Boxing Day’s team selection is likely to be changed slightly, where possible, for Tuesday’s trip to table-topping (at time of article release) Leicester City.
Very sensible; most teams will be doing it over the packed, festive period and some fresh legs should do us some good.
Hopefully this is where our quality-in-depth will tell over our team-spirited opponents tomorrow evening (7:45m KO GMT)…
v Leicester City
Straight to it with a
predicted line-up, subs and outcome…
4-2-3-1:
____________________Aguero____________________
_____________________Silva_____________________
_____________________Hart______________________
Hart between the sticks of course.
A straight swap at left-back, I think, not just to include [away from home] the slightly more
defence-savvy Frenchman; but simply a rest for Aleks / fresher legs in place. I
can’t see Pellegrini sticking Martin in the
middle of the defence from the start and so it’s ‘go again’ Eliaquim &
Nicolas, with us losing our skipper again
after just 9, flippin’ minutes on Saturday. At
least Nicolas got SOME rest time [when withdrawn for
Vinny] and Martin a LITTLE run-out. Although not
even on the bench against Sunderland, I have
to believe that if fit Pablo will get a long-awaited
return / start…and that Bacary will get a much-needed
rest.
Moving into midfield and, similarly, there was no Fernando on the bench last Saturday either
BUT, we were told, he is fit
again too. And, so, I’ve gone for the returning “Octopus” to partner the
largely rested [last weekend] Fabian in an energetic & defensive,
deep-lying ‘midfield 2’.
A solid base, then, to launch a pacey & dangerous
attacking quartet – and for that I’m going for ‘go again’ pair David (who is really
starting to regain some traction again after his long lay-off) and livewire Raheem,
together with rested pair Jesus & Sergio.
On the bench is Willy as keeper cover, Kolarov the ‘straight
swap man’ and Bacary as cover for Pablo, should the Argentine not last the
‘full 90+’ on his return. Martin to provide central defensive insurance. Being
a slightly defensive line-up in midfield in
some ways; it’s a strong, creative / goal-scoring-capable bench in Yaya,
Kevin and Wilfried. I don’t think we’ll
see the luxury in this fixture of having two strikers on the bench and so,
sadly, there’s no place again for Kelechi Iheanacho on the side…
Notable absences: Vincent
Kompany (injured – AGAIN!), Fernandinho (not selected / possibly rested), Samir Nasri (injured) & Kelechi Iheanacho (not selected).
Result? In my mini, 8-game season piece I had this down as
a firm draw. However, I’m going for us to string a bit of much-needed form
together now with news that Jamie Vardy may miss this one or, at least, not be
firing on all cylinders following a ‘bug’; I’m now going for a vital away
victory against this season’s surprise package team.
Slight
rider – predicted team selection published before any pre-match press conference
from our manager.
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