Saturday 16 March 2024

21 games unbeaten in all competitions…

…with 19 wins and 2 draws.

We’ve had a week off before this home F.A. Cup fixture, we’ve then got a 2-week international break and all before we can take a deep, fresh-intake of air and 'go again' in the Premier League; starting with a home-game opportunity to go 2 points clear of Arsenal in the title race.

I’d say all of that, despite us-sitting 3rd in the table as we are at the moment, is not a bad situation to be in all, especially after coming away from Anfield with a ‘share of the spoils’ last weekend; a game we could have won if we’d taken our first half chances before they rallied ‘big time’ after the break. I'll certainly take that position in mid-March.

Anyhow, switching focus to the cup…

v Newcastle United

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 10/11).

A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-2-3-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (perhaps an occasional 3-6-1 as well):

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Bobb______________________________________Silva

_____________________________Foden_____________

___________Kovacic_____________________________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Ake______________________________________Walker

_____________Dias_____________Stones___________

 

 

_____________________Ortega_____________________

Subs: Carson, Gomez, Lewis, Akanji, Gvardiol, Nunes, Doku, Grealish & Alvarez.

Stefan has the gloves for this competition.

There are plenty of options in defence and, therefore especially in a cup game, a higher risk of me-getting this department quite wrong. I’m going for Nathan, Ruben, John & Kyle to start.

Rodders just in front of those, perhaps occasionally joined by “A.N. Other”.

A more advanced midfield / wing department of Oscar, Mateo, Phil & Bernardo, is my guess.

Erling ‘up front’.

Scott is the back-up keeper on this occasion; Sergio, Rico, Manuel & Josko are the reserve defenders in ‘the 9’.

Matheus, Jeremy & Jack (the latter considered recovered enough to be part of the match-day squad once again) are the midfielders / wingers on the side, while Julian is the reserve striker.

-       Ederson – Despite the fact that he would have been on the bench for this domestic cup fixture anyway, our Brazilian stopper is out with a leg injury for another 2 to 3 weeks, going off the initial assessment time released by our club. By my calculations, that puts Ederson’s current chances of being fit for the Arsenal encounter at about 50/50, depending on how well he recovers during the international break of course. I say all of that because one publication recently had the 30-year-old down for missing Arsenal, Aston Villa and THEN, even, Crystal Palace…and possibly our first quarter final Champions League fixture on either the 9th or 10th April! I can only assume that they had-either lost their calendar or had broken their abacus because…SURELY they weren’t practicing press sensationalism, were they? 🤔 Dick ‘eads…

-       Kevin De Bruyne – Withdrawn as a precaution, I think we’re calling this one. Kev has a groin / hip / pelvic issue, by all accounts. Nothing too serious, by the sounds of it, and it seems likely that he'll be available for us once again following the up & coming international break. 👍🤞

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

Yep.

Result? Strange side, are Newcastle this season. ‘On their day’ they can be devastatingly good with their pacy counter attacks, whilst at the same time be defensively organised and hard-working generally. On other occasions, they can be fragile at the back and seemingly out of sorts going forward. In fact, nothing says that better than their last 5 results in the league, which looks like this: W D L W L.

I bet, secretly and when they’re not in the stands naked from the waste up swirling a scarf above their head, some Newcastle fans feel a little deflated when analysing some of their season results and take a look at the table as they sit 10th; just 1 point above often-criticised Chelsea and 15 points off 4th. I don’t wish to sound like I’m over criticising them but I suspect that while some Geordies have remained realistic since becoming a fan of the richest football club in the world; others will, I’m sure, have expected a little more than they’ve seen so far. That being said, I do feel like I have to acknowledge the fact that today’s visitors have been, and still are, ‘up there’ amongst the higher numbers when it comes to injuries.

Still, not knowing which Newcastle side will turn up on the day, as I’ve already alluded to; we can’t take these lightly and they did see to our rather abrupt exit of the League Cup back in September.

