Tuesday, 26 February 2019

Injuries increasing ahead of West Ham

It’s been over a week since I’ve posted for reasons explained and, so, what’s happened since? Well, we only came back from 2-1 down to win 2-3 away in the Champions League and added another League Cup trophy to our cabinet; a trophy we’ve retained, which is ‘a first’ for our fabulous football club! Not bad, hey? 

 

But we’ve done so by gathering a few [more] injuries to key players and as well as understandable fatigue; it remains to be seen who is fit to take part in our Premier League game at home tomorrow night against West Ham United.


v West Ham United


I’d love to talk about the League Cup final ‘n’ all - risking not getting this out today - but I need to ‘crack on’ with this because if I leave it until getting home from work tomorrow, they’ll be little time before KO…

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from starting line-up in the last game which for me, Blog-wise, was the Newport game: 8/11).

Fluid 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

___________________Aguero____________________






Sane__________________________________B. Silva

__________D. Silva__________De Bruyne__________

__________________Gundogan___________________


Zinchenko________________________________Danilo


___________Otamendi______Kompany_____________




____________________Ederson___________________



Some “have to” go again; some rotation I would think…

Hero Ed in net.

Young enough to recover from Sunday, I would suggest; Oleksandr (my man of the match in the final) to start on the left of defence. Danilo likely to start on the opposite side. Will Vinny have-had enough time to recover? Don’t forget, in a way he almost played a full-90, what-will-be, just 3 days earlier. I’m putting him in there. Nicholas will have to put in another shift.

Ilkay likely to be the deeper midfielder along with withdrawn [on Sunday] David & Kevin likely to start ahead of him in midfield. Leroy should be fresh to start on the left of attack and although Riyad would be a fresh option also; I think Pep will hope for another fine performance from Bernardo.

Serg to head all of those.

Aro the reserve stopper; Benjamin is a possible return to ‘the 18’ along with Kyle & Fabian for defensive replacement options. Phil, Raheem & Riyad are the more forward, attacking options from the bench.

Notable absences:

-       Claudio Bravo – Continues his rehab following serious injury.
-       Aymeric Laporte – Injured for an unknown length of time.
-       John Stones – Close to a return but not ready.
-       Fernandinho - Injured for an unknown length of time.
-       Gabriel Jesus – Like John, close to a return but not ready.

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


About the best we can put out and, yes, it looks decent and gets a ‘thumbs up’ from me.

Result? The Engineer v the already Engineered. The former might look at those injuries with some optimism and, sure enough, there are some defensive blows there that our visitors could exploit. They have players who can damage opponents for sure too and this will be another test for sure. Close game, I would think, but I’m going for us to edge it. A home win.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Win

Expected weather conditions during the game: Fine, clear evening and not too cold either at around 8C.

Saturday, 16 February 2019

Newport / pitch v Manchester City.


Well, I had to mention the pitch – everyone seems to be talking about it and it was mentioned SO many times in Pep’s pre-match press conference I lost count!

 

Personally, I’ve not seen it - I watched the highlights of their F.A. Cup game before the Boro one but wasn’t particularly drawn towards a bad pitch; one that has both rugby as well as The Exiles playing on it. 

 

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t gonna do a pre-game blog-posting before this evening's match due to family illness distresses all week and up to Thursday, which left me utterly exhausted yesterday. Instead, I’ll push out a very quick one in order to get it out on time (and please take time to read a small Blog announcement at the very end).


v Newport County A.F.C.


Rodney Parade

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).

Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

___________________Aguero____________________






Sane___________________________________Mahrez

___________D. Silva__________Foden_____________


_________________Fernandinho__________________


Delph____________________________________Danilo

____________Laporte_________Stones_____________




___________________Ederson____________________



Don’t forget folks, we’ve got an away Champions League game coming our way just 4 days after this game…

I think Ederson will have this one.

