(This piece also includes a pre-match build-up for the Liverpool game towards the end of the article)
For some unknown reason (other than a love of my football team of course) on Wednesday 11th November 2015 I found myself staring at a bunch of up & coming, Manchester City league fixtures. Perhaps in the early stages of yet ANOTHER, flippin’ international (friendly) break I was already longing for ‘proper football’.
My eyes fixed on a specific chunk of games that contained eight fixtures; noticed that it was a real ‘mixed bag’ of potentially “tough”, “slightly tricky” and “not-quite-so” clashes…and without really thinking about it I’d begun to analyse.
An 8-game mini season then…
Having already done a
‘set in stone’, summer transfer window-close, W, D, L prediction, something that can-easily and HAS-indeed changed as
the ‘general picture’ and fortunes of teams change with the passing of time and,
which, makes sense for me to-then do a pre-match prediction too, which might
differ with the original ‘best guess’; I decided on the 11th
to stick my neck out and try to predict using the same W, D, L format; specifically for - and in
advance of - ‘the 8’.
More to the point, I
wanted to stress what we should be aiming for as a ‘minimum points target’
over a period of potential ‘banana skins’…and ahead of the next two games
beyond ‘the
8’, which are two, back-to-back home games against Everton & Crystal Palace in January 2016.
Liverpool (H)
Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League record heading into this one reads:
P4, W1, D2, L1. F5, A4. Never
has a picture been painted so clearly that represents where The Reds’ new
manager ‘is at’ at the moment – he’s clearly assessing his new team and
attempting to mould them into his own style, which if you listen to him and
people who know him is a very much ‘possession & attacking’ style. Chuck in a League Cup
win and a draw & win in the Europa Cup and it’s not a bad start at all from the flamboyant,
German eccentric.
First ‘banana skin’ for me is this
one.
Both teams with a possession &
attacking ethos; both having-just-had players return from international duty.
Key players (possibly) just-returning
from injury on both sides too.
A record of us-only conceding 9
goals in the league all season against them-having conceded 4 in the last 4
games alone MIGHT suggest that this is where we’ll ‘edge it’…added also to the
fact that we’re the home side. So why can’t I get a draw out
of my head?
There’ll be goals at both ends, I’m quite sure of it, but this one
is-indeed a draw for me.
Points tally: 1 from 3 (which’ll
mean two, back-to-back draws…)
Southampton (H)
Not perhaps appearing
to be the force they were last season having lost some quality players to rival
Premier League sides…but most certainly ‘not far off’ and, worryingly, they’re in some good form as I write this; with a ‘last
6’ that reads: W,
W,
D, D, W, W. F12, A5.
Ominously we have an away trip to Juventus
that finishes just around 65 hours before
the Southampton KO time; a game [in Italy] I’m sure we’ll ‘go for’ in order to
attempt to finish our Champions League group
in ‘top spot’.
Now this one DOES
scream draw! Perhaps it’ll even be a game where we eventually breathe a sigh of
relief and be happy to share the points too. But I’m going all ‘reverse’ on you…
If David Silva & Sergio Aguero come out of both the Liverpool &
Juventus clashes injury free – and we don’t sustain any or many other
injuries in that time – then by the time their potentially 3rd
fixture back from injury comes up; I’m betting on them both ‘firing’ and
‘firing up’ a City side in need of a timely ‘rocket boost’.
It’ll be another tough home game - one where we might even ‘wobble’ at the beginning following a tight
fixture schedule - but this is a tight and very entertaining home win for me.
Points tally: 4 from 6
Stoke City (A)
Oooooo…not
a great ground / fixture for us, is it? It’s an early KO too (12:45pm GMT); a
televised one where, I’m sure, it was
selected for its ‘upset factor’
We have a mid-week game before this one too but, thankfully,
it’s a Tuesday [and not a Wednesday] and is a home game against Championship side Hull City in the League Cup.
Mark Hughes’ side started
the season really quite poorly, hit a bit of form and stabilised but have since
hit an inconsistent run of very mixed results. In short…it’s hard to call this
one.
But I say again; stay relatively injury free ahead of this fixture
and I think we’ll take all 3 points
to disappointment the TV schedulers.
Points tally: 7 from 9
Swansea City (H)
Definitely NOT the force they were last season. What has
happened to them?! A checkered, Premier League run of results that’s all over the place at
the moment!
We do have a mid-week, home Champions League game against Borussia Monchengladbach the previous Tuesday…but
it’s not one I can see Manuel Pellegrini
telling his players to ‘go all out for’ by this stage.
Garry Monk will have his
side organised when they come to the Etihad that’s for sure; they won’t be a pushover…but they will be pushed over eventually in this one.
Points tally: 10 from 12 (and doing just fine so far)
Arsenal (A)
Brief one this – like the Liverpool clash I just can’t see
past ‘the draw’. A draw at the Emirates?
Gotta be happy with that…
Points tally: 11 from 15
Sunderland (H)
Boxing Day at home.
