In a season where few, if anyone…

…expected us to challenge for the league title, City fans included; to come out of the season having won both domestic cups and to take the league race down to the penultimate game of a rebuild / reset season is quite some achievement in my opinion. 💪👏👏👏…

Makes me feel proud, I don’t know about you the reader.

Congratulation to Arsenal – well deserved over the 37 games so far.

v Aston Villa

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

I was gonna go proper rogue and suggest that Pep might practically fill his starting 11 with players who have had fewer minutes this season; including the likes of Trafford, Lewis, Stones, Gonzalez, Foden, Savinho and Marmoush, plus others.

However, having had almost 5-full days off, I think he’ll want to give most of those same players from last Tuesday, who should be more rejuvenated by now, a chance to get that performance and result out of their collective systems.

We’ll see…

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(VC)__________________

 

 

__Doku______________________________Semenyo__

 

___________Silva(C)_____________Cherki___________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

O’Reilly___________________________________Nunes

___________Guehi______________Khusanov________

 

 

__________________Donnarumma_________________

Subs: Trafford, Dias, Gvardiol, Stones, Kovacic, Foden, Reijnders, Savinho and Marmoush.

Gigi puts the gloves on for the last time under Pep.

A back 4, occasional 3, of Nico-O-, Marc, Abdukodir and Matheus.

Rodders is ‘the holder’.

Ahead of the Spaniard, I’m sayin’ Jeremy, Bernardo, Rayan-C- and Antoine.

Erling up top.

James is reserve keeper; Ruben, Josko and John the back-up defenders on the side. Mateo, Phil and Tijjani are a trio of midfielders in ‘the 9’, with Savinho and Omar giving us wide / forward options.

Notable absences:

-       Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.

-       Rayan Ait-Nouri – Not selected.

-       Rico Lewis – Not selected.

-       Max Alleyne – Not selected.

-       Nathan Ake – Not selected.

-       Nico Gonzalez – Not selected.

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

Yes.

Result?

I’ve mentioned how proud I feel about our achievements this season, especially with so many young and new players introduced I’m keen to add, and it was clear that Erling Haaland’s pride was severely dented when interviewed after the Bournemouth game.

Whilst acknowledging that it was important for us to win both the League Cup and F.A. Cup, the Norwegian was clearly hurt by us not showing up stronger in the league competition. He said:

"In the end, every game in the Premier League is difficult. We tried. It wasn't enough," said Haaland. "The whole club should use this as motivation now. We should be angry, we should feel a fire inside our belly because it's not good enough.

"It's gone two years now, it feels like forever. We're going to do everything we can, everyone that will be here next season, to win the league."

I like that a lot.

After the crazy decision rule by UEFA that forced us to hold our game on the Tuesday [rather than Wednesday when Aston Villa were playing, and winning, the Europa League 👏👏👏…] after a draining F.A. Cup final on the Saturday, most of our players looked like they had little left in them, I thought. I still believe that this fixture could have been played at 7:30pm on the Thursday, if Bournemouth would agree with that of course. Was it even suggested by anyone?

Attacking changes were made in order to ‘freshen it up’ and although we looked better after the break, the new attackers made very little difference against an excellent and very hard working home side. Congratulations to them for securing some kind of European competition, which is to be decided on the last day of the season.

Looking at this afternoon and our newly crowned opponents - will we face a buzzing, ‘we can beat anyone’ mentality from The Villans or will it be the case of after the Lord Mayor’s show for them? I dunno.

For us, it would be great to finish with as few points between us and Arsenal as possible; whether that’s the current 4, 3, 2 or even just 1. Damn those thrown away points throughout the season – I’m sure you’ve all got your particular results / matches that spring to mind when thinking about that for a second.

It’s actually quite a hard one to call but calling it I am…a City win.

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

Prediction: Draw

Result: Won

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: BOOM! Flippin’ boilin’! After a largely dull week up to Thursday with some heavy downpours, summer has come screeching onto the scene…in spring. 25C, although that is likely to feel closer to 30C inside the stadium. Breeze? Virtually none. Coat? Not unless you’re a nutter. ☀️😎🫗🍦🌭🍟🍺⚽ Brace yourself for a far hotter day tomorrow too. 🥵

Pep…

·        Confirmation that he’s leaving has happened.

·        North Stand to be named after him and a statue to be built, quite rightly so.

·        Best manager this club has ever seen and one of the best, if not ‘the’ best, the world has ever seen.

·        Confirmation that he’s not really leaving us, in a way, as he becomes ambassador / overseer over the City Football Group. With that, the stand and the future statue, there’ll always be a little bit of Pep close by in the future.

·        Great little video, by the way.

That’s all folks!

After a period of being really quite ill, I’m off for a much needed recuperation holiday soon.

As usual, I’ll slowly get together my close season pieces, such as season player ratings, prediction results, opinion on new kits and possibly some transfer chatter too.

I hope you have enjoyed another season of my Manchester City ramblings or, if you’ve just dipped in and out of it over the last 9 months, have enjoyed what you have read; enough to consider joining me on a more regular basis.

