Having recently played away at Fulham, had a trip to Wembley last weekend in our semi-final of the F.A. Cup followed by a trip to Tottenham’s new stadium last Wednesday; the London them continues with a trip to Crystal Palace before a trio of 2 visits from Spurs followed by a trip to Manyoo.
It’s all a bit too much Bow Bells, ‘Knees Up Mother Brown’ for me…
Firstly, a quick word on last Tuesday’s game.
I don’t think I was alone in looking at the
team news just over an hour before the game and taking a small gulp of air; slightly concerned that we looked a
little on the weak side to face strong, Premier League opposition in the 1st leg of a Champions League away at their new ground. I wasn’t even aware that Fabian Delph was
fit and due to some other shock selections and omissions; subsequently I only
managed a woeful 6/11 correct of my team prediction against Pep’s selection.
As it turns out, Bernardo Silva was apparently injured; Delph had another below-par game (the
Manchester Evening News actually gave him 2/10 and
our left-back position CONTINUES to be an issue, which is something I feel like
I’ve been saying for 10 season or more) and Riyad Mahrez did nothing to win over an increasing amount of doubting fans,
with a largely anonymous first half and largely ineffective second.
Irritable.
Walker,
Otamendi & Laporte
also seem to be finding their negative-angry side too often in recent games, I’ve
noticed, and that worries me a little
at a time when we need everyone available & focused. Thank God, last
Wednesday, we had the midfield calming influence of David Silva and, once-hothead himself /
less-so now, Fernandinho on the pitch. Having
said that, Fernandinho let himself down with a very silly & nasty
elbow in the back of Harry Kane’s head while the Spurs man was
face down on the pitch.
Delph goes
without saying and Spurs were no saints on the night either, I have to add.
I have
no doubt that I, along with thousands of other Blues, will look at Pep Guardiola’s odd-looking
team selection from last Tuesday in a few weeks’ time and say something like, “Aahhh…I
can see why he did that now”.
However,
at the time I was a little disappointed with ‘the 11’, I have to say, and even
more so his decision not to bring both Kevin De Bruyne & Leroy Sane on a good 15+
minutes earlier. Had he done so, I’m confident the outcome would have been much
different.
Priorities?
But I
also understand that retaining the Premier League is also very important – perhaps even more so to the majority of City
fans over the manager / management team – and that particular, season-long competition
is running so very close at the moment.
I
understand also that our manager has to manage the fitness & energy levels
/ recovery time of his players as best he can because, after this weekend’s
game, it’s…BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!
-
Wednesday - Champions League 2nd
leg
-
Early
Saturday - Premier
League and Spurs again
…before
fixtures spread themselves out again (unless we progress in the Champions
League of course).
Oh well, that’s
what expensive, big squads are for, many fans of other teams will scream
relentlessly at us…
v Crystal Palace
 |
| Selhurst Park |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct
from starting line-up in the last game: 6/11).
Fluid 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:
___________________Aguero_____________________
Sane____________________________________Sterling
_________De Bruyne__________Gundogan__________
No news
that Ederson hasn’t recovered from his very heavy hip landing in midweeks and,
so, should be the man with the gloves on Sunday.
Similarly,
no signals that Benjamin isn’t okay and should, therefore, take up the
left-wing back slot. Danilo on the opposite side of the defence with Aymeric
& John in between would be my guess.
Fernandinho
likely to start in this ‘must win’ but likely to be withdrawn / protected if it
feels right to do so. Leroy & Raheem the likely attacking wide men and
joining Kevin in the middle, I think we’ll see Ilkay in a more attacking,
creative role despite his manager disagreeing with the German’s assessment of
the reasons why we lost last Wednesday.
Sergio
the likely striker but, like Fernandinho, could get withdraw quite early in the
second half if the situation suits.
Aro on
the side in case Ed’s hip flares up; Kyle & Vincent the likely defensive
replacement choices from ‘the 7’. Phil and the slightly quiet, form-wise, David
are the more attacking / creative central midfield change-options from the
bench with Riyad & Gabriel providing width & striker change
possibilities.
Notable
absences:
-
Claudio Bravo – Continues to train in his
comeback rehabilitation.
-
Oleksandr Zinchenko – Continues to improve in
his recovery but possibly not in time for weekend. Unlikely to be risked I’d
say.
-
Nicholas Otamendi – Not
selected / rested.
-
Fabian Delph – Not selected.
-
Bernardo Silva – Has
apparently made some progress in his return efforts following whatever injury it
was that he picked up in training ahead of last Tuesday’s match. Apparently, also, Pep is unsure whether he will be quite
ready for Sunday. I’m assuming not and won’t
be risked ahead of Wednesday…
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Well, aside from my ongoing
defensive concerns about Mendy and, also, his potentially disruptive effect he
can have – and has had – on Sane; I’m fine with that.
Result?
In a strange way, I’m glad we’re playing them at their place. Why? Well, simply
put, they have a considerably better away for than they have at home; picking
up 7 points more ‘on the road’ with 3 of those coming from their visit to the Etihad.
That’s not to say that Palace is an easy
place to visit – the home crowd are right on top of the play and can make a right
ol’ noise and Roy Hodgson can get his team very organised; a
team with some talent sprinkled throughout it.
We’ll have to be ‘right on it’ and play our ‘A
game’ relentlessly to break our hosts down, I would suggest, and that’s what I’m
going for us to eventually do. It’s an away win for me.
Last season’s,
corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Draw
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