Slight change in defence? Well it’s not too much in my prediction but our manager might not want to risk Oleksandr ahead of Wednesday's game and after a fine performance last Sunday. Fabian, then, to be the ‘fodder’ for this one in the left-wing back slot. Danilo likely to take up the other flank and with our hosts having big, strong players in their ranks, I can see Guardiola sticking with Aymeric & John in the heart of our defence.

Again, with height in mind, I think Fernandinho might have to start this one at least; with the hope that there’s scope for him to be withdrawn ASAP ahead of our trip to Germany. Ahead of him, I think we’ll see the pairing of David & Phil with a return for Leroy on the left and Riyad on the right wing.

Sergio might be the better ‘rough & ready’ build for this encounter – that could be in Pep’s thinking and, which, I’m going for.

Aro the reserve stopper and then Oleksandr, Kyle & Nicholas provide defensive cover on the left, right & centre. Kevin, Raheem & Gabriel are the creative & attacking replacement-choices from the side.

Notable absences:

-       Claudio Bravo – Continues his rehab following serious injury.
-       Benjamin Mendy – Not ready to return, is the message from the manager.
-       Vincent Kompany – For Vinny, read Benny.
-       Ilkay Gundogan – Rested / Protected.
-       Bernardo Silva – Rested / Protected.

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


Yep, especially the non-weakening of the defensive midfield and inclusion also of our main & taller central defenders.

Result? I think it’ll be a really good game and I think the Welsh side might get a goal (watch for those set pieces Blues!). I hope it’s a clean game (5:30pm KO GMT) ending with 11v11 and that the pitch isn’t TOO much of an issue.

If all those factors happen, then I can see this being an away win. I’ve got a slight, edgy feeling about the game if I'm being honest and if we’re not careful / ‘on it’ and we will face a 12th man in the form of the home fans at a ground, I understand, that has had temporary seating installed taking the capacity from 7,850 to around the 10,000 mark.

I’m going for an away win but because it’s so hard to call in some ways, either a very close one or one where we’re almost out of sight just either side of half time.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: N/A
Result: N/A


Break in service.


I’m going away for a much-needed, short break in a few days and, therefore, they’ll be no Blog-postings ahead of our game on Wednesday night against FC Schalke 04 nor, sadly, before our League Cup final game against Chelsea; a game I'll definitely be watching though!

Sorry for the break in service and enjoy both games!

Saturday, 9 February 2019

Hard to call! Which City…which Chelsea?


There’s no doubting that when you talk to long-time City fans about up & coming games at the moment there’s a sense of, “Well...we’ll see” about it. That’s in sharp contrast to last season and the first-third of this also; where we were in our “swagger +” mode and tearing teams to pieces with both skill & grace. 

 

Then the wheels wobbled a little and even when we were able to screw ‘em back on tight again and came away from games with 3 points; aside from excellent displays against Liverpool & Arsenal we’ve done so without exactly looking fully ‘fine-tuned’.


Similarities.


Chelsea, likewise, had a flying start to the 2018/19 season and their new manager looked the 'perfect fit' for the club. The players were all firing and the right results were coming in – they looked, in fact, very much a title threat for a good time for sure.

I’m...not sure, however, what’s happened since but they’ve definitely 'dropped off' somewhat. I haven’t followed them closely but I have heard things like Hazard has gone from some excellent, early form to looking more-like he wants to move away from the club and, additionally, that he’s being played out of position at times. Their new signing, who was close to being our signing in the summer, Jorginho, apparently isn’t really ‘doing it’ for them either a lot of the time.

And in their last 10 league games, they’ve failed to win nearly half; drawing 1 and losing 3 in that icky period, which includes a bizarre 4-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth in their second-to-last match out and where reports were that The Pensioners were awful!

But they have quality aplenty – and have added to that up front with the excellent loan signing of Gonzalo Higuain - and I’m sure Pep won’t be looking at them as a side who are 'there for the taking'. Should he or any of our players adopt that attitude, it will be to our detriment for sure! We need a Liverpool / Arsenal-like performance tomorrow and not a Newcastle one.

v Chelsea


Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from starting line-up in the last game: 7/11).