My readership is always very much appreciated as well as any comments that you can always post on the site itself.

Signing off for now… 🫡

Solidarity

Win or bust

Simple as that.

v AFC Bournemouth

Vitality Stadium

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(VC)__________________

 

 

__Doku______________________________Semenyo__

 

___________Silva(C)_____________Cherki___________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

O’Reilly___________________________________Nunes

___________Guehi______________Khusanov________

 

 

__________________Donnarumma_________________

Subs: Trafford, Ait-Nouri, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Foden, Reijnders, Savinho and Marmoush.

Gigi returns in goal for this penultimate game of the season for us.

A back-4, occasional 3, of Nico-O-, Marc, Abdukodir and Matheus is my bet.

Rodders just in front of those.

In attack, I’m going for Jeremy, Bernardo, Rayan-C- and Antione, who returns to his old club for the first time since his transfer, all behind Erling up front.

James returns to the bench as reserve keeper; Rayan-A-, Ruben and Josko are my guess as defenders in ‘the 9’. Mateo, Phil and Tijjani are a trio of midfielders on the side, with Savinho and Omar giving us wide / forward options from the bench.

Notable absences:

-       Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.

-       Rico Lewis – Not selected.

-       Max Alleyne – Not selected.

-       John Stones – Not selected.

-       Nathan Ake – Not selected.

-       Nico Gonzalez – Not selected.

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

Yep.

Result?

You have to go back all the way to 3^rd January to find a Bournemouth defeat and even that was a narrow 2-3 loss at home to Arsenal. Since then? W D D W W D W D D D D D W W D W W. Yes there are a lot of draws in there, a result we can’t afford tonight I’m keen to point out, but this is a side that just does not get beat!

What has that done for them in the table? Results depending, it puts them in a strong position of some kind of European football next season and with Forest away coming on the final day of the season; they’ll want to do all they can against us tonight to cement that standing in the league.

Did someone say that this was going to be a tough game?

Of course we’re in pretty damn good form ourselves and on the back of an F.A. Cup victory, the second of two domestic cups we’ve won in just 2 months, our players should be absolutely buzzing; using that adrenalin to push through any fatigue they might be feeling after a 95-minute run around at Wembley just 3 days earlier.

We also have everyone fit and I can’t recall the last time I was able to say that. Basically, we couldn’t be going into this game in any better shape; form, morale and personnel wise.

I try to keep my heart well away form my head when making predictions and I might be guilty here of allowing my heart to have a whisper in my head’s ear (I think there are too many body parts in that weird sentence) when I say that I’m going for a City win. 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞…

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

Prediction: Win

Result: Lost

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: After a mixed day of sunshine and showers in the region, it begins to clear up and the sun wins out over the rain from about 5:00pm. Over the low stands of the Vitality Stadium, the sun should easily be visible as the game kicks off (7:30pm BST) but by the end ofthe match, some drizzle sets in. 13/14C is the forecasted temperature but there will also be a stiff, south westerly breeze with that; possibly strong enough to effect any high balls played on the south coast with such low stands. 🍺⚽

In other news…

Pep Guardiola will be leaving us after the last two games of the season. God save the King.

Solidarity

Can the sky blue machine…

…that is MCFC claw in yet another piece of silverware for itself this afternoon?

Perhaps but there’ll be a small number of our players who will have to miss out and sit on the side without a training bib ready to hand as the ‘fit and available’ list is looking very healthy indeed at the moment.

v Chelsea

Wembley Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: With so many changes in midweek, I’m pleased to be able to still say, 7/11.

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

___________________Haaland(VC)__________________

 

 

__Doku______________________________Semenyo__

 

___________Silva(C)_____________Cherki___________

 

___________________Gonzalez____________________

O’Reilly___________________________________Nunes

___________Guehi______________Khusanov________

 

 

____________________Trafford____________________

Subs: Donnarumma, Ait-Nouri, Ake, Gvardiol, Stones, Kovacic, Foden, Savinho and Marmoush.

James takes over in goal for this cup competition final.

Nico-O- returns on the left of defence after a night off last Wednesday night and is joined by Marc, Abdukodir and Matheus.

I think we’ll see Nico-G- start in the deep midfield position with Jeremy, Bernardo, Rayan-C- and Antoine ahead of the 24-year-old.

Erling returns to lead the line.

Gigi watches on as back-up stopper; reserve defenders come in the shape of Rayan-A-, Nathan, Josko and John. Mateo and Phil give us two midfield change options while Savinho and Omar continue to provide wide / forward alternatives from the bench.

Notable absences:

-       Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.

-       Rico Lewis – Not selected.

-       Max Alleyne – Not selected.

-       Ruben Dias – Not selected.

-       Rodri – Still being assessed, apparently, and I’m going to suggest that he will have no involvement this afternoon. I reckon he’s being primed for our last two league fixtures but I could be wrong. 🤔

-       Tijjani Reijnders – Not selected.

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

Yes.

Result?

This is a cup game and a final no less – AKA…anything can happen.

