The mood has changed

From:

Confidence and optimism that we were getting a new blend of players clicking together to…perhaps not challenge for the title but to certainly issue a top-3, “We’re not going anywhere” message to our rivals as we rebuild our side following last season’s drop off.

To:

Wingers with no end product; a midfield with no beef or threat and far too many players, aside from Haaland, who are failing time and time again to contribute in the final third. Oh yeah…and some City fans even questioning Pep Guardiola’s team selection last Sunday, although the man himself didn’t appear to be particularly irritated by the performance in the post-match press conference and, in fact, appeared quite relaxed and pragmatic.

My brief thoughts…

I was transfixed on the game for the first 15+ minutes it was so fast-paced and in that time I thought we started really sharp. Whenever the home side got the ball we were on ‘em quickly and when we had the ball we were zipping it around with pace and confidence; as a clearly ‘up for it’ Villa were chasing us down too.

I think any early warning signs that we were about to fail in our pursuit of getting at least one goal were coming from our left flank in that same spell; with Savinho wasting not one, not two but three good chances to make a good cross and cause the Villa defence more problems than we did. But he wasn’t the only one.

Regular readers might recall that I’m a bit Oscar Bobb fan but he is struggling this season in his 451-league minutes to make much of an impact. He has one assist and no goals.

The aforementioned Savinho continues to frustrate me and many other Blues and he’s starting to remind me a little of Raheem Sterling when the England winger was going through a bad patch - exciting on the eye and then…huffff.

Before we signed Tijjani Reijnders, I was really quite excited and optimistic that we’d signed a class player and his performance against Wolves on the opening day of the season just reinforced those feelings. Since that fine display at Molineux on 16^th August he’s managed one further league assist and no additional Premier League goals.

I keep hearing that Phil Foden has returned to the Phil Foden we all love to watch. Really? I will never question his efforts but he’s far from the Phil I know he can be. He has one derby day goal and no assists in the league.

I have to add that Aston Villa defended superbly – one of the best and most determined defending I’ve witnessed in a long time, which tells us that we were at least threatening to score.

It's enough to make you wonder how we managed to go nine games unbeaten in all competitions up to last weekend but then again, we have Gianluigi Donnnarumma, a far more stable defence than last season and a certain Mr Haaland.

Well, that’s all fairly grim sounding after a good September and October. Is a League Cup game away at a Championship side a good match to get it out of our collective systems; particularly the players? I say, “No, not really”.

However, it does give us some room to rest and rotate a little and a full week before our next league fixture for Pep to analyse just how the hell we lost another game at Villa Park; our fourth-straight season without a win there in the Prem. In addition, our manager might want to try ‘n’ explore why our other, highly talented players just aren’t contributing nearly enough in the final third; weather that’s with final passes / crosses or goals themselves.

v Swansea City

Swansea.com Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).

A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (occasional 3-6-1):

__________________Marmoush____________________

 

 

Doku_____________________________________Cherki

 

_________Silva(C)_________________Lewis__________

___________________Gonzalez____________________

 

O’Reilly___________________________________Nunes

____________Ake________________Stones_________

 

 

____________________Trafford____________________

Subs: Donnarumma, Ait-Nouri, Dias, Kovacic, Foden, Mukasa, Reijnders, Bobb and Savinho.

James takes the gloves for this competition.

My back-4, occasional 3, prediction is Nico-O-, Nathan, John and Matheus.

Nigo-G- starts this one in my opinion, following a knock and then substitute appearance last Sunday.

Ahead of our defensive midfield I’m going for Jeremy, Bernardo, Rico and Rayan-C-.

Omar, making only his fifth appearance of the season having spent around 7 weeks out with a knee injury, leads our attack.

I’m going to stick with that predicted 11, despite having second thoughts about whether it’s still too early for Rayan Cherki to start a game. We could see Phil Foden start again and move over to the right flank instead.

Gigi moves to the bench as reserve keeper; Rayan-A- and Ruben provide defensive cover from the side. Mateo, Phil, Divine and Tijjani make up four midfielders on the bench, while Oscar and Savinho provide wing options from ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

-       Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.

-       Stefan Ortega – Not selected.

-       Abdukodir Khusanov – On 24^th October, Pep said of Khusanov, “I think he's close to coming back, but still, I think he's not ready. He had an injury in a dangerous, dangerous position in his body”.

-       Josko Gvardiol – Not selected / rested.

-       Kalvin Phillips – Not selected.

-       Rodri – Remains out with a hamstring injury. Unknown return date but we were informed on 28^th October that he was back in light / partial training with his teammates.

-       Erling Haaland – Not selected / rested.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Yeah, looks good.