As for us, we have just one outfield player missing, albeit a crucial one, and are in very good form indeed. Yes it’s gonna be another toughie – a potentially thunderous domestic cup tie – but I think this is one that we’ll come out of on top. I’m going for a City win.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: If this had been a noon’ish kick-off then I’d be talking about dry weather and quite possibly some sunshine too.That’s how Saturday starts. Sadly, light rain moves in a few hours before the referee blows his whistle to start the match at 5:30pm (GMT) and it’s dark skies / rain both for the game and walk home too. 10C is the forecasted temperature; aided by a light, southerly breeze.

Solidarity


Sunday 10 March 2024

A foothold opportunity

Win at their place, which is a very tough task indeed of course, and we set ourselves up to ‘push on’ for league glory once again.

v Liverpool

Anfield

Predicted
line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game which, for me blog-wise, was in the Manchester v Trafford derby: 10/11).

A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

___Alvarez______________________________Silva___

 

_________De Bruyne____________Foden___________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Ake______________________________________Walker

_____________Dias_____________Stones____________

 

 

____________________Ederson_____________________

Subs: Ortega, Gomez, Lewis, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Nunes, Bobb & Doku.

Ederson in goal.

A back-4, I’m going for Nathan, Ruben, John & Kyle.

Rodders just in front of those.

I see an attacking quartet of Julian on the left, Kevin & Phil in the middle and Bernardo on the right; all of whom are very interchangeable of course.

Erling ‘up front’.

Stefan provides keeper insurance, while Sergio, Rico, Manuel & Josko are the defenders on the side. Mateo, Matheus, Oscar & Jeremy are the midfielders / wingers in ‘the 9’.

As the players were resting on the day of Pep’s pre-match press conference (Friday) and were due to have another training session on Saturday; our manager could not update us as to the availability of both Matheus Nunes (dislocated figure) nor Jeremy Doku (knock / muscular). I have, therefore on this occasion, simply assumed that they will be passed fit to be part of the match-day squad.

Notable absences:

-       Jack Grealish – Pep did comment on the England winger and he is still out injured. There was no news on a possible return date.

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

I’d say that’s about our strongest 11, so yeah.

Result? Going to Anfield is difficult for any side and at any time. However, to do so when they’ve earnt the right to be top of the league (as I start to prepare this piece on Friday morning before Arsenal’s game on Saturday) as well as this match being all wrapped up in the emotion that this is Klopp’s last league game in charge of Liverpool vs Manchester City; it all adds an extra level of difficulty for sure. Since then, as I'm sure you'll know, Arsenal just about won their game in 86th minute; pushing Liverpool into 2nd and us into 3rd.

Yet, we should not go into this game fearful.

For a start, we are now 20 games unbeaten in all competitions (TWENTY!), with 18 wins and 2 draws. And although many City fans, myself included, have been admitting recently that we have been winning matches whilst not looking quite 100%, where we were having a few in-game wobbles / missing chances / conceding too many goals; those same City fans, again including myself, are now witnessing a City side that looks to have fully ‘clicked’.

Additionally, our Sunday hosts have way more injuries than we do and have played a European fixture, away, just last Thursday night; whilst we ended our home European match 24-hours earlier.

A lot of fans don’t like to hear excuses from their own side but those facts, both for & against, sure do add up and could-indeed make some sort of difference on the day.

Pep looked a little tired and even ‘fed up’ in his pre-match press conference, I thought, but I’m putting that down to the almost-inevitable, crass questions from the press, which I’m sure he was most-definitely expecting. These were largely regarding both Klopp and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s comments. Quite obvious & pathetic from the press, really, and…whatever.

A few weeks ago, when I occasionally looked ahead at this fixture whilst we were winning but still looking ‘a little off’, I was fearing a defeat I have to be honest. Now? I think we are more than capable of avoiding defeat at the very least and I’m having this down as a ‘points shared’.

A win, I think we are more than capable of achieving, but I’m going for a draw.

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

Prediction: Draw

Result: Lost

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: After a very rare, dry week in the region…rain returns for the big day in question. Light rain is forecasted to start in the early hours of Sunday morning; persist right through into the afternoon, throughout the whole game and continues as fans make their way from the ground. At least it’ll save the ground staff from watering the pitch and there should be a nice sheen on it for sure. There’s a robust, cold, easterly breeze too, so the supposed 8 or 9C temperature is likely to feel a LOT cooler than that in the stands.

Solidarity