It could backfire on us to play a lot of EDS players together, along with others who have had very few minutes under their belts. It could also be seen as being a bit disrespectful to our League One visitors.
Pep has suggested that he won’t do that and, instead, he will rest just two or three first team players for today’s cup clash.
But regardless of it being potentially risky or possibly disrespectful, our recent performances have looked somewhat jaded at times and a lack of edge and finishing up front suggests mental fatigue as well as physical tiredness. Then there’s the mounting injuries to consider and the packed fixture list ahead.
I’m going to suggest more than just two or three changes this afternoon…
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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 home game against Chelsea: 10/11.
Plenty of room for error here in my predictions…
A very fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3 (occasional 3-7-0):
______________________________________________
____________________Foden_____________________
__Heskey____________________________McAidoo__
_________Mukasa_________________Cherki________
_____________________Rodri____________________
O’Reilly__________________________________Lewis
___________Alleyne____________Khusanov________
____________________Trafford____________________
Subs: Donnarumma, Nunes, Ake, Gonzalez, Reijnders, Silva, Doku, Semenyo and Haaland.
James takes the gloves, I would expect, for this domestic cup encounter - possible one of two back-to-back games the England Under-21 keeper will play before league football resumes next weekend.
My back-4, occasional 3, prediction is Nico-O-, Max, Abdukodir and Rico.
Seeing just 32 minutes of last Wednesday night’s game; I’m going for Rodders to start this one in order to aid his return to full fitness. Gonzalez needs a break but is likely to see the last ½-hour or so of action should Rodri start.
Ahead of the Ballon d’Or winner is my biggest area for change that I’m going to suggest, with Reigan, Divine, Rayan-C-, Ryan and Phil as an attacking 5; with the latter in a ‘false 9’ role similar to how I recall him playing at the Accu Stadium back in September.
Gianluigi steps to the side for this game as reserve stopper; Matheus and Nathan make up just two defenders on the bench. Nico-G-, Tijjani and Bernardo are a trio of midfielders in ‘the 9’; two wingers come in the shape of Jeremy and new signing, Antoine, while Erling is the lone striker on the side.
Notable absences:
- Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.
- Stefan Ortega – Not selected.
- Rayan Ait-Nouri – Away on international duty.
- Kalvin Phillips – Not selected.
- John Stones – A minor thigh issue has now turned into something that will apparently take X-amount of months to resolve.
- Josko Gvardiol – Out with a fractured tibia, for which he has had surgery. I’m taking that as “season over”, or almost, for the Croatan international.
- Ruben Dias – Out with a hamstring injury and will be 4 to 6-weeks from 6th January.
And it just goes on and on and on…
- Mateo Kovacic – Recovering from secondary surgery to clean up some calcification in his ankle. Months ago, an expected return date was given as “February 2026” – basically, next month. 🤞
- Oscar Bobb – Out with a muscular / hamstring issue. Unknown return date.
- Savinho – Out with an unspecified leg injury. However, what was revealed on 7th January was that it will be 6 to 8-weeks before we could see the Brazilian international winger back in consideration for a matchday squad.
- Omar Marmoush – Away on international duty.
All of a sudden, that list is so reminiscent of last season’s injury nightmare. 🙄😟
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Why the heck not, I say.
There’s enough talent and experience there for this fixture, I would have thought.
Result?
Exeter sit practically in the middle of their league table (14th) with mixed results in their last 6 that reflects that middling status (L W L W W D). Their top goalscorer is 22-year-old Jayden Wareham with 8-league goals from 24 played, while chief creator is Finnish international winger, Ilmari Niskanen.
They don’t score many with just 25-league goals from those 24 matches played but they are a tight outfit. Conceding just 23, there are only two other sides in the division with a slightly better defensive record and they sit 5th and 7th in the table.
How much of that is down to having an ex-international central defender as manager, one who has been with them since October 2022, I don’t know but there’s some logic to that theory.
Will they score? Huh…after what I’ve just written about their lack of goals; with this being an F.A. Cup tie and with our defensive injuries / quick patch-up work at the back? I’d say there’s a decent chance. 😄
Will we score more? Despite us being a bit ‘shot shy’ recently and facing up to a seemingly organised defence; I would say so…surely.
I’m going for a home win this afternoon (3:00pm KO GMT).
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: N/A
Result: N/A
Expected weather conditions during the game: After a mixed week and snow and ice followed by some damp in the area, where we got off lightly compared to large parts of the UK, Saturday’s game is greeted by calm, sunny skies. It’ll be cold though, with temperatures peaking no higher than 2C. That then slips away to around zero when travelling away from the stadium… ☀️️😎🧣🧥🧤🍵🥧🍺⚽
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| Solidarity |
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