I’m pleased that we’ll have the opportunity to rest some players who have played a lot of minutes already this season and, if I’m correct, I’m looking forward to seeing how Lewis, Cherki and Marmoush perform in particular.

Result?

Our host couldn’t be more in the middle of their division if they tried. They sit right in the centre of their table having won 4, drawn 4 and lost 4; scoring 12 and conceding 12 also. Wow.

No consistency appears to be the monkey on their back at the moment, with a last 6 in the league looking like this: D W L D L W.

I think we’ll find that our hosts will be stubborn and we’ll have to work hard to break ‘em down. However, with some players keen to make their mark after limited game time and with the quality we have in that predicted line-up, I’m going for a Manchester City win.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Dry but chilly. It might show 10C on the thermometer but the forecasted “feels like” is closer to 8C in the stiff, westerly breeze. 🍵🥧🧥🧣🧤🍺⚽

Solidarity

Bang in form and high in confidence

We are too.

Typical…

With it not being a happy hunting ground for us in recent seasons I was monitoring, with a certain sense of glee I have to admit, Aston Villa’s struggling start to the season; for no other reason than our up and coming fixture against them on Sunday 26^th October. I suppose their poor start was never going to last but I was at least hoping they’d still be struggling to find their footing by the time we rocked up at their place.

Sadly, no. D D W W W in the league has lifted them from the table’s gloomy zone to within just 3 points of 5^th.

Game on then!

v Aston Villa

Villa Park

With injury news from the pre-match press conference a little vague to say the least, with the exception being an update on Abdukodir Khusanov; this predicted line-up and subs could be a little tricky.

One online source even had Rayan Ait-Nouri out injured once again after appearing on the bench in Spain last week; saying that Pep informed us in his pre-match press conference of the Algerian’s unavailability. I didn’t hear it; I’ve played that section back once more with subtitles switched on and I can’t find any other source that has the left-wing back down as injured. In fact, one other source said that the 24-year-old trained ahead of this fixture. Weird…

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).

A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (occasional 3-6-1):

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Doku____________________________________Savinho

 

_________Silva(C)_________________Foden__________

____________________Kovacic____________________

 

O’Reilly___________________________________Nunes

__________Gvardiol_____________Dias(VC)__________

 

 

__________________Donnarumma__________________

Subs: Trafford, Ait-Nouri, Lewis, Ake, Stones, Reijnders, Bobb, Cherki and Marmoush.

Gigi continues in goal.

With alternatives available all over the defence but particularly at left-wing back; with him being given a rest in midweek I’m going for Nico-O- to be fully recovered and available to start this afternoon. Josko, Ruben and a reworked Matheus make up the rest of the back line.

I’m going for Matteo to start in the Rodri / Gonzalez position, with Jeremy, Bernardo, Phil and Savinho ahead of the Croatian international.

Erling continues up front.

James is reserve keeper; Rayan-A-, Rico and John make up three defenders on the side; with Rico further pushing his point in midweek that he sees himself more of an attacking midfielder. Tijjani is the sole, readymade midfielder on the bench; Oscar and Rayan-C give us two attacking wide options and Omar is reserve striker / occasional wide man also.

Notable absences:

-       Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.

-       Stefan Ortega – Not selected.

-       Abdukodir Khusanov – On 24^th October, Pep said of Khusanov, “I think he's close to coming back, but still, I think he's not ready. He had an injury in a dangerous, dangerous position in his body”.

-       Kalvin Phillips – Not selected.

-       Nico Gonzalez – Was being assessed at the time of the pre-match press conference. He could be in the matchday squad and he may even start. However, I’ve got to go with my gut feeling and say that if there’s a doubt, then with him being Rodri’s first ‘go to’ cover when our number-1 defensive midfielder is unavailable; it might be prudent to not risk the 23-year-old. I would guess that would be the management team’s thinking too. Of course, it all depends – he could be fully recovered from his foot / feet knock.

-       Rodri – Remains out with a hamstring injury. Unknown return date.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

No issues with that whatsoever.

I could, just to put it out there, post an alternative that I believe is a realistic possibility this afternoon and not a bad shout either…

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Doku____________________________________Savinho

 

__________Silva(C)________________Lewis__________

_____________________Stones____________________

 

O’Reilly___________________________________Nunes

___________Gvardiol______________Dias(VC)_________

 

 

__________________Donnarumma__________________

Result?

I’ve already said quite a lot of what I would usually slot into this section of my blog posting but in addition and up to Thursday afternoon, I want to be honest with you and say that I’d already nailed down my result prediction as being a draw. I’m now bringing out the claw hammer.

