With limited time to spare, it’s straight to it - a game I might not get to watch, sadly, but I will try…
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| Etihad Stadium |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 7/11).
Fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:
______________________________________________
Grealish_____________Sterling_______________Silva
___________Foden_____________De Bruyne________
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Zinchenko________________________________Walker
___________Laporte____________Dias____________
____________________Ederson___________________
Subs: Steffen, Ake, Stones, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Palmer, McAtee, Mahrez, Jesus.
Ederson in net.
With Cancelo suspended, Oleksandr should get another shot at left-wing back and I would say that he is highly likely to be joined by Aymeric, Ruben & Kyle.
Rodders in the ‘holder’ and ‘link-up man’ and ahead of the Spaniard is a fluid, interchangeable 5; consisting of Jack, Phil, Raheem, Kevin and Bernardo, I’d say.
Zack is the reserve stopper; Nathan & John the only defenders in ‘the 9’. Midfield / wing / attacking change-options come in the form of Fernandinho, Ilkay, Cole, James, Riyad & Gabriel.
I am in two minds about-whether to put Riyad in the starting 11 with him having seen no minutes last Saturday and seeing him ‘in there’ in place of Jack. However, with so many questions, in recent weeks, being ask of Jack in Pep’s pre-match press conferences; I just get the feeling that Guardiola will want to back up his supportive words for the England man with actions.
If I’m right, that’s not gonna go down too well with the vociferous Riyad supporters out there in ‘internet land’…
Notable absences:
- Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.
- Joao Cancelo – Suspended for this game after his 5th yellow card of the season in our last match.
- Ferran Torres – Out with a foot injury until around Christmas time.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Result? I find tonight’s visitors (8:00pm KO GMT) an odd team to work out. What’s not in doubt is their incredible work rate and the way they harass teams, which is a trait that has certainly made encounters difficult for us in recent seasons.
They have been scoring recently (4 in the last 2 games; 5 in the last 3) but, generally speaking and for all their high energy and pacey counter attacking, they seem to struggle to find the back of the net a lot of the time.
They are a side who are liable to concede too (5 in the last 2 games - 2 of 'em penalties) but, also, are more-than-capable of being just as stubborn as some of the other resilient sides we’ve faced so far this season (6 league games from 16 played where they let in just 1 goal and a couple of clean sheets in the league also).
Another factor is that they do have injuries to key players and it’s a hard game to read in many ways.
I think it’s a fixture where we need a lot of creativity in the side as well as 'energy players'; hence the team I’ve predicted our manager is gonna put out. It’s ‘an 11’ that I think will eventually break ‘em down and I’m fighting my instincts to suggest a draw here; putting us down for, instead, a narrow win. It should be a good contest…
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Lost
(Pre-match blog posting from that game)
Expected weather conditions during the game: Not much doin’ at all - overcast, a rather mild 9C for an evening game in mid-December, a little bit of a south-westerly breeze and no ‘wet stuff’.
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