Pep, largely to his credit, has most certainly treated the League Cup with a lot of respect; deploying strong teams with just a sprinkling of youth players in some rounds both in ‘the 11’ and on the bench. Winning the competition 3 years in a row; 4 times in 5 seasons is most-definitely testament to that!
But I think our manager could be forgiven if he changed that policy slightly this season.
Reasons?
· The ‘fixture squeeze’. Games in 4 competition are gonna fly at us as a RAPID rate and as much as I personally love domestic cup competitions, something’s gotta give this season…and perhaps next season too. ‘Top clubs’ who are vying for bigger trophies do - and I think quite rightly - see the League Cup as the lowest priority of the season and so in our case this time round; we might just start to see a few new, young faces in the starting 11.
· The club, manager and players’ desire to regain the Premier League title and, therefore perhaps, not-wanting to let this competition potentially get in the way with regards to possible injuries & fixture fatigue.
· The club, manager and players’ desire to finally get their hands on the Champions League trophy [and then ditto the above sentence]…
· And for this round / fixture in particular, the fact that we only played our opening league fixture last Monday night; we have another Premier League game less than 72-hours after this cup game and are likely to have 7 first-team players either out injured or Covid-19 restricted!
Bring on the kids then…
 |
| Etihad Stadium |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome (wish me luck!):
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).
Fluid 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:
_____________________Delap_____________________
Torres___________________________________Mahrez
____________Bernabe_________Doyle______________
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Ake______________________________________Couto
________Harwood-Bellis_____Otamendi____________
_____________________Steffen___________________
Subs: Carson, Mendy, Walker, Laporte, Fernandinho, Foden, Jesus.
New bloke between the sticks comes in the form of USA stopper, Zack. Welcome and good luck fella!
Now, it has been suggested in some quarters that Eric Garcia might take part this evening but I’m thinking…really?! A recent head injury requiring 16 stiches and a player who still yearns to play his football for Barcelona? I could be wrong, of course, but I’m just not having that…and not least because I think it would be disrespectful to other central defenders. So, for me, the pairing at the back tonight will be Taylor & Nicolas. I think Nathan might get another run out and a chance, of course, of facing the club he’s just moved from but this time being given a left-sided role in the defence. Now I know that some may question the lad I’m predicting may play right-wing back because there have been stories very recently that he is to join Aro Muric & Pablo Moreno on loan for the rest of the season at Girona FC…but unlike his two City colleagues I don’t think he’s gone quite-just-yet. I’ve just got a feeling that with one right-wing back needed to be game-managed and one out injured, Pep might be canny enough to retain Yan for this fixture at least before sticking him on a plane to Spain.
Rodders might have to ‘go again’ to provide some experience and protection for the defence.
Although it’s not his natural / preferred side, I think we’ll see Ferran on the left wing against The Cherries…but I do expect him to roam / swap from time to time. “Old man” of the team, Riyad, on the right and in-between the flanking players is a very young duo of Adrian & Tommy.
What a night it would be for Liam if he was to be given a starting place in a lone-striker role at the Etihad Stadium against a side who were very recently playing their league football in the Premier League. That’s what I’m predicting.
Scott, who was recently given another 1-year loan deal, is likely to be given the reserve keeper job on the bench; Benjamin & Kyle might be joining him just in case there’s a change of left & right-wing backs required. I think we’ll see Aymeric being given a spot in ‘the 7’ following recent Covid-19 isolation and I think-also we might see him being given a run out ahead of the weekend league game. Captain Fernandinho might be another on ‘in there’ as cover and-could-well-be rotated with Rodders at some point in order to keep ‘em both fit & fresh. Phil certainly has ‘the legs’ to be on the subs bench in case needed and I’m going for both him & Gabriel to be our more attacking change-options should they be needed.
I could be well wrong with-all-that-lot…
Notable absences:
- Ederson – Not selected / rested / protected.
- Eric Garcia – Not selected / not risked following another head injury & stiches.
- Joao Cancelo – Out until about mid-October with a foot injury.
- John Stones – Not selected / rested / protected.
- Oleksandr Zinchenko – Out until about mid-October with a muscular injury.
- Bernardo Silva – Out until about mid-October with a quadriceps strain.
- Ilkay Gundogan – In Covid-19 isolation up to and including 30.09.2020.
- Kevin De Bruyne - Not selected / rested / protected.
- Raheem Sterling - Not selected / rested / protected.
- Sergio Aguero – Still training alone / recovering from knee surgery. Expected to return around early-to-mid November.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Yep, definitely. And I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing ‘em in action…if I can find it on somewhere.
Result? Some may argue that with SUCH a changed squad we could be leaving ourselves open to possible defeat. Not for me.
Not only are we at home (does that even matter much anymore with no fans in the ground?) but that’s ‘an 11’ packed-full of talent…and certainly enough to beat a team who lost big names in the summer and who have conceded 3 league goals in their opening 2 games (EVEN MIDDLESBROUGH HAVE SCORED AGAINST ‘EM!) and failed to score in ‘the 90’ in the last round of this competition; eventually going through 11-10 on penalties.
It’s a City win for me.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: N/A
Result: N/A
Expected weather conditions during the game: Damp, chilly and a little breezy. Yuk.
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