Media darlings; red cards and drinks trolleys; Milner and Balotelli; Monday preview

As opening games go, when you are coming to terms with the new animosity from the country's press and rival fans, to play teams managed by Harry Redknapp and Roy Hodgson do not make it any easier. Both are at the zenith of their popularity. Both are adored by the media. Redknapp for his straight-forward, entertaining character; Hodgson for defying the financial importance of modern football to succeed with Fulham, and to appear to charm with his gentleness at the same time (this last aspect was always tainted for me by less than gracious interviews after a defeat, but I think I may be alone in that!). But regardless of the opposition or the popularity of the manager, everyone is looking for City to lose at the moment - and although it is a fairly new sensation, in reality all the top teams get the same treatment from footballing neutrals.

Hodgson's Liverpool are a little bit of an unknown at this stage of the season, as are most teams. So far we have seen them battle well with ten men against Arsenal and almost come away with all three points, and secure a slender lead from their home tie in the Europa league. They expect Torres to return upfront ahead of David Ngog, and with Mascherano nearing fitness, they should be able to call on a full strength side.

One exception to this is Joe Cole who, following the trend of City's full-backs, has not had an ideal start to his Liverpool career. A red-card and a penalty-miss to show from this week will mean he misses tomorrow night's game. City will be without both Kolarov and Boateng for up to a month after injuries. Boateng collided with a drinks trolley on an aeroplane, but at least Kolarov managed about five minutes of fully fit football for City before limping through forty White Hart Lane minutes.

Supersub Super Mario is thought to have shrugged off his knock and will be available for selection - but with no pre-season behind him and the knock fresh in the mind of Mancini, a bench role may be in store for him again, before he gets more game time against Timisoara on Thursday.

Another player in line for his debut is James Milner. Mancini has said he will play in the centre of midfield - and if City continue to play with three in there, it is no longer as hard to make five go into three. In Daniel Taylor's match report from the Timisoara game, for The Guardian, he said the team appeared to be made up of eight defensively minded players (including Joe Hart) plus Tevez, Silva and Adebayor. Yaya Toure showed he was willing to get forward, but the introduction of Milner into the team should ensure a bit more thrust from the central positions. Ironically, for his first game, I could see him replacing Gareth Barry in the 4-3-3/4-1-2-1-2 formation that has been favoured so far.

Possible team:

Hart; Zabaleta, Kolo Toure, Kompany, Lescott; De Jong; Milner, Yaya Toure; Silva; Tevez, Adebayor.

This is the team I hope for, but then there is also the possibility that Mancini may seek to conserve to start with, as against Tottenham, with Tevez leading the line and a wide player coming in for Adebayor, only to change to a more attacking solution when the legs are tiring.

Five of the last seven Premier League meetings between us and Liverpool have ended in draws, with not many goals in there either, but City will be looking to set up a strong home record if we are to break into the top four this season.

'Citysquare' will open before the match as well, so it will be interesting to see what has happened to that area since the Valencia game - fancy food and big screens are promised!