As collective City fan cheeks puffed out with relief at the end of the 101st minute last Saturday, I found myself shaking my head and wondering how the hell we could make such a mess of a very early lead and 2-0 half-time scoreline; at home against the division’s 3rd-bottom side. Well done Mr Foden. 👏
Dare I say, following last season and parts of this campaign, that we’re reverting back to our “typical City” days?
At least Chelsea-Arsenal ended in a draw…
v Fulham
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| Craven Cottage |
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_________________________________Cherki__
_________Silva(C)_________________Foden__________
____________________Gonzalez___________________
O’Reilly___________________________________Lewis
__________Stones_______________Dias(VC)__________
__________________Donnarumma_________________
Subs: Trafford, Ait-Nouri, Nunes, Ake, Gvardiol, Reijnders, Bobb, Savinho and Marmoush.
Gigi continues in net - another player not excluded from the ‘poor performance’ column last Saturday. In fact, his season’s score is slowly slipping down on my ratings chart following a few moments, in his last few games, which haven’t exactly covered the Italian international in glory.
I’m going for a tweak at the back with John and Rico coming in for Josko and Matheus. Nico-O- and Ruben complete the 4.
Nico-G- continues his deep role in midfield and, once again, I’m going for Jeremy, Bernardo, Phil and Rayan-C- all behind Erling.
James is reserve stopper; Rayan-A-, Matheus, Nathan and Josko provide defensive cover. Tijjani, Oscar, Savinho and Omar give us attacking options from the bench in midfield, on the wings and up front.
Notable absences:
- Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.
- Stefan Ortega – Not selected.
- Abdukodir Khusanov – Not selected.
- Kalvin Phillips – Not selected.
- 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?
I would very much understand John Stones coming in for Josko Gvardiol at the moment – I think we need the stability and vast experience of John at the moment and Josko needs a little time to focus on the basics, I would say…and I’m not just saying that because of his howler last weekend.
As for the right-wing back slot, it is what it is at the moment - an area that needs addressing in a transfer window sooner rather than later. Matheus has done really, really well up to recent games but there’s been a slight drop off from the Portuguese international and he was one of those players who had a torrid second half three days ago. I think Rico Lewis will be chomping at the bit to get a place in the starting 11, even if it’s in his personal, less-preferred position.
An assist for the winner last Saturday afternoon might be enough to earn Rayan Cherki a starting berth and replacing Tijjani Reijnders I would agree with. He’s another player who needs to work hard on the training pitch and focus on the simple things.
Result?
It’s been a slow, struggling start to the season by our hosts but 3 league wins from the last 4 suggests that they’re getting their act together. One of those victories came against high-flying Sunderland; a feat only two other sides have managed in the league this season…and our next opponents.
As for us, I’ve already made reference to last season and conceding 6 goals in just 7 days over 3 games is brings back some unwanted memories from our 2024-25 campaign. That’s got to stop soon if we want to challenge for silverware.
I’m at the stage where it’s flip a coin time when thinking about the result. Which City side is going to turn up? Which half will we perform in and which half will we lose intensity and switch off?
As unlikely as it is for a coin to land on its edge, that’s what mine has done. I’m going for a draw.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: Win
Result: Won
There was no pre-match blog posting ahead of last season’s corresponding fixture due to both general time constraints and an up-and-coming holiday.
Expected weather conditions during the game: A bit damp leading up to the 7:30pm (GMT) kick-off but it should dry out for the game itself. 8C is the forecasted temperature with just a very light, southerly breeze. 🧥🍵🥧🍺⚽
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| Solidarity |
