On our ‘A game’ as we face…

…unpredictable Wolves.

 

When our visitors this-coming Monday first burst back onto the Premier League scene, they were far from erratic. For me, they were like a blast of fresh air into England’s top football league – they worked so very hard throughout each game; were so very organised and defended excellently! And when their moments came, which were quite rare in their early games, they took them; often nickin’ a win by a goal or 2 or earning themselves a well-earned draw at least.

 

Their fans, particularly at home, were (probably still are) their 12^th man too and (get ready to bless yourself as you say his name) their popular Manager certainly ensured that they took their fine Championship form from the 2017/18 season into the top flight as they hit the ground running.

Then the wheels came off.

They couldn’t buy a win for a good while after that good spell and although I’m sure they were still working hard throughout their 'sticky patch', their so-solid defence began to show cracks. And the fact that they also hadn’t exactly been firing in goals even through their ‘purple patch’ meant that they hit an awful run of defeats.

Since then – and leading up to right now – the West Midlands outfit have been as inconsistent as Manchester City of old - drawing at struggling Fulham, beating Spurs away in the league & Liverpool at home in the F.A. Cup before losing 0-2 at home to Crystal Palace; a side also struggling to find consistency of late.

1 win away from 7th and 1 defeat away from 13th leaves me wondering, which Wanderers side will we get tomorrow night?

v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from starting line-up in the last game: My worst ever with 3/11, as I completely misread our Manager when attempting to guess his team selection against Burton Albion in the League Cup semi-final 1^st leg).

Fluid 4-5-1 / /4-1-4-1 / 4-3-3:

____________________Jesus_____________________

Sane___________________________________Sterling

___________D. Silva_________De Bruyne___________

_________________Fernandinho___________________

Delph____________________________________Walker

____________Laporte_________Stones_____________

____________________Ederson___________________

Subs: Muric, Danilo, Otamendi, Gundogan, Bernardo, Mahrez, Aguero.

Ederson aiming to keep ‘em out as our last line of defence.

I think we’ll see our, arguably, strongest central defensive partnership return in Aymeric & John, with Fabian & Kyle likely to play either side of those.

‘The Fern’ in front of those and in front of him, the frightening foursome of Leroy, David, Kevin & Raheem. If I’m right, this will be the first time the trio of David, Kevin & Fernandinho will have started together all season!

With a question mark still hovering over the full fitness of Sergio, I think we might see Pep test our young Brazilian; to see if he can replication last Wednesday’s League Cup explosion in the league. I’m going for Gabriel to start this one.

Aro the back-up stopper; Danilo & Nicholas provide central & flanking defensive replacement options. Ilkay, Bernardo, Riyad & Sergio provide impressive options in midfield, on the wings and up front.

Notable absences:

-       Claudio Bravo – Back doing gym work on his way back to fitness, earlier than expected. For those who don’t know, it was feared a serious infection had set in to the area where he’d had surgery but that has now shown up as ‘all clear’ and he’s been given permission to start recovery work.

-       Benjamin Mendy – Back in training on his way back to fitness following his 2^nd, long-spell out injured. Could even be back in a fortnight.

-       Vincent Kompany – Perhaps not fully recovered from a minor issue / not risked.

-       Oleksandr Zinchenko – Not selected ahead of Danilo.

-       Phil Foden – Not selected ahead of the likes of Ilkay & Bernardo.

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

No problem with that at all.

Result? Well…if we do face a stubborn Wolves side who manage to find their better side – a team who managed to deservedly inflict our first dropped points of the season, albeit via a handball that looked, at first glance, like a perfectly fine header in a 1-1’er – we’ll have to be on our top game to break ‘em down, I'm sure.

And, in fact, ifthis fixture had come during our recent icky patch, I’d have-had more concern; possible going for a draw whilst secretly fearing worse.

But it looks like we’ve got our 'mojo' back as well as important players who are leaving their injuries and fitness-recovery-periods behind them now.

Whether it’ll be a ‘close thing’ or by a big margin, it’s a City win for me.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: After a pretty awful weekend in the region of wet & very windy, it should settle down in time for the Monday night game (8pm KO GMT). Chance of a little rain just before and into the game but unlikely...and not much at all if any. Not terribly cold either at 6C with winds dropping to a light 7MPH byKO time.