recent success.
“The results say that they improve a lot, they’ve won four games of the last five they played,” he said.
“I saw the last two games that they played and they are playing very well. I think it’s always important to have a striker like they have Adebayor in a good moment and I’m sure we are going to have a tough game against them.
“It’s important that I know that our team will go there and try to win the game. I think the way we played agents them here was not a usual game, normally you can’t score six goals against Tottenhem.
“It is very difficult for me to analyse them because I cannot analyse just with the match they play against us. Andre Villas Boas did a good job but for different reasons he didn’t continue there and Tim Sherwood is doing very well.”
City take on Sunderland in the Premier League on Wednesday 12 February in what will be a dress rehearsal for the Capital One Cup Final in March.
Can the Blues avenge the Stadium of Light defeat earlier this season? A night match under the lights at the Etihad and a preview of the forthcoming final - demand is expected to be high as Manuel Pellegrini’s side attempt to continue their incredible run.
Don’t miss out - ticket details here.
