This is all about the 3 points.

Yeah, it’s a Trafford v Manchester derby but, for us Blues, it’s a must win purely for vital points reasons.

 

Blank out all derby build-up talk, forget their erratic, mostly negative reports and results of late; heads down, ‘do our job’ as well as we know we can do and that’s exactly what we can come away with tomorrow night.

v Manyoo

Old Trafford

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from starting line-up in the last game which, for me blog-wise, was the 2^nd leg of the Champions League: 9/11).

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

___________________Aguero_____________________

Sane____________________________________Sterling

__________D. Silva_____________B. Silva___________

__________________Fernandinho__________________

Zinchenko_________________________________Walker

____________Laporte___________Stones____________

_____________________Ederson____________________

Subs: Muric, Danilo, Kompany, Gundogan, Foden, Mahrez, Jesus.

Ederson in goal.

‘Go again’ defence? That’s what I’m predicting with Oleksandr, Aymeric, John & Kyle.

Fernandinho ‘back in there’ ahead of those & protecting.

Ahead of the Brazilian is the attacking midfield / wing 4 of Leroy, David, Barnardo, in a more central role, and Raheem.

Sergio to be the recipient of that creative talent.

Aro the reserve keeper; Danilo & Vinny the defensive options from the side. Ilkay, Phil, Riyad & Gabriel are the more creative / attacking options from ‘the 7’.

Notable absences:

-       Claudio Bravo – Back in full training following a long injury; possible fit enough by now for the bench / selection but not selected.

-       Benjamin Mendy – Not selected / might be ‘not quite right’ / dunno.

-       Nicholas Otamendi – Not selected.

-       Fabian Delph – Not selected.

-       Kevin De Bruyne – Injured…again! Still being assessed, apparently, and might still feature in the remaining games but not this one.

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

Looks very good & strong to me.

Result? Derby games ‘are what they are’ – unpredictable at times. "They" will most-definitely be ‘up for it’ and will want to get that horrible weekend result out of their system. What better game to do that, hey?

AND, I will add, results around them over the extended went in their favour and they will feel, I’m sure, very relieved that they’ve been given another chance to push for a ‘top 4’ finish. They have some fire-power too and, ‘when they’re on it’, that can be a real threat.

But we’re in good form, I would suggest, and most certainly have ‘the bit between our teeth’. AND, I will add in our case, we have a much, much bigger target in our sights.

All things considered, this is an away, Manchester win for me.

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

Prediction: Win

Result: Win

Expected weather conditions during the game: After a terrific period of weather for Spring in the UK, the build-up to this game will have seen 5 or 6 hours of rain showers to give the pitch a little bit of a ‘zip’. By the time we come to KO, however, those showers should be dying out and fans walking home should be dry. 12 to 13C isn’t too bad of an evening temperature.

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