By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer=
LONDON (SE) - Manchester City are dominating opponents in all competitions, and seem to be especially unstoppable in the Premier League.
Despite being unbeaten and atop the league, manager Roberto Mancini would like to lower some of the expectations.
City look to win an eighth game in a row Saturday when they visit Queens Park Rangers in the first Premier League match.
Manchester City (9-1-0) lead the standings by five points from second-place Manchester United, and hold an astounding 36-8 scoring advantage in league play. They’re also finding success elsewhere, reaching the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup while sitting on the brink of the knockout stage of Champions League.
City’s combined record in those competitions is 13-2-1, and they’ve won seven straight by outscoring opponents 27-6. That includes a 6-1 thumping of neighbours Manchester United in the high profile derby Oct 23.
“It is impossible to score four or five goals every game,” Mancini told the team’s official website. “We cannot do that every week. After the Man United win I don’t want us to think that games will be easy because that kind of game doesn’t exist especially in the Barclays Premier League.
“In every moment a game can change … there has to be total concentration.”
Concentration and goals don’t appear to be an issue for City, who followed last week’s 3-1 win over Wolverhampton in the league with a dominant 3-0 thumping of Spanish side Villarreal in the Champions League.
“We want to play as well as possible, but every game is hard,” Mancini said. “We’ll change some players, but if you want to play at this level that’s what happens.”
Mancini has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal, especially at forward as Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero lead the team with 12 and 10 goals, respectively.
Dzeko was rested midweek, while Aguero was used to replace Yaya Toure in the second half after he recorded a brace.
Dzeko has five goals in three games, while Mario Balotelli has scored all of his seven goals in his last seven games.
The mercurial Italian forward scored from the spot against Villarreal, giving him four goals in three road matches.
QPR (3-3-4) have won once in five matches (1-2-2), but that was a stunning 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Loftus Road on Oct. 23. They failed to turn in another upset last weekend, falling 3-1 at Tottenham.
“Manchester City will be a very difficult game, and we have to be realistic,” midfielder Alejandro Faurlin told the team’s official website. “Maybe from these three games, no one expected us to get anything, but we’ve already got three points.
“It’s 11 against 11 and anything can happen on the day.”
Scoring continues to be a problem for Rangers, as they’ve found the net eight times on the season with three coming in five home matches.
They’ve scored more than one goal in just one of 11 total matches, beating Wolves 3-0 on Sept. 17.
Jay Bothroyd got his first goal of the season against Spurs after scoring a career-high 18 with Cardiff City in the Championship last season.
Import From: http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=txeplmanchestercityque
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