We can’t take our foot off the pedal but…

…would it be prudent, perhaps, for our manager to rest a few hard-pushed legs / rotate a little ahead of two home fixtures in the following six days after our trip to West London on Sunday afternoon?

v Fulham

Craven Cottage

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11)

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

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Grealish__________________________________Mahrez

 

_________Gundogan____________Foden____________

 

_____________________Rodri______________________

Laporte___________________________________Walker

____________Dias_______________Akanji___________

 

 

____________________Ederson____________________

Subs: Ortega, Gomez, Lewis, Stones, Phillips, De Bruyne, Palmer, Silva & Alvarez.

Ederson, with his manager’s screams perhaps still ringing in his ears from last Wednesday night, continues in net.

I can see a back-4 of Aymeric, Ruben, Manuel and Kyle; the latter in his more-familiar position on the right of defence.

Rodri to ‘go again’ just in front of those, while I can see a more-advanced, attacking quartet of Jack, Ilkay, Phil and Riyad.

Erling to be the recipient of all that creativity behind him.

Stefan continues to provide keeper insurance; Sergio, Rico & John are the defenders waiting on the side. Kalvin, Kevin, Cole & Bernardo are the midfielders / wingers in ‘the 9’, while Julian will be hoping to get some minutes as back-up to Haaland.

Notable absences:

-       Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.

-       Nathan Ake – Still out with a hamstring issue but while the Dutch international is yet to resume training with his teammates; his manager informed us on Friday afternoon that Nathan is getting much better. No guess as to a return date just yet though.

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

Yeah, I’d be happy with that – there’s enough players in there from our recent, fantastic run; sprinkled with just a small number of recent fringe players / players who have been missing for one reason or another; all of which allows others to take a little break.

If I’m correct, I would hope that some of those other starting-11 players, particularly our defenders (including Rodders), could be given some early’ish respite too if the scoreline suits.

Result? They’re a strange side, are Fulham - they started the season so well and maintained good performances & results for a long time to surprise a lot of people, myself included.

They’ve definitely slumped a little in recent weeks and I think some of that might have been down to the heavy suspension acquired by their big front man, Aleksandar Mitrovic. Perhaps so, anyway, and the Serbian striker remains suspended not only for this game but until 13^th May. Even their last 5 league games sums them up as an unpredictable enigma: L L W W L.

On ‘their patch’, we most certainly can’t just turn up and expect our amazing form to carry us through to another 3, vital points – hard work and a strong mentality, once again, is the key. But amazing form we are-indeed in and if the lads apply themselves as the manager and fans would hope and expect; this is an away win for me. City to win.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Very nice indeed. Those away-travelling fans – and Fulham fans too, of course – who decide to arrive early / make a full day of it will be treated to a lot of unbroken sunshine leading up to the game and although some light cloud might start to drift in an hour or so ahead of the 2:00pm (BST) kick-off time; it remains dry and with a decent temperature of 17C / 63F too. Hardly the unseasonal temperatures Spain are currently experiencing but…enjoy!

Solidarity