Predictions v Leicester City

I thought the first 30 minutes against Bournemouth last Sunday was pretty poor from us once again but we showed a lot of character and with some early, proactive substitutions for once; we were by far the better side for the majority of the match. Still some irritating missed chances though 😒.

We’re going to need that strong character to keep shining through in our pursuit of a top-4 (5) finish. The optimist in me looks at the league table noting that a win tonight will take us to within 6 points of 3^rd-place Forest. On the other hand, my belly flips with nerves a little when I see FIVE teams in hot pursuit of us who are all tucked in just behind; with one of those sides, Newcastle, having a game in hand.

We’ve got to start putting together a run of victories and get rid of this chaotic form.

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I did recently suggest that it was highly unlikely that I would get a pre-match blog posting out for this one but while I remain quite unwell and now on antibiotics; I at least had the time to sit quietly and slowly put this one together in time.

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v Leicester City

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: A very poor 5/11).

A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (occasional 3-6-1):

____________________Marmoush___________________

 

 

Doku_____________________________________Savinho

 

_________Grealish_________________Silva___________

____________________Gonzalez_____________________

 

Gvardiol____________________________________Lewis

____________Dias_______________Khusanov_________

 

 

____________________Ederson_____________________

Subs: Ortega, O’Reilly, Reis, Kovacic, Gundogan, McAtee, Nunes, De Bruyne and Foden.

Ederson retains the gloves.

A back-4 of Josko, Ruben, Abdukodir and Rico would be my guess.

Nico is the deepest-lying midfielder.

I suggested last game that we might see Jack start in the middle of the field and it didn’t turn out to be the case. However, I thought that when he came on he looked sharp and really in the mood. I still wish he’d go more direct and try to beat his man from time to time but I’ll take any 7+/10 performance at the moment. Anyway, with Phil way, WAY out of form and with Kev unlikely to start two games within the space of three days; I’m going to suggest a starting place for Jack tonight. Bernardo is likely to be able to start once more alongside the England international and give us at least 60-65 minutes and I’m going for Jeremy and Savinho to have another crack at finding some end product from the wings.

Over to you Omar – I have faith in the Egyptian international and I’m actually quite excited at the prospect of him getting a regular starting place.

Stefan continues to provide keeper insurance; Man of the Match last time out, Nico, and Vitor are two players on the side ready to provide changes in defence. The rest are made up of SIX midfielders in the shape of Mateo, Ilkay, James, Matheus, Kevin and Phil.

Notable absences:

-       John Stones – Out with a thigh injury for 3 to 5 weeks, going off the initial assessment and information given.

-       Manuel Akanji – Initial thoughts were that he could be out for the rest of the season after badly damaging his abductor muscle, for which he had surgery on 15^th February. However, an update from his manager on 1^st April confirmed that the Swiss international was making progress and feeling better. Return date unknown but it sounds like we might see him back in action over the coming weeks.

-       Nathan Ake – Recovering from a fractured foot, for which he has had surgery. This one sounded like it could be a season-ending injury.

-       Rodri – Continues to train as he maintains his long journey back to fitness following an ACL injury last September.

-       Oscar Bobb – Continues to train with his teammates as he makes his way back from a fractured leg that he suffered last August.

-       Erling Haaland – Out for the majority of the rest of the season with an ankle injury.

      Forgetting the injury-prone nature of the first three players there, just look at the quality of missing players. All long-term injuries too!

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

Yep, looks good to me. And who wouldn’t be excited by the PROSPECT, at least, of a front-three of Doku, Savinho and Marmoush?

Result?

Surely even a 2024-25 Manchester City can’t mess this one up, can they? Our visitors are in poor, poor shape and look utterly doomed as they sit second bottom and 12 points adrift of safety.

P29 W4 D5 L20 / F25 A65 (GD -40) and with no win since 26^th January tells its own story. Even pain in the City arse, Jamie Vardy, can’t find the net and that’s despite playing almost every minute of every game.

There ya go Blues – fate well and truly tempted. You’re welcome.

I have to believe that we have enough in that (predicted) starting 11 and match-day squad to beat these tonight and, dare I suggest, that we might even be able to muster a clean sheet; as goal difference could be all important for us at the end of the season.

It’s a home / sky blue win for me.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: After a beautiful sunny day, blue sky is replaced with a dark, starry one. After a daytime high of 15C, the match starts off at 11C and ends on 9; with a ‘feels like’ of just 7. If you get fooled by the pre-match sunshine giving out some warmth and don’t take a warm coat for the journey home then I think you might regret it. Lovely evening though for a match under the floodlights. ✨🥧☕🍺⚽

Solidarity

Some Premier League frustration relief.

With our league form all over the flippin’ place (last 6 reads L W L W L D) and a top-4 finishing starting to look less and less likely week by week, should that form continue that is; this F.A. Cup fixture might make for some light relief.

But, of course, this isn’t going to be at all easy.

