In-form Aston Villa away is…

…sure to be a real tester. When I look back, it was exactly the case this time last year as Villa came into form…and we lost.

v Aston Villa

Villa Park

Haaland fit but we have three doubts that I’m sticking on the bench for that very reason; as they continued their recovery from various niggles and had one or two more training sessions before my blog posting release.

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game which for me, blog wise, was our 3-2 home win against Ipswich Town: 9/11.

A fluid 4-2-3-1 / / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

_____________________Haaland(VC)_________________

 

 

__Doku_________________________________Ndiaye__

 

______________________Cherki____________________

__________Fernandez_____________________________

______________________________Anderson_________

 

Gvardiol________________________________Khusanov

___________Guehi(VC)_______________Dias(C)_________

 

 

___________________Donnarumma(VC)_______________

Subs: Rulli, Ait-Nouri, Lewis, Nunes, O’Reilly, Bouaddi, Kovacic, Foden and Elias.

Gianluigi in net.

With doubts surrounding both our regular left and right-wing backs, I’m guessing a starting back-4 of Josko, Marc, Ruben and Abdukodir.

Elliot to be our deepest midfielder but with Enzo not too far away and despite Foden having a blinder in midweek, I think we’ll see Rayan-C- given the ‘number 8’ role this afternoon.

Jeremy left, Iliman right and Erling up front ‘n’ centre.

Geronimo continues to provide keeper insurance; Rayan-A-, Rico, Matheus and Nico give us four defensive replacement options; albeit all flanking defenders / attacking wing-backs. Midfielders / wingers in ‘the 9’ come in the shape of Ayyoub, Mateo, Phil and Allan.

Notable absences:

-       Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.

-       Vitor Reis – Not selected and must be rubbing his hands at our up and coming League Cup fixture; where he’ll be hoping, I’m sure, to at least get on the bench against in-form, Premier League opposition.

-       Antoine Semenyo – Out for 2 months from 17^th October with a knee injury. All being well, he’ll be back just in time for the busy festive period of fixtures.

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

Yep.

Result?

Villa Park has not been a good hunting ground for us at all in recent seasons, and our hosts’ previous seven games have seen them lift impressively - from a somewhat ropey start to their season - with 6 wins, 1 draw and 0 loses; scoring 21 and conceding 7 in all competitions. That deserves a little…“Wow” and 👏👏👏…

Scoring so many goals as they are doing versus us, a side with some question marks over our defending of late, is a cause for concern to say the least. I don’t think I’ll be alone when I say that I expect there to be goals for both sides this afternoon (12:30pm KO BST).

Points in our favour?

1.    They’re scoring lots of goals of late but we’ve been doing that all season. In fact, in the league we’ve score almost three times as many as our hosts.

2.    I’ve mentioned our issues in defence of late but of that 7-game Aston Villa run which I’ve highlighted, they’ve only kept 2 clean sheets in that time themselves. To use the words 'in fact' once again; while The Villans have conceded 11 league goals this season, we’ve only leaked 7 in 7…and 5 of those came in just two Premier League games.

3.    We’ve had an extra day to rest and prepare following both sides’ midweek international fixtures.

However, this is an early kick-off away from home at a ground where, since September 2022, we’ve managed just 1 point from a possible 12 and, as you’ll see if you read on, we’ve got the weather to battle as well as a home side backed by more than three-quarters of the (approximate) 37,000 stadium; a reduced capacity while their North Stand is under construction during the 2026-27 season.

I have been - and still am - leaning slightly towards a City win here but I’ve just swayed back a little towards a draw. I think, fellow Blues, this’ll be a ‘points shared’ outcome.

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: Storm Boelo ensures that the day of the match will be an ‘orrible one. Hot on the heels of Storm Austen, we have more wet and windy conditions for our Midlands’ fixture. Flipping chilly too with 9C feeling more like 7C. I suppose it could be worse for fans in the stands, we could be kicking off later in the day when the rain gets heavier and the wind even stronger; although I think we’ll see some of that in the second half as it begins to ramp up for the afternoon (I hope all that construction gear inside the stadium is well secured). 🧥🧣🧤☕🥧🍺⚽

Don’t forget to change your clocks late Saturday night / early Sunday morning!