They’ll huff, they’ll puff…and they’ll probably & occasionally have ol’fat head bouncing around full of turkey & stuffin’ in their
technical area (watch out lino!) waving his arms about.
But it’ll be all to no avail – a “Happy Christmas” home win
this one.
Points tally: 14 from 18
Leicester City (A)
Although by the time the last fixture of 2015 comes around
on 29th December The Foxes’ fortunes might have changed; you can’t
help but be impressed with Leicester City this season.
Okay, they concede almost as many as they
score…
But not only do they have dangerous players who can hurt you
badly (they’ve scored just one less than
us in the league as I type / release this) but they also have a drive,
energy and tremendous ‘team spirit’ that allows them to do so right up to the
full 90+ minutes.
They ‘fight to the end’; we do to of course…and so
this one is a draw for me.
Points tally: 15 from 21 (not bad at all…but it might have a few Blues feeling a little
frustrated)
Watford (A)
At the beginning of the season I had these down as easy
survivors following their promotion – managing, I thought (and still do), a very creditable mid-table finish. And, on that front, they’re not
disappointing.
As I type this they sit slap-BANG
in the middle in 11th and have only conceded 5 more goals than us.
They’re a solid, really organised bunch and a side I was impressed with when they visited the Etihad. Two, quick ‘bang-bang’ goals just after the
(0-0) break on 47 and then 55 minutes killed ‘em off…but both before and after Sterling & Fernandinho’s
strikes they did themselves proud in many ways.
So…a draw then? No, I’m going for similar to our last
encounter with The Hornets and a narrow, hard-fought victory
for City.
Total points tally: 18 from 24
So that’s it, for me; in order to maintain our push for the
title and to help ‘ward off’ the likes of Arsenal & Manyoo “challengers”, I think we need to be aiming for a points
tally of 18 form the next 24. A minimum target…and an achievable one, I
think.
Of course not all of the results will ‘pan out’ that way – although if they do and I don’t go to the bookies, which I
generally don’t do, then I’ll be slightly miffed to say the least
– and I’m sure some of the predicted draws might work out as either victories
or defeats. But I think ‘18 from 24’ points will be about right from 4
home and 4 away league games.
And, so-then,
going into two, back-to-back home league games after the 3rd round
of the F.A. Cup; I think that’ll keep us ‘up
there’…quite-possibly still top and also
gives us a nice springboard going into the new year.
This weekend’s game v Liverpool
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome…
4-1-4-1 come 4-5-1 come
4-2-3-1:
____________________Aguero__________________
____________Fernandinho______________________
______________________Hart____________________
Team selection-wise it is a hard one for me to call this one…and it’s for several reasons.
Joe is a starter of course – that’s the easy one out of the
way.
The back-line too almost
picks itself, in that Nicholas & Eliaquim is likely to be the starting, central-defensive pairing selected by our
Chilean manager...the flanking defenders do, however, throw up a couple of
questions.
Bacary has performed excellently in Pablo’s injury-filled
season so far but he might now be in need for a little rest, especially having
taken part in a very emotional, international friendly at Wembley
on Tuesday night. However, Pablo has only just
recovered from his latest setback and so might not be fully-ready for a start...especially a start in the heat of a Manchester / Merseyside derby. All things considered, I’ve gone
for the Frenchman to ‘get the nod’ again. Similarly on the other flank; Gael
has been ‘chomping at the bit’ for at least a fortnight now following his
recovery from a season-long injury. Aleks, meanwhile,
has been ever-present and so, my thinking here is, the Serbian will get his
well-earned rest. And, so, it should be ‘French-defending flanks’ to face
Jurgen’s men.
From this point onwards I'm going to have to cut short my team-selection analysis due to ongoing family, health-realated issues and, specifically, a mini-crisis that has reared its head again today.
Needless to say, announcements made regarding injuries / not-quite-recovered personnel that I've managed to pick up on in the last 30 minutes almost dictates, also, probable starting places in midfield and up front. Those being...
Notable absences: Vincent Kompany (injured),Fabian Delph (injured) (correction, Fabian Delph not injured / is in squad), Samir Nasri (injured), David Silva (not quite recovered from injury / fitness issues) and Wilfried Bony Injured.
Result? Already mentioned - a score draw.
Some of the information might not be quite accurate / up-to-date and I haven't had chance to properly 'go over' this posting [before release] due to the afore mentioned personal issues. Some hyperlinks may also be missing. Apologies...
From this point onwards I'm going to have to cut short my team-selection analysis due to ongoing family, health-realated issues and, specifically, a mini-crisis that has reared its head again today.
Needless to say, announcements made regarding injuries / not-quite-recovered personnel that I've managed to pick up on in the last 30 minutes almost dictates, also, probable starting places in midfield and up front. Those being...
Notable absences: Vincent Kompany (injured),
Result? Already mentioned - a score draw.
Some of the information might not be quite accurate / up-to-date and I haven't had chance to properly 'go over' this posting [before release] due to the afore mentioned personal issues. Some hyperlinks may also be missing. Apologies...
No comments:
Post a Comment