…last Wednesday’s 2-2’er away at AS Monaco was tinged with a feeling that we should have made more of our dominance; should have been more dynamic and direct in the second half rather than falling back into last season’s [in particular] side-passing game.
Of course we hit the woodwork and lead twice but those were the general feelings of not just pundits but travelling Blues too. Erling Haaland wasn’t too happy after the game either.
Still, this Sunday gives us an opportunity to make it seven unbeaten and a win would, for sure, feel really good going into the international break.
It won’t be easy though…
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| Gtech Community Stadium |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 10/11.
A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (occasional 3-6-1):
____________________Haaland____________________
Doku____________________________________Savinho
__________Silva(C)_______________Foden___________
_____________________Rodri______________________
O’Reilly___________________________________Nunes
__________Gvardiol_____________Dias(VC)___________
__________________Donnarumma__________________
Subs: Trafford, Lewis, Ake, Stones, Gonzalez, Kovacic, Mukasa, Reijnders, Bobb.
Gigi retains the gloves.
I’m going for a back-4, occasional 3, of Nico-O-, Josko, Ruben aaaannd…🎲 Matheus.
Rodders to start in defensive midfield and ahead of the 6’ 3” fella, I’m going for a slight tweak. Not because he’s just penned a new deal to keep him at the club until June 2031 but I just have a feeling that we’ll see Savinho start on the right today. I’m having Bernardo in central midfield, while Phil and Jeremy make up the rest of the attacking four.
Erling up front hoping to be the recipient of all that creativity.
James continues as reserve stopper; Rico, Nathan and John provide defensive cover from the side. Nico-G-, Mateo, Divine and Tijjani make up four midfielders in ‘the 9’, while Oscar gives us a change of wing option from the bench.
Notable absences:
- Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.
- Stefan Ortega – Not selected.
- Rayan Ait-Nouri – Continues to be absent having aggravated a previous ankle injury during his last outing on 31st August. One source has estimated a possible return of around mid-October.
- Abdukodir Khuanov – Out with an ankle issue. We were told on 23rd September that the Uzbekistan international will be out for a few games. Exact return date unknown but I’m guessing that we’ll see the 21-year-old back on the training pitch very soon.
- Kalvin Phillips – Not selected.
- Rayan Cherki – Back in training working his way back to fitness following a torn thigh muscle injury. A likely return is around the end of October.
- Omar Marmoush – Out with a bruised knee ligament issue. It is hoped that the Egyptian international forward will be back soon after the season’s second break in domestic football.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Yeah, mostly.
If I am correct with my predicted line-up; personally I’d go with Oscar Bobb on the right from the very start. Moving Bernardo from the right into central midfield is often a good move and a popular one with a lot of City fans; although Tijjani Reijnders might disagree with that.
As for the right-wing back position, if I was asked to vote who I’d like to see there of the FOUR who have played in that position for us so far this season then my “x” would go next to Khusanov’s name, from what I’ve seen of him in that position. Sadly, the lad is out and beyond that I’m sort in the territory of simply rolling a dice and going with whatever it lands on. 🤷♂️
Result?
I’ve said that this won’t be an easy game for us and that’s despite me flirting with the idea, in my season predictions piece just over a month ago, of The Bees being relegated this season. They’re probably about where I’d expect them to be in the table at this point and it could be argued that their two victories came at home against underperforming sides - Villa and, just last weekend, Manyoo.
But their league defeats, three in total, weren’t crushing ones and they held Chelsea to a 2-2 draw at home as well. In addition, they may well have lost both Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa in the summer but of the bottom 12 sides they’re joint-top scorers with 9 from 6 played. That tells me that they’re organised enough not to get easily rolled over and know how to counterpunch teams who dare to switch off.
Our manager himself said in Friday’s pre-match press conference that this is a tough place to go and, as I say, I think it’s another game not to be taken lightly. Any particular threats we can expect? Fast counters and dangerous set piece play seems to be their thing; Igor Thiago is a player we need to watch in particular, I would suggest.
Continuing the theme of, “beware”, I sent up the pre-match warning signals ahead of this same fixture last season (14th January 2025) and, sadly, I was proven correct, as we let slip a 2-goal lead to suffer Brentford goals in both the 82nd and 92nd minutes; throwing away 3 points to share just 1 with the home side. We almost lost it towards the very end too.
I do believe that we’re not quite as soft this season so far but having said that, we do still have that tendency to want to gift the opposition the occasional goal and quite often, so far in this campaign, either fairly late on in the first half or at the very end of games.
At the risk of stating the bleedin’ obvious, we’ve got to cut that out. 😒 For a team that was boasting three clean sheets and just two goals conceded in five games played, we’ve now conceded three in the last two outings. It’s funny how things can turn around so very quickly in football, isn’t it?
I’ve mentioned anger when talking about at least one of our players, following our midweek draw, but I get the feeling that sense of irritation was felt throughout the entire camp and not just for one individual. With fire in their bellies and no fresh injuries to report, that should throw up some warning signs for our hosts too. 🚨
I’m going for an away win.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: Win
Result: Draw
(Pre-match blog posting from that game)
Expected weather conditions during the game: Unlike many parts of the UK, particularly in the north and west, West London was largely untouched by Storm Amy over the weekend and for the match itself, it’s a fairly pleasant late afternoon / early evening. 14 or 15C and dry with just a gentle westerly breeze is not bad at all for early October / autumn. Enjoy! 🌥️️🌭🍟🍺⚽
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| Solidarity |
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