Solidarity

 

Blog announcement ahead of AEK Athens and Aston Villa.

They’ll be no pre-match blog posting ahead of our home Champions League game against AEK Athens on Tuesday night and there might also be no blog posting ahead of our away Premier League clash at Aston Villa on Saturday 24^th October.

Why?

The first is simply because of time constraints and the second would be due to a possible small holiday, which is yet to be confirmed. If I don’t go, I will put a posting one.

Definitely next up for me, blog wise, will be our home League Cup game against Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday 28^th October; the first of two home meetings against the in-form South Coast side in just three days (the second is on Saturday 31^st October 👻 in the league).

City v Ipswich Town – 17.10.2026

A Saturday 3:00pm kick-off and not on the telly feels to me like a nice, dare I say, old-fashioned change amidst ‘the noise’.

“Programmes! Get yer programmes”

v Ipswich Town

Etihad Stadium

Some rotation soon was, understandably, suggested by our manager during his pre-match press conference and some of that might include the starting 11 this afternoon.

However, I’m going for a similar line-up to what we’ve seen in recent games; with the use of all-5 subs ASAP depending on the flow of the game.

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 8/11.

A fluid 4-2-3-1 / / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

_____________________Haaland(VC)_________________

 

 

__Doku__________________________________Ndiaye_

 

______________________Cherki____________________

__________Fernandez_____________________________

_______________________________Bouaddi__________

 

O’Reilly____________________________________Nunes

___________Guehi(VC)_______________Dias(C)_________

 

 

___________________Donnarumma(VC)________________

Subs: Rulli, Lewis, Gvardiol, Khusanov, Anderson, Kovacic, Foden, Elias and Semenyo.

Gianluigi to continue in goal, hoping to keep a clean sheet following the midweek, first half onslaught.

A back four I’m going for Nico, Marc, Ruben and Matheus, although I half expect Khusanov starting instead of our skipper. We’ll see soon enough of course.

I think we might see Ayyoub given his first league start with Enzo and Rayan-C- ahead of the 19-year-old in the engine room.

Jeremy left, Iliman right and Erling up top.

Geronimo as reserve keeper; Rico, Josko and Abdukodir are just three defenders on the side waiting their turn. Midfielders / wingers / forwards come in the form of Elliot, Mateo, Phil, Allan and Antoine, who might just come on as centre forward for Erling at some stage.

Notable absences:

-       Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.

-       Rayan Ait Nouri – Not selected.

-       Vitor Reis – Not selected.

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

Yep.

Result?

They fight to the end. The Suffolk Blues have a bit of a reputation for late goals and following their last outing, a home win against Fulham in which they scored in the 88^th and 91^st minute to turn a 0-1 scoreline into a 2-1 win, it was pointed out how much fitter Ipswich Town appeared to be over their opponents.

For a newly promoted side, they have a more than reasonable 50% success rate having played 6, won 3 and lost 3 in the league.

So, they have no issues leggin’ it around for 90+ minutes and have it within them to more than hold their own by grabbing crucial wins. However, their Achilles heal appears to be their inability to keep a clean sheet, something they've failed to do all season; even at home in the League Cup against League One opposition.

What does all that tell me with regards to today?

Ordinarily I would suggest that they’ll be goals at both ends because they've proven several times that they know how to hurt teams and will certainly punish sides who run out of steam. However, Enzo Maresca has told reporters that he doesn’t like to concede goals, so he would have been well irked seeing his side breached four times last Wednesday; albeit against a very impressive PSG side.

With Ipswich’s fitness levels being highlighted a week ago and our manager admitting that legs are getting a little tired in his regular first 11s, it’ll be even more important for us to utilise the bench ASAP in this afternoon’s game. That’s another signal that our defence could leak for a second game running.

