…I would suggest.
The team we put out against Newcastle last Wednesday was adequate enough to overcome our North-East hosts but, in my opinion, that was partly helped by the fact that the home side didn’t even look like they wanted to TRY to win or even score for long periods of the one-sided game!
Despite that, The Magpies came close to reducing our eventual 3-points to just 1 on at least two occasions and although it was nice to see the likes of Danilo, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and, forced early on through injury, Jesus get a run-out whilst other key personnel got a rest, I’d just like to see us reintroduce a couple of regulars for our crazy-early KO in South London on New Year’s Eve.
Let’s end the calendar year with another win!
v Crystal Palace
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct
from starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).
Fluid 4-5-1 / 4-3-3
____________________Aguero____________________
__________________Fernandino___________________
____________________Ederson____________________
Ederson in goal, of course.
Although said to be suffering with a little
muscle fatigue, I think the rest in midweek should see Fabian return on the
left of defence. Eliaquim comes in again to cover for injury, Nicholas next to
him and Kyle likely to be on the right again for this trip.
Fernandinho might like a little
break but I can see him having to ‘go again’ tomorrow lunchtime. Ahead of him I
think we’re likely to see a familiar attacking / creative quartet of Leroy,
David (although I get the feeling City are still treating the Spaniard gently
following recent personal issues and so he might be allowed another day off on
Sunday), Kevin & Raheem.
Sergio to ‘get the nod’ again, I think.
Claudio the back-up stopper, Danilo drops
to the bench for the trip to our capital and I think we might just see John
make the bench on his road to recovery. Yaya, Ilkay & Bernardo make up the
midfield options from the side; Gabriel the change-option up front.
Notable absences: Benjamin Mendy (continues
rehab following injury / surgery) & Vincent Kompany
(injured AGAIN for an unknow period of time – should find out later today or tomorrow).
Yes…but it is a shame
we don’t have considered-adequate defensive midfield cover to give Fernandinho
some much-needed respite (wouldn’t have been an issue if Mendy hadn’t got injured, as Fernandinho
& Fabian could-have-then rotated that role but, hey-ho…).
Result? Well
just when it looked like Roy Hodgson had stabilised The Eagles - making them a tougher outfit to break down
and picking up enough points to claw their way out of the relegation zone -
all of a sudden 2 wins, 2 draws followed by a home defeat last Thursday in
their last 5 games sees them teetering just one point above the ‘drop zone’ (as this is being
written before today’s games, it must be noted).
However, that home defeat did come against 6th
place (again, at this moment in time) Arsenal
who, it has to be noted, have found some traction in the last few weeks…and
Palace did-still manage to score twice against Arsene Wenger’s
men in a 2-3 defeat. So, they can inflict damage on teams and will, I’m sure,
be scrapping for their very survival once more when we come to town.
At home too, if the home fans are up for it
and are right behind their team, it can be a difficult place to go. That’s why
I say that Pep needs to be ‘on this one’ if he wants to break any more records;
play his strongest – or near-strongest – team and ‘put this one to bed’ to end
the calendar year on a high.
IF
he does that and goes with something like my predicted line-up then, for me,
this is another away win.
Last season’s,
corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Win
Expected weather conditions during
the game: A fairly strong South-Westerly breeze but VERY mild for the time of year at 11C (52F)! It’s expected to be dry for the match with the chance of some sunshine & showers towards the end (or for fans making their way home at least).