The well documented 10 changes in midweek backfired and blew up in Pep’s face last Tuesday, for which he’s held his hands up for several times since. I personally believe that the players who started that night have to take a lot of responsibility also.
Sadly, for them, it’ll be a largely changed side once again this afternoon – a rare, Saturday 3:00pm kick-off.
OLD SCHOOL FIXTURE!
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| Etihad Stadium |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game which, for me blog wise, was our away league defeat to Newcastle United: 11/11 .
A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (occasional 3-6-1):
____________________Haaland____________________
__Doku_________________________________Cherki__
_________Silva(C)_________________Foden__________
____________________Gonzalez___________________
O’Reilly___________________________________Nunes
__________Gvardiol______________Dias(VC)__________
__________________Donnarumma_________________
Subs: Trafford, Ait-Nouri, Lewis, Ake, Stones, Reijnders, Bobb, Savinho and Marmoush.
Gigi returns in goal after a rare place on the bench in midweek.
A back 4, occasional 3, of Nico-O-, Josko, Ruben and Matheus.
Nico is likely to be the only one who keeps his place from last Tuesday’s disastrous performance.
Ahead of him, I think we’re likely to see Jeremy, Bernardo, Phil and Rayan-C-, all in support of Erling up front.
Just before I run through the subs, I’ve just got a feeling that Pep could dip into our EDS for at least one fresh face on the bench for this one. Why? I believe that as well as blaming himself for what transpired in midweek, he also feels a little let down by some of his players and perhaps, secretly, some more than others.
Wouldn’t it, therefore, be a strong message for him to send by sliding a young player onto the scene ahead of one of those individuals…and wouldn’t it set tongues wagging.
It’s just a hunch; one that I’m going to resist running with and, so…
James returns to the bench as reserve keeper; Rayan-A-, Rico, Nathan and John make up four defenders on the bench. Tijjani is the only natural central midfielder on the side, with Oscar, Savinho and Marmoush also giving us various attacking options in ‘the 9’.
Notable absences:
- Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.
- Stefan Ortega – Not selected.
- Abdukodir Khusanov – Not selected.
- Kalvin Phillips – Not selected but also, we were informed right at the end of Pep’s pre-match press conference, has some leg niggles.
- Mateo Kovacic – Recovering from secondary surgery to clean up some calcification in his ankle. Expected return is around February 2026.
- Rodri – Continues to recover from a troublesome hamstring injury, as well as general fitness issues.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Sure do.
Result?
Have I been following Leeds United closely this season? Erm…no. What I did hear recently and, therefore kept in my head as this fixture approached, was that their manager has apparently changed his tactics from (whatever it was) to (whatever it is) and it’s not really working. There’s ya go – an expert opinion for you right there. I hope that’s made it clear for you all. 🤪😆
Hard facts for you are a last six in the league that reads, L L W L L L. They sit 3rd-bottom with just 3 wins from 12-league games played and don’t score many with just 11 from those 12 matches; conceding double that number. They were also dumped out of the League Cup in the 2nd round way back in August by…Sheffield Wednesday! I know! The Owls! Crisis club and then some!
As for us, when I listened to Pep’s post-match press conference on Tuesday night and particularly towards the very end, you can understand his thinking when-making so many changes in midweek; especially when he rattled through the individual player reasons for his selections and omissions.
However, as he admitted time and time again, it was far too many changes all at once. He got it wrong and he’s held up his hands; leaving us with 2 defeats from 2 since club fixtures resumed.
Having started the Champions League group-league stage strong, it’s certainly put a dent in it but the mistake hasn’t damaged us too badly. That being said, we’re away to Real Madrid next.
My main fear about today’s match, despite it being against a struggling Leeds United at home, is that the rusty, lacklustre first-11 players who we watched at Newcastle may still have that post-international break lethargy in them; as most of those players have seen either few or no minutes at all following our trip to the North East last weekend.
_____________________________
12-league games in, I decided to have a look at my player ratings chart to see where our lads stood.
The top, stand out rating is Earling Haaland, who I have down as 8/10, and some may think that a little harsh of me. I think he was on 8.5 before our trip to The Magpies; a game where he either got a 4 or a 5/10 depending on which report you read.
I then have two players on 7.5, Donnarumma and Dias, with 7s going to Stones, Nunes, Doku and Gonzalez. Put another way, almost a third of the way into this season’s campaign I have just seven players on a rating of 7 or higher, with the rest all between 5 and 6.5.
I have the team’s current, overall rating as 7/10.
What I think that tells me, I don’t know about you, is that despite being 3rd in the league; despite being just outside the top-8 of the Champions League group-stage table on goal difference and having reached the quarter final of the League Cup; we’re achieving all of that by not particularly playing all that well at lot of the time.
I can certainly recall coming away from a few games thinking, wow that was good from us today. However, in large, and on reflection, I’d have to say that I’m left with a feeling, following a victory, of…‘professional job done’ rather than being wowed. I think some of it has been a case of, thank God for Gianluigi and Erling.
_____________________________
Do I think we’ll win today? Absolutely I do.
Do I think it’ll be one of those swashbuckling, wow games from us that will leave us all breathless with gushing admiration? Possibly not from the start as the players, albeit a very different 11, attempt to reset and refocus following a second disappointment in the space of just three days.
However, even if we do see a cagey start from our lads, as we prod and probe our visitors, I’ve got a feeling that we’ll slip into a high cruising gear and will finish these off in style. I’m going for a City win.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: N/A
Result: N/A
Expected weather conditions during the game: Erm…’orrible. Heavy spells of rain, or prolonged periods of the wet stuff, in a temperature no higher than 6C. For a cross-Pennines clash at 3:00pm on a Saturday afternoon, the wet pitch only adds to this old school-feeling fixture. 🌧️☔🧥🧣🧤🍵🥧🥟🍺⚽
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| Solidarity |
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