Regardless of whether we do concede – and I’m actually going for us to tighten up after midweek and keep a clean sheet today – this is home win for me. 3 points to the Sky Blues.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Quite sunny, dry and a chilly, but certainly not unpleasant, 11C. A perfect feel for a 3:00pm, Saturday afternoon October home game, I would say. Enjoy. 🧥🧣😎🥧🍵🍺⚽

Solidarity against both Putin and now Trump

 

Manchester City v PSG – 14.10.2026

Game number 2 in the Champions League, Game 9 of the season for us. Game number 8 was good, wasn’t it? 🙂

v PSG

Etihad Stadium

Just one little tweak? I think so…

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 10/11.

A fluid 4-2-3-1 / / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

_____________________Haaland(VC)__________________

 

 

__Doku__________________________________Ndiaye__

 

______________________Cherki_____________________

__________Fernandez____________Anderson_________

 

O’Reilly____________________________________Nunes

___________Guehi(VC)_______________Dias(C)__________

 

 

___________________Donnarumma(VC)________________

Subs: Bettinelli, Rulli, Ait-Nouri, Lewis, Gvardiol, Khusanov, Reis, Bouaddi, Kovacic, Foden, Elias and Semenyo.

After gathering his 4^th clean sheet of the season last Sunday, Gianluigi continues in goal.

A back 4 of Nico, Marc, Ruben and Matheus. I could be wrong with O’Reilly – Gvardiol may well start there instead.

Enzo and Elliot to continue their fine midfield partnership; Rayan-C- to continue his fine attacking form too slightly further forward (5 goals and 2 assists in all comps already from the Frenchman).

Jeremy is likely to come in on the left after an explosive entrance on 56 minutes at the weekend and although, for me, Antoine Semenyo is just as effective on the right as he is on the left; I’ve just got a feeling that Iliman will ‘get the nod’ ahead of the Ghanaian international.

Erling tops the lot.

With 12 allowed on the bench tonight, we should see two reserve keepers in the shape of Marcus and Geronimo. We should also see all of our back-up squad defenders on the bench and they are Rayan-A-, Rico, Josko, Abdukodir and Vitor. Midfielders / wingers / forwards in ‘the 12’ include Ayyoub, Mateo, a returning [from suspension] Phil, Allan and Antoine.

What a squad of talent we have. 💪

Notable absences:

None! I can’t remember the last time I was able to say that. 😲

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

Yep.

Result?

There are some games that I really do struggle to call. We are absolutely on fire at the moment with 8 wins from 8; 23 scored and just 5 against (3 of those conceded in one game) in all competitions, while our visitors from across the English Channel have had an underwhelming start to the season by their standards, with 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in their opening 6 league fixtures.

However, these are indeed a force of European football and continue to have a wealth of talent at their disposal. I don’t think anyone would doubt that this current side won’t improve their league form and move up the table.

This is why I’m finding it hard to make a judgement. On the one hand we have the amazing form that we’re in plus we’re at home AND the fact that Pep Guardiola will be in the stand, which is sure to give the City fans an extra vocal boost. All of that was pushing me to call a City win tonight. And I wouldn’t be alone either – I heard two sports radio commentators yesterday put us down for 3-1 and 3-2 winners. On the other hand, this is PSG; this is a side that doesn’t do long-term wobbles and I’m sure they’ll be looking to give their season a second kickstart tonight.

If I WAS to lean one way or the other then I’d be putting us down for a narrow win. However, I’m feeling pretty stable in the middle when I announce that I think this will be a draw.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: A slight southerly breeze is dragging up mild air today which will make the temperature “feel like” 16C (61F) throughout the game and for mid-October, that’s quite rare. What is going on with our weather? Overcast but dry are the only other things to mention. Enjoy. 🌭🍟/🥧🍺⚽

Solidarity