Fluid 3-6-1 / 4-5-1 / 3-4-3:

___________________Aguero____________________







Sterling_________________________________Mahrez

________D. Silva____De Bruyne____B. Silva________


__________________Fernandinho_________________


_______Laporte_____Otamendi______Stones_______





____________________Ederson___________________



Will our manager go for that...‘weird one’ again? The formation that no-one saw coming and had plenty of TV / radio pundits and fans alike trying desperately to work out before KO against Arsenal? The tactic that had some fans after the game STILL questioning just where some of the players were playing...and was something Guardiola was also asked about in this pre-match press conference yesterday ahead of this fixture?

Well, I’m going for him to try it again and with similar personnel to last time.

No confusing his position – midfield-wanna-be, Ederson, in net.

I think we’ll see ‘the 3 at the back’ coming in the form of Aymeric, Nicholas & John. John, I think, instead of Kyle 'on the right of the 3' simply because Walker just can’t seem to muster more than a 5 to 6/10 performance in the last few months; no matter what the opposition or how many opportunities he is given to snap himself out of it. He might have more pace than Stones but the latter is 'fresher of leg'; got through the Everton game well and played decent there also. We’ll see of course…

With Laporte & John also half-covering the left & right-back slots, Fernandinho to have that all-important role of being both defensive midfielder & part-time central defender. It’s the position he held so very well against The Gunners and there aren’t many players in the world who can do it…and do it quite so effectively, I would suggest.

If I’m right with this predicted formation & line-up, that'll leave the frightening, attacking / creative 5 of Raheem, David, Kevin, Bernardo & Riyad, all supporting Sergio ‘up top’ in this very fluid system.

Aro the back-up stopper; Danilo, Kyle & Fabian provide cover on both flanks of the defence as well as defensive midfield. Ilkay, who can also fill that deeper midfield role, adds a creative midfield option too and had a brilliant – some would argue Man of the Match - performance in midweek. Leroy who, in contrast, made some poor decisions and cut a frustrated figure at times in his 59-minute showing at Goodison Park before being "hooked", CAN be a breath of fresh air should he come on and fill his left-wing slot at some stage. Gabriel is our more than capable reserve striker.

Notable absences:

-       Claudio Bravo – Continues his rehab following serious injury.
-       Oleksandr Zinchenko – Not selected.
-       Benjamin Mendy – Knee still not right and is, instead, on a sanctioned trip out to Barcelona & Paris and is able to Tweet about it too, of course…
-       Vincent Kompany – Not ready for a return / attempting to shake off whatever the issue is.
-       Phil Foden – Not selected with the likes of Delph & Gundogan also available for selection.

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


Looking at it "on paper", it can leave you looking a little exposed on the defensive flanks; especially with the quality of the afore mentioned Hazard & Higuain to name just 2 threats our visitors have in their armoury.

However, if our players are ‘raring to go’ and it works just as well as last time then, yes; I’m absolutely fine with it and, in fact, I look at the threat OUR 5-plus-Aguero pose with considerable excitement again [as I was v Arsenal]!

Result? 

Well, for the neutral, if my weird dream from last night comes true then this will be a CRACKER! On an old-fashioned train heading to somewhere in Cumbria, an announcement came over some speakers, on this otherwise vintage train, to say that the City / Chelsea game ended 5-5!

Weirdly, in the build-up to this match and post-Everton, I was leaning towards this one being a draw and I should really go with that initial instinct (and stick a 5-5 bet on?) that lasted for a couple of days for some reason.

However, with news that we only have ‘the usual suspects’ out injured and having achieved ‘top spot’ again - even if it came via an extra game played and for however short-a-time it might be – I think our lads will give a match-winning performance tomorrow. I’m going for a hard-fought, home win.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Win