It might sound very odd to suggest that we’ve not been in full-flow-mode following our blip a few weeks back that put a dent in our season; where we have, since…
- Beat Southampton away 1-3
- Beat our title rivals at home 2-1
- Beat Championship side Rotherham United 7-0 at home
- Beat League 1 side Burton Albion at home 9-0
- Beat 10-man (after 19 minutes) Wolves at home 3-0
- Beat Burton Albion in the return leg 0-1 and…
- …lastly, progressed to the 5th round of the F.A. Cup with a 5-0 home win over Premier League side, Burnley.
Just
yer...P7 W7 D0 L0 – F30 A2
However, anyone who’s been watching our lads throughout that terrific period of results might tell you, as I would, that…yeah, we’ve been ultra-professional against all of those sides and, of course, scoring 30 goals and only conceding twice against a very mixed bag of opponents is definitely something to be very pleased about.
So…what then?
Well, aside from the Southampton game where
we had to try to put things right following 2, back-to-back league defeats – and
where we looked a little nervy at one stage having gone 0-1 up and let the home
side back into it – and despite that wonderful
display & result against Liverpool; the players look like they’ve been
simply ‘going through the motions’ somewhat since.
As I’ve said, I think we’ve remained very
professional indeed and it does have to be taken into account that Pep has, very wisely, used the time to ‘chop ‘n’
change’ / rest first team players as well as introducing youth-team players
when & where possible.
But, as I alluded to recently, the players don’t
look like they’re playing anywhere near full throttle when-facing some of those
Premier League sides.
Perhaps they’ve been TOLD by their boss to do just that; to
do just enough to get the win but without expending too much energy or risk
injury ahead of a tougher period of fixtures. If so – and despite that being a
risky policy to some degree – it has worked and, so, well done Mr Guardiola!
But here comes that run now – a quick-to-arrive away trip to Newcastle who are fighting for their very Premier
League lives; Arsenal at home, Chelsea at home, a Champions League away game and then just 4 days after that, we meet Chelsea again;
this time at Wembley in the League Cup Final. Flippin’ eck!
We do appear to be getting our swagger back
though, even if it looks like we shifting between 2nd & 3rd
gears a lot of the time in games of late. That was certainly the case again
last Saturday against Burnley until the second half; where we might have used 4th
gear for a time to finish-off The Clarets. More of that is needed now as we
face tougher tests.
I’ve got little doubt that we will be up
for the challenges that we’re about to face in the coming weeks and perhaps
those energy-saving displays will pay dividends. It was worth making note
though, I think, as-have quite a number of Blues I’ve spoken to and have posted
on-line in recent days & weeks.
v Newcastle United.
 |
| St. James' Park |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct
from starting line-up in the last game: A really poor 5/11).
Fluid 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:
___________________Aguero____________________
Sane___________________________________Sterling
____________D.
Silva_______De Bruyne____________
_________________Fernandinho__________________
Danilo___________________________________Walker
____________Laporte_________Stones_____________
____________________Ederson___________________
Subs:
Muric,
Mendy, Otamendi,
Gundogan, B.
Silva, Mahrez, Jesus.
Ederson retains his place in goal, of course.
Danilo is definitely doing enough at the
moment to earn a regular place; whether asked to play on his preferred
right-side of defence or in the left-wing-back role. I think we’ll see him on
the left for this one. As for the right side, despite another below-par performance in his last outing
and in a season where he just looks so off-colour a lot of the time; I think
Pep will want to test Kyle again before we face the Gunners on Sunday. Aymeric
& John the likely pairing in-between those.
Having had a fairly easy time of it as well
as being withdrawn on 66 minutes last Saturday, that indicates
to me that Fernandinho will be a strong contender for another starting place tonight. Therefore, could
we finally see ‘the trinity’ in midfield for the first time this season?
Well, with David only seeing 24 minutes of normal time at the weekend and with
Kevin being withdrawn on 75 and looking in fine fettle; I would say there’s a
flippin' good chance! I also think we’ll see Leroy & Raheem return either side of
those.
Sergio, likewise, to get rotated with in-form
Gabriel for this one.
Aro the reserve keeper. With Benjamin being
described by Pep as “much better”, he may be fit enough, therefore, to provide
cover / change-options on the flanks of our defence should it be needed. Nicholas,
despite some flaky defending in the last
game, also gets a spot on the bench as back-up to Laporte & Stones. The
rest of the bench is all about creativity & attack in the form of Ilkay,
Bernardo, Riyad & Gabriel.
Notable
absences:
-
Claudio
Bravo – Continues his rehab following
serious injury.
-
Oleksandr
Zinchenko – Not selected.
-
Vincent
Kompany – When asked about Vinny
yesterday our manager simply replied, “No. No, he’s not ready”.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
What City fan wouldn’t
approve of that line-up?!
Result?
Although more capable of a win than Huddersfield are, this club also looks dead
on its feet. Yeah, they might provide a scrap with the battle at the bottom
being so intense as it is…and they did record a 3-0 home win in their last game
against fellow-strugglers, Cardiff City.
But if we play that predicted side and we are-indeed
shifting-up the gears, then Lord help ‘em! It’s an away win for me.
Last season’s,
corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Win
Expected weather conditions during
the game: Cold. With the temperature at 0C during the game, a persistent Westerly breeze might make it feel more like -3C or more. Dry though, at least.
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