There’s a bit of a blog announcement at the end of this piece.

Another somewhat painful look back

Despite a fairly decent first half showing from our lads, there was a lot to feel irritated about our last performance at home to Brighton a fortnight ago.

Our defence never looked anything other than disorganised, especially on our often-exposed flanks, and I agree with those City fans who highlighted, just after the final whistle, Pep’s substitution inaction and baffling decision making regarding our midfield selection.

And, once again, I find myself utterly perplexed about the exciting-LOOKING pair of Jeremy Doku and Savinho; a wing duo who continue to be thrilling on the eye but provide a lack of end product more often than not.

Some might say that a share of the points was about right and that would be about fair enough. But I also agree with the many City fans who said that The Seagulls were the slightly better side over ‘the 90’ and that we were damn lucky to get away with the draw. They had chances to bury us towards the end.

Same ol’ story once again - far more possession from City (60.4% to Brighton’s 39.6%) but same ol’ story once again too; not using that ball dominance to hurt the opposition nearly enough. There were more shots from the visitors; a higher ‘xG’ (Expected Goals) and one more corner than we had.

With a respectful nod to Brighton for the way they played - what a sad decline we find ourselves in…😢

v AFC Bournemouth

Vitality Stadium

With a half thought that we might see Claudio Echeverri get a place on the bench at the expense of someone else…

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 7/11).

A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

_Marmoush________________________________Doku_

 

________Grealish_________________Silva___________

___________________Gonzalez_____________________

 

Gvardiol___________________________________Lewis

____________Dias_______________Khusanov________

 

 

____________________Ortega____________________

Subs: Ederson, O’Reilly, Reis, Kovacic, Gundogan, Nunes, Foden, De Bruyne and Savinho.

Stefan is likely to get a starting place for this domestic cup game.

A back-4 of Josko, Ruben, Abdukadir and Rico is my guess.

Nico patrolling in front of those and I’m going for Pep to pick Omar on the left, Jeremy on the right with Jack and Bernardo between those.

Erling up top.

Ederson has been training since Wednesday following a recent abdominal issue and should provide keeper insurance; attacking midfielder, Nico, and Vitor are two defenders on the side for this one. Mateo, Ilkay, Phil and Kevin make up four midfielders in ‘the 9’, while Savinho gives us a change of wing option from the bench.

Notable absences:

-       John Stones – Out with a thigh injury for 3-½  to 5-½ weeks, going off the initial assessment and information given.

-       Manuel Akanji – Possibly out for the rest of the season after badly damaging his abductor muscle, for which he had surgery on 15^th February. Best case scenario is that he could be back around the end of April / beginning of May.

-       Nathan Ake – Recovering from a fractured foot, for which he has had surgery. This one sounds like it could be a season-ending injury.

-       Rodri – Continues to train as he continues his long journey back to fitness following an ACL injury last September.

-       James McAtee – Not selected.

-       Oscar Bobb – Continues to train with his teammates as he makes his way back from a fractured leg that he suffered last August.

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

Hufff...excuse me. Yeah, looks decent..

Result?

Just as was the case last season, our hosts have impressed a fair number of pundits and neutrals on occasions this season and that’s despite spending the majority of 2024/25 in and around the mid-table zone. And just as was the case last season too, they’ve hit a few rocks towards the back end of the current campaign. I’m not saying that the wheels have come off the Cherries’ machine but a last 6 of L W L L D L in the league does more than suggest that they going through a bit of a rough patch.

However, and as I alluded to in my subheading about this not being an easy game; in the league Bournemouth have lost the same amount of games as we have, have won just two less and have a slightly better defensive record. Factor in the uncertainty of a domestic cup clash at a ground that can prove tricky if the home side are firing on the day and it makes this one a game where we’ll need both graft and craft if we want to progress to the semi-finals. Some better defending wouldn’t go amiss either…

It's a tough one to call for sure. It’ll be tight and it may well go to extra time (penalties beyond that). I’m going for us to nick this one – it’s a City win from me.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Beautiful day on the south coast for a game of footy. Blue skies and bright sunshine on the day the clocks go forward to give us an extra hour of the bright yellow thing in the sky. 14 / 15C sounds very pleasant indeed and even a gentle, north-westerly breeze only takes the edge off that ever so slightly. ☀😎🏖🍺⚽

C'mon Blues!

This is a game that’s very easily accessible to watch being, as it is, on terrestrial television and I hope to be able to watch it.

However, I’m on ‘Day 5’ of horrible, winter-like lurgy and my TV concentration just hasn’t been the best of late; that’s when I’ve been able to stay awake that is 😩🥱. I only managed to get this piece completed and published because I had the international break to prep most of it before the ‘lurg monster’ got me last Wednesday.

It’s for this reason, plus current midweek time constraints, that it’s highly unlikely that I’ll get a pre-match blog posting out ahead of Wednesday’s home, must-win-game against Leicester City.

Solidarity