Manchester is
full of Christmas shoppers and Christmas markets with even more, ‘pop-up’
places to drink alcohol in addition to the dozens of permanent places in the
city centre, of course.
So…who the HELL decided that it would be a good idea to KO
‘the derby’ at 5:30pm?!
Huhhhh…anyway…
Reaction
to last Tuesday.
Well, I
was relieved to see certain personnel in the starting line-up and I had very mixed feelings of optimism with just a sprinkle of recent-form apprehension.
As the
half-time whistle blew, I thought that we controlled the ‘first 45’ fairly well
without necessarily being spectacular and, so, I still had a little bit of
trepidation during the interval.
However, that was soon to be blown away…
However, that was soon to be blown away…
CLICK! I don’t know what was said at half time or where someone had hidden it;
but nearly every City player found their mojo
again! The intensity was back; the crisp, first-time passing, the positioning,
the inter-play and the confidence, also, to shoot from distance. We were
back!
Previous
– and quite rightly so in many ways – doubts about Gabriel Jesus were also swept aside during the game, as he scored two and could have had more; especially against a side and at a ground
where it’s often so difficult for even the very best to find the net.
They
were all so-very-much improved in the second half but that was an excellent
performance by Rodders! David Silva too looked to have ‘found himself’
again.
And, as in the previous game, there were some crackin’ goals too!
Just
what we needed at this up & coming, busy time of the season and ahead of
this particular match…
v Manyoo
 |
| Etihad Stadium |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct
from starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).
Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:
____________________Jesus____________________
__________D. Silva___________De Bruyne________
____________________Rodri_____________________
_________Fernandinho_______Stones_____________
____________________Ederson___________________
Some to keep their places; some rotation I would
suggest…
Ederson definitely keeps his place.
I’m going for our manager to reward Angelino with successive starts and
a first, first-team-derby start on the left-side of the ‘back 4’. Similarly, our
boss seems pretty happy with Kyle on the opposite flank of the defence at the
moment and, so, I’m going for the England man to be part of ‘the 11’. Besides, I think we’re gonna need his pace on that side for this game. Fernandinho is a
certainty in the middle of the defence but it’s a toss-up who might partner him
on Saturday. I’m just going for ‘rotation’ and, therefore, John to come
back in.
 |
| Rodri celebrating his thunderbolt-goal at Burnley |
After a marvelous performance last Tuesday, surely Rodders to start this
one in front of the those.
Assuming our manager doesn’t want to throw a secondary, defensive
midfielder into the mix for this game (surely not at home and needing a win);
I’m going for the same, attacking 4 of Raheem, David, Kevin and Bernardo.
Gabriel to head-up all of those.
Claudio the reserve stopper; Benjamin, Joao & Nicolas the defensive
replacement options from the side. Ilkay, Phil & Riyad as change-options in
the midfield / wing / forward department.
Notable
absences:
- Oleksandr Zinchenko – Apparently
back in training AND, apparently, is in contention for a start, with Pep saying that, “…it
depends on how many minutes [he can play]”. However, I’m going for his manager
not to risk him so soon into his comeback period; especially in the ‘blood
& thunder’ of a derby match. Could be on the bench I suppose; knowing Pep, as I like to think I do to some degree, it wouldn't surprise me if Oleksandr has been secretly training longer than just a few days and, therefore, might even be in line for a start...
- Aymeric Laporte – From last we heard;
the French defender is about 5 to 7-weeks away from a return.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Can’t see anything
wrong with that.
Result?
There’s no doubting that our visitors from West of Manchester
have some attacking threat and pace ‘up top’ and we’re definitely going to have
to be ‘well on it’ to keep ‘em out. I can see ‘em scoring.
I think their main threat comes down the flanks
at pace and I am a little concerned about that; hoping that whoever our manager chooses as
left & right-wing backs are on their ‘A game’.
 |
| Daniel James - Pace aplenty; caused us problems when-playing for Swansea City |
 |
| Marcus Rashford - Pace too and in form... |
I have, in recent past, also mentioned
concerns about pace with regards to Fernandinho but I’m not so bovered about
that now; having recently seen examples of the still-fit & very lean
Brazilian burst into high speed whenever necessary. As long as the whole
defensive unit, Rodri & John Stones (if selected) included, perform
well as a group then we’ll stand a very good chance of supressing their pacey
counter-attacks.
Besides, they’ve
got to get the ball off us first…
Which bring me onto this. Our visitors are,
from everything I’ve heard from depressed-sounding Manyoo fans, appallingly bad
in midfield and there’s a lot of concern about aspects their defence too. That
being the case - and with our midfield / wing department being our
strongest department - I can see us doing some damage to them.
Before both team’s performances in midweek, I
was, initially, gonna label this game as, “Who will be poorest on the
day”; bearing in mind how both teams have been playing, in general, of late.
However, I think it’s now gonna be a case of, “Who will score more”.
I certainly can see a few goals and a
crackin’ game later this evening…and I can see us coming out just on top
with a win.
Last season’s,
corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Win
Expected weather conditions during
the game: Bit breezy; bit damp and overcast. Nothing terrible and 9C is actually quite mild for December.
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