However, it would be remis not to look at league form and while ours is excellent (W W W D W W), our opponents form is shockingly bad (L L L L L D).

With a European place-finish of any description for the London side all but over, this is an opportunity to win something for both themselves and their often-disgruntled fans…and that could signal a danger warning for us. ⚠️

Of course this could be a tough, closely contested match and could even get a little feisty, dare I suggest. However, in the end I look at that team and bench of ours; consider the form that we’re in and put this down as a City win.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Sunshine and showers all day. Temperature isn’t too bad at 13C with a light south westerly breeze. 🌦️🧥🌭🍔🍟🥤(more💷)🍺⚽

Winners again!

Another congratulations is in order – this time for our Academy team who beat Manyoo 2-1 in the F.A. Youth Cup final on Thursday night.

A massive well done to them and that’s the third ‘congrats’ dished out in recent days, following the same Academy side who won their league title and our Women’s team winning the WSL title too.

Further praise also needs to go to our Women’s team who came from 2-0 down to score 3 goals on the 86^th, 91^st and 103^rd minutes (WOW!) at Chelsea to reach the Women’s F.A. Cup final. They’ll now face Brighton and Hove Albion at THAT place again (Olé-Olé) on Sunday 31^st May.

Solidarity

Predictions v Palace – 13.05.2026

Regular readers will know that I temporarily stopped midweek blog postings a few months back due to time constraints. Well, following a hospital visit yesterday afternoon / evening for a suspected, VERY painful 😩 ear infection which turned out to be the case, I am currently housebound and full of antibiotics.

Being bored of laying in bed, I suddenly remembered that there was a game on and so thought I’d try to cobble together a piece.

v Crystal Palace

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11.

Our manager has been saying recently that due to the large number of games in such a short period of time, some rotation would be necessary. I can see some of those changes happening tonight and this is my guess.

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

____________________Haaland(VC)_________________

 

 

__Doku______________________________Semenyo__

 

_______________________________Foden__________

__________Silva(C)_______________________________

____________________O’Reilly____________________

Ait-Nouri__________________________________Nunes

___________Guehi______________Stones___________

 

 

__________________Donnarumma__________________

Subs: Trafford, Dias, Khusanov, Rodri, Cherki, Kovacic, Reijnders, Savinho and Marmoush.

Gigi continues in goal.

I’m havin’ a back-4, occasional 3, of Rayan-A-, Marc, John and Matheus.

Nico-O- slides into deep midfield with some assistance from Bernardo and with Phil possibly being given a rare starting chance to have free attacking licence ahead of the England-Portuguese pair.

Jeremy and Antoine to continue on the wings either side of Erling up top.

James continues as reserve keeper before his Wembley outing this coming Saturday; Ruben and Abdukodir could well make the bench following injuries as back-up defenders tonight (8:00pm KO BST). Rodders may return also following his injury layoff and, if so, will likely be joined by Rayan-C-, Mateo and Tijjani as a midfield quartet, with Savinho and Omar giving us attacking wide / forward options from the side.

Notable absences:

-       Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.

-       Rico Lewis – Not selected.

-       Josko Gvardiol – Update on 8^th May was that Josko was training and feeling good.

-       Max Alleyne – Not selected.

-       Nathan Ake – Not selected / rested.

-       Nico Gonzalez – Not selected.

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

If my predicted line-up turns out to be correct, I would have concerns about Phil’s confidence / end product but on his day he’s one of the best around. John’s fragility would also come into question as a rare starter but we do have a couple of central defenders on bench in reserve so, yeah.

Result?

League safety assured, manager leaving in the summer and a Europa Conference League final booked; a game all of their players won’t want to be injured for. All things in our favour? Well, yeah, sort of but it often doesn’t work out that way, does it?

Instead, dare I say pride might come into it? A team of players who would like to say that they helped to dent / finish our title hopes? And there is also the possibility that some players might need to play / fight for their place in the final on 27^th May in front of their watching manager tonight?

One thing is for sure, we’ve just got to concentrate on ourselves; not think about the opposition in that way and certainly not have one eye on this weekend’s F.A. Cup final.

Just go out, go for the win, respect the opposition in terms of what they can do to us on the counter as well as through their well documented set piece routines and take all-3 points.

I expect they will cause us issues and may well give us a right ol’ scare and take the lead. However it plays out, I’m going for us to close the gap on Arsenal to 2 points and put the pressure back on them.

It’s a City win for me – anything less and it’s adiós title.

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

Prediction: Draw

Result: Won

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: Wet. The sun might just pop out to say hello and goodbye just before kick off but essentially the picture is one of dark skies and rain showers. Not too warm either with a temperature of around 8C. It’s mid-May by the way… 🧥🌧️🌂🍵🥧🍺⚽

A very belated “WELL DONE”…

…to our Academy lads for winning the league title by 4 points over 2^nd place Manyoo.

P26 W19 D3 L4  F96 A39

And speaking of which, good luck tomorrow as we face the reds of Trafford in the F.A. Youth Cup final (7:00pm KO BST and on the BBC as well as TNT).

Solidarity