After the Sunderland game, the last thing Mancini would've wanted was a two week gap. All going to plan, City will play almost every three days all season - so to have a little break to stew over the failings against Sunderland will hopefully see everyone desperate to get back to winning ways.
The man who may be more desperate than most, Carlos Tevez, faces a late fitness test following a knock on international duty. He scored a hat-trick in this fixture last season - and other contenders, principally Adebayor, will really have to up their game to cover his possible absence.
Talk of Boateng making his long awaited debut seem to have been premature, with Mancini suggesting he is still some seven to ten days away from competitive football. At the end of the Sunderland game, we expected Boateng, Bridge and Balotelli to be fit for selection - but there will be no new faces in contention for a starting place.
Therefore the back four should remain the same - with Lescott continuing at left-back after his impressive display in the centre for England in the week. Micah missed international duty through illness, but he should be back - and he will be hoping the Blackburn defence will be as obliging to him as they were for his goal last January.
The man who provided the assist for that goal, Benjani Mwaruwari, could make his debut for Blackburn tomorrow. He will always be remembered for his City debut when (in case you need reminding!) he scored the winning goal at Old Trafford to seal a City double against United.
Blackburn have had a promising start to the season without too much to show from it. Victors against Everton on the opening day, they have since been unlucky to lose away to Birmingham, and lost narrowly against Arsenal. Allardyce, who quite wonderfully hasn't ruled himself out for the next England manager's position, has backed City's pursuit for honours, drawing parallels between City and successful Blackburn and Chelsea teams of the past two decades.
On loan rag Mame Diouf has four goals in his last two games, and rotund playmaker, David Dunn should now be fit enough to start for a Blackburn team that should be at full strength.
I know it won't happen, but I would like to see Adam Johnson on the left to see him terrorise Michel Salgado. Milner could do a similar job, but despite good showings for City and England, I don't think he looks at his most comfortable out there. You can't help but think that a tough decision is looming for Mancini over Milner, Yaya, Barry and De Jong - but the news of Balotelli's injury and Silva's gentle easing into Premiership life, could allow him to delay that decision a little longer.
I think Mancini will stick to the team that lost against Sunderland, with possession the key to wearing down a sturdy Blackburn defence, rather than trying to out-muscle them. To have the option of throwing on Silva and Adebayor will allow Mancini to exploit a tiring Blackburn resistance later on.
Possible line-up:
4-2-3-1
Hart
Richards, Kolo Toure, Kompany, Lescott
De Jong, Barry
Johnson, Yaya Toure, Milner
Tevez
However, we haven't seen the diamond formation yet that was used quite a lot in pre-season, which could result in a lack of width and the difficult dropping of a confident Johnson (who could be key tomorrow), but end with two-strikers and a more offensive looking line-up for a home fixture. I think home fixtures against teams outside the top five or six in the league were the occasions Mancini had planned this formation for, but Adam Johnson's international form may have persuaded him otherwise.
Blackburn are traditionally not as strong away from home, but they are sure to be resilient opponents, and patience may be the watchword again, as it is now that more and more teams grow to fear us! I remember Allardyce's press-conference at the first game of last season at Ewood Park, where he intimated that he would be happy with a home point from us, so I think it is fair to say a similar ambition may be applied to tomorrow.
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