I ask that question because our guests this-coming Monday night have not lost in their last 7 league games; a run that includes a home win against high-flying Leicester City and an away win at Manyoo.
If they keep that up, pundits will have to start including the name Burnley when they talk about teams who have a chance of finding themselves finishing in a Europa spot.
But with professionalism and a job still to do ourselves, it’s up to us to attempt to halt their progression.
Before I move onto Monday night’s game…
…a word on Leroy Sane.
As I’m sure most of you will have heard, it was announced on Friday afternoon that all attempts to secure Leroy Sane with a new contract have failed and, furthermore, it’s been officially stated that Leroy wants to play his football elsewhere next season. Ooo…I wonder where that…“elsewhere” might be?
Even those who, like me, were hoping that we could turn his head and get the talented, German left-winger to stay can’t be shocked at this statement…but it will be sad to see him leave.
But if his head’s just not right and he wants to leave then there’s no point whatsoever trying any longer to keep him ‘locked in’ until his contract runs out. To be honest, I’m not sure he was ever truly convinced that England was where he wanted to play his football – I’m sure I recall him having ‘homesick wobbles’ not long after he first arrived and, where, he returned to Germany for a short time before gaining some family support.
The big question now is, for me anyway, whether he will feature in a City shirt ever again / for the remainder of this season. I don’t know what his current ‘head situation’ is like; I don’t know whether or not he’ll ‘give his all’ should he feature for us again and I don’t know whether, likewise, how it might affect other players’ moral; those who might be sat on the bench itching for game-time whilst watching the want-away 24-year old on the pitch instead.
And neither do I know, truly…deep down, just what Pep REALLY thinks with regards to whether he wants Leroy to-ever play for him & City again and this mixed message, from Guardiola yesterday, does nothing for me to clear that up:
"I said many times we want players who want to play at this club, who want to play with us, want to fully commit to try to achieve our targets but we respect him. He is an incredibly nice guy. I love him. I love him so much, he’s so educated, nice family so I don’t have anything against him”.
"He just decided he wanted to make another adventure for his career and he doesn't want to stay. When that happens, we will help him until the last day that he is here and going to count for the players who want to stay here."
v Burnley
 |
| Etihad Stadium |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from starting line-up in the last game: 7/11).
Just a little rotation following last Thursday’s game, I would think…
Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 3-6-1:
____________________Aguero____________________
Sterling_________________________________B. Silva
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Zinchenko________________________________Walker
_____________Laporte______Fernandinho__________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Carson, Cancelo, Mendy, Otamendi, Gundogan, D. Silva, Mahrez, Sane, Jesus.
The ‘flying Ed’ keeps the gloves.
Having played a full 90+ minutes (and there was a lot of injury time) just 4 days before this fixture; I’m going for our manager to assess / rest / protect the sometimes-fragile Benjamin Mendy for this one and, so, in comes Oleksandr on the left-side of the defence. Kyle, however, I can see being asked to start again for this particular fixture. In-between those I reckon Fernandinho will step in to partner Aymeric.
Rodders to be rotated with Ilkay in the deeper midfield role; Raheem & Kevin get starts once again, I would say, but joined this time by Phil in the middle and Bernardo on the right-attacking flank.
More rotation up front, I’m going for, with Sergio in for Gabriel, although Jesus has had some joy against The Clarets and age gives him the edge fitness / recovery-wise.
Scott finds himself on the bench as back-up to Ederson in the Premier League for the second game running; Joao, Benjamin & Nicolas are the standby defenders. Ilkay, David, Riyad and, yes, I think Leroy will make up the creative midfield / wing options from the side, with Gabriel possibly the reserve striker from ‘the 9’.
Notable absences:
- Claudio Bravo – It’s since been revealed, following the Arsenal game, that he didn’t make the squad due to a hamstring issue. Apparently, he’s doing some light jogging work at the moment and should be back training with the squad in the next few days.
- John Stones – Similarly, it turns out that John’s absence from the squad last Thursday was due to an ankle niggle. I’m taking it that this game will be too soon for him too.
- Eric Garcia – Currently being monitored following the concussion he received right near the end of the last game; when a flying battering ram in the shape of Ederson saw the young Spanish defender worryingly flattened on the pitch for several minutes, as he was attended to by medical staff. He’s okay now, by all accounts, but this game comes too soon for him also.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
No issues with that!
Result? I’ve already gone over our visitor’s ‘pre-Covid form’ (there’s a phrase I never thought I’d ever use or, for that matter, had even heard of only a few months ago) but something else to note would be Burnley’s extra 4-day preparation time over us.
There’s no doubt that we’ll have a battle on our hands and, if I’m being honest, if this early fixture, following the pause in the season, had been on their patch then I might have had some concerns about whether we could knock down their defensive walls; whilst surviving any counter-attack sucker-punches.
Even though we do have home advantage, no fans aside, I think we’ll find these a 'tough nut to crack'…but crack them we will, I think. Patience may be required but that will pay off in the end. It’s another home win for me.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Won
(Pre-match blog posting from that game)
Expected weather conditions during the game: Decent. Reasonably warm (66F), a bit of a westerly breeze and dry.
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