What changed my mind was Aston Villa’s (surprise?) defeat away to Dutch side, Go Ahead Eagles, on Thursday night; especially with the English side taking the lead as early as the 4^th minute. That, despite finding some domestic form and refound confidence, shows me that vulnerabilities still exist and surface within The Villans.

Then there’s this…

Let’s be honest, if this situation was reversed we’d be havin’ a right ol’ moan about it and perhaps some Villa fans are, I dunno. 🤷‍♀️ By the time we come face-to-face on Sunday, 2:00pm (GMT) KO, we will have had a full 4-½ day’s break; while the home side will have had just 2-½. Of course, it’s not our fault that we’re in the Champions League and they’re in the Europa League but that extra-2 days can make all the difference when trying to prepare for a top flight football match.

Part of me is screaming inside, “Don’t do it, you fool! No! Stick with the draw prediction, man!”. And perhaps choosing to ignore that still-noisy voice would be foolish.

But call me a fool if you will; I’m going for us to take home all-3 points. It’s a City win from me.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:

Prediction: Lose

Result: Lost

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Clock change and dark skies = Likely floodlights

Expected weather conditions during the game: Gloomy, damp, breezy and chilly. At least the rain won’t be bouncing down but to say that it’ll feel miserable would be an understatement. 8C is the official cool temperature but in the breeze and drizzle the “feels like” is forecasted to be a mere 5 or 6C. The pitch should be perfectly sprayed by nature for a good passing game at least. 🍵🥧🧥🧣🧤🍺⚽

Solidarity

Let’s use this form to…

…try ‘n’ cement a top-8 place.

v Villarreal

Estadio de la Cerámica

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).

A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (occasional 3-6-1):

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Doku______________________________________Bobb

 

_________Silva(C)________________Foden__________

___________________Gonzalez____________________

 

O’Reilly___________________________________Nunes

__________Gvardiol_____________Dias(VC)__________

 

 

__________________Donnarumma__________________

Subs: Bettinelli, Trafford, Ait-Nouri, Lewis, Ake, Stones, Kovacic, Reijnders, Cherki, Savinho and Marmoush.

Gigi continues in goal.

With regards to our defence, I am going to start this section today with a suggestion based on the word, “if”. IF Nico O’Reilly doesn’t feel fully ready to start after receiving a knock in our last game and IF Rayan Ait-Nouri doesn’t feel that he is ready to start after being out for 7 weeks with a troublesome ankle issue, then our back-4 could very well look like this: Gvardiol___Dias___Stones___Nunes (or Lewis).

As it is, there’s wasn’t any talk of who is or isn’t available in the pre-match press conference and knowing the squad that has travelled to Spain, I’m just going to assume. So…Nico-O- and Matheus are on the flanks of the defence with Josko and Ruben in the middle.

Nico-G- continues as defensive midfielder and I’m going for a more advance four of Jeremy, Bernardo, Phil and Oscar.

On fire Erling up top.

Two stoppers on the bench take the form of James and Marcus; Rayan-A-, Rico, Nathan and John make up four defenders on the side waiting for their opportunity. Mateo and Tijjani give us two central midfield options, while attacking and wide changes would come in the shape of Rayan-C-, Savinho and Omar.

Notable absences:

-       Stefan Ortega – Not selected.

-       Abdukodir Khusanov – Still no news regarding the progress, or otherwise, of Abdukodir’s ankle injury. The 21-year-old has been out since 21^st August.

-       Kalvin Phillips – Not registered to play in the Champions League.

-       Rodri – Remains out with a hamstring injury. Unknown return date.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Yep, although I would hope there’d be some scope to give some players with many minutes under their belts some rest at some stage in the second half – I’m thinking the likes of Dias, O-Reilly, Nunes, Doku and Haaland.

Result?

Our Spanish hosts sit 3^rd in their domestic table with only Real Madrid and Barcelona ahead of ‘em. However, they’ve lost a little ground in their last two matches with a defeat followed by a draw.

Their ‘goals for’ is joint best outside of the top two but they have conceded just slightly more than one per game in the league. Their main, but not only threat, is 5’ 9” Georgian striker, Georges Mikautadze, who has a very good goalscoring record almost everywhere he’s played.

I’ve touched on quite a few injuries and players who might not be quite 100-percent but despite that, we’re in pretty good shape…and certainly better than last season’s injury-riddled campaign.

With wind in our sails and the sun on the players backs; I’m going for us to take all-3 points tonight.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: It seems almost impossible to fathom but while the temperature at kick-off time in Manchester will be 11C with rain, our players, staff and travelling fans will be enjoying 23C and dry, clear conditions; with a ‘feels like’ of 26C (79F in old money!). Not jealous…not jealous at all actually.🤥 ☀️⛱️🕶️🍺⚽

Solidarity