…try ‘n’ cement a top-8 place.
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Estadio de la Cerámica |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11.
A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (occasional 3-6-1):
____________________Haaland____________________
Doku______________________________________Bobb
_________Silva(C)________________Foden__________
___________________Gonzalez____________________
O’Reilly___________________________________Nunes
__________Gvardiol_____________Dias(VC)__________
__________________Donnarumma__________________
Subs: Bettinelli, Trafford, Ait-Nouri, Lewis, Ake, Stones, Kovacic, Reijnders, Cherki, Savinho and Marmoush.
Gigi continues in goal.
With regards to our defence, I am going to start this section today with a suggestion based on the word, “if”. IF Nico O’Reilly doesn’t feel fully ready to start after receiving a knock in our last game and IF Rayan Ait-Nouri doesn’t feel that he is ready to start after being out for 7 weeks with a troublesome ankle issue, then our back-4 could very well look like this: Gvardiol___Dias___Stones___Nunes (or Lewis).
As it is, there’s wasn’t any talk of who is or isn’t available in the pre-match press conference and knowing the squad that has travelled to Spain, I’m just going to assume. So…Nico-O- and Matheus are on the flanks of the defence with Josko and Ruben in the middle.
Nico-G- continues as defensive midfielder and I’m going for a more advance four of Jeremy, Bernardo, Phil and Oscar.
On fire Erling up top.
Two stoppers on the bench take the form of James and Marcus; Rayan-A-, Rico, Nathan and John make up four defenders on the side waiting for their opportunity. Mateo and Tijjani give us two central midfield options, while attacking and wide changes would come in the shape of Rayan-C-, Savinho and Omar.
Notable absences:
- Stefan Ortega – Not selected.
- Abdukodir Khuanov – Still no news regarding the progress, or otherwise, of Abdukodir’s ankle injury. The 21-year-old has been out since 21st August.
- Kalvin Phillips – Not registered to play in the Champions League.
- Rodri – Remains out with a hamstring injury. Unknown return date.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Yep, although I would hope there’d be some scope to give some players with many minutes under their belts some rest at some stage in the second half – I’m thinking the likes of Dias, O-Reilly, Nunes, Doku and Haaland.
Result?
Our Spanish hosts sit 3rd in their domestic table with only Real Madrid and Barcelona ahead of ‘em. However, they’ve lost a little ground in their last two matches with a defeat followed by a draw.
Their ‘goals for’ is joint best outside of the top two but they have conceded just slightly more than one per game in the league. Their main, but not only threat, is 5’ 9” Georgian striker, Georges Mikautadze, who has a very good goalscoring record almost everywhere he’s played.
I’ve touched on quite a few injuries and players who might not be quite 100-percent but despite that, we’re in pretty good shape…and certainly better than last season’s injury-riddled campaign.
With wind in our sails and the sun on the players backs; I’m going for us to take all-3 points tonight.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: N/A
Result: N/A
Expected weather conditions during the game: It seems almost impossible to fathom but while the temperature at kick-off time in Manchester will be 11C with rain, our players, staff and travelling fans will be enjoying 23C and dry, clear conditions; with a ‘feels like’ of 26C (79F in old money!). Not jealous…not jealous at all actually.🤥 ☀️⛱️🕶️🍺⚽
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Solidarity |