I have to admit at being a little stunned just after 2pm last Saturday when I saw Pep’s starting 11 v Burnley…and just as gobsmacked when I saw the sub’s bench too.
· Benjamin Mendy starting as left-wing back and, so, no in-form Joao Cancelo starting on the left of defence; albeit Mendy being the more-natural left-sided wing-back.
· John Stones starting and no sign of Aymeric Laporte on the bench but, instead, want-away Eric Garcia DID make ‘the 7’.
· At home and against a side that was always going to defend for their very lives; both Rodri & Ilkay Gundogan started and both did-indeed stay quite deep.
· No Phil Foden in the starting 11 and no sign of Sergio Aguero in the match-day squad once again either.
It actually left me feeling a little concerned that we might struggle to break down our visitors from Lancashire…but how wrong was I?!
v FC Porto
 |
| Estádio do Dragão |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 6/11).
A very fluid 4-2-3-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:
_____________________________________________
____________________Jesus____________________
___Sterling____________________________Silva___
____________________Foden____________________
_________Fernandinho_______Rodri______________
Zinchenko______________________________Cancelo
_____________Laporte_______Dias_______________
___________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Steffen, Carson, Mendy, Walker, Ake, Garcia, Stones, Gundogan, Doyle, De Bruyne, Torres & Mahrez.
With last Saturday’s surprise [for me at least] line-up & subs along with tonight’s less important game in some ways due to us already-having-secured qualification as well as being in the driving seat to finish the group stage top; this could be virtually impossible to predict!
However, here’s my guess, which has a sense of ‘rest & rotation’ about it…
Ederson continues ‘between the sticks’. I nearly went for our manager to give Zack some vital, Champions League experience but having seen Ed rolled out at the pre-match press conference; I doubt that’ll have been done if the Brazilian wasn’t gonna start. Perhaps in our last group-stage-game at home on Wednesday next week Zack will be given a go…
Rest & rotation, as I say, could see an-almost completely difference back 4 in the form of Oleksandr, Aymeric, Ruben & Joao.
With both players seeing around 45 minutes at the weekend, I think we might see a pairing of Fernandinho & Rodri in a ‘duel holding role’, which would help to ease the Brazilian back in; sharing, as he would be, the defensive midfield duties with the much younger Spaniard.
Ahead of those in a fluid trio / quad, I’m going for Raheem, Phil, Bernardo & Gabriel, who is likely to get more minutes ‘up top’ being, as he is, the only out & out striker to-have-travelled to Portugal.
Zack & Scott sit in ‘the 12’ as his cover for Ederson; Benjamin, Kyle, Nathan, Eric & John make up the rather large number of defensive replacements options from the side. Ilkay, Tommy, Kevin, Ferran & Riyad are the midfield / wing / forward back-ups in my predicted 23-man, match-day squad.
I could we well off here if Guardiola decides to change very little and / or ‘go stronger’ in all areas…
Notable absences:
- Sergio Aguero – Hasn’t travelled due to feeling some…“disturbance” in his troublesome knee. It’s nothing serious though, we are told, but it is enough to-have-stopped him training for now.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
And I think there would certainly be enough attacking force with Phil, Raheem, Bernardo & Gabriel; supported occasionally by Oleksandr & Joao to threaten our host’s goal too.
Result? In his pre-match press conference, Pep has described FC Porto as a difficult opponent and one who, he expects, will provide a tough, physical challenge.
Talking further about tonight’s hosts, Pep went on to say how they have an incredible team spirit; players who fight for each other and have great physicality. It was suggested to him that it could be a game that sees a fair number of yellow cards and the Spaniard most-certainly didn’t disagree. Hopefully our players won’t come out of it with too many bruises and, by the sounds of it, they’ll need to keep their heads.
We face a team tonight who, disaster aside, have all-but secured qualification to the knock-out stage but who ALSO have a chance of pipping us to ‘top spot’ should they win tonight; not concede and stick a few goals past us, which would set up the last group stage games nicely for a nail-biting finish.
In their domestic league they sit 4th; just 6 points off the top (2 points off joint-2nd) and are the league’s joint-2nd top scorers. Not bad at all. However, their last 5 league games reads a slightly inconsistent, W W L W D and they have conceded more than a goal-a-game, as well as 3 against us the last time we met in October.
Speaking of which, a pre-match press conference question to our manager reminded me that THEIR manager wasn’t too happy with us after the last clash; where he suggested that we were pressing the referee for certain decisions. Pep disagreed…but that could ramp this fixture up another notch.
All things considered? I’m havin’ this one down as a draw, which will leave us in a strong position to finish the group top.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: N/A
Result: N/A
Expected weather conditions during the game: After a beautiful day of unbroken sunshine where the temperature will reach a very pleasant 18C / 64F, the disappearing sun and still-clear skies sees the KO temperature dip to just 11C / 52F…and that will continue to fall throughout the game. Perfect, I’d say, for the players exerting themselves on the pitch; warm coats and perhaps whatever the Portuguese equivalent of Bovril is for those not running around.
No comments:
Post a Comment