A win at home to Fulham on Saturday could see us leap a whoppin’ 7 places to 4th, at least for a time, depending on how the 3 other games ‘pan out’ on the same day and along with goal difference etc.
Should that be the case, I think it would bring a whole new feel to the season for us City fans; a season that, in some ways, feels like it’s taken us time to get some real traction.
But we can’t afford to be complacent this afternoon (3:00pm KO GMT)…
v Fulham
 |
| Etihad Stadium |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).
Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:
____________________Jesus____________________
Torres__________________________________Mahrez
___________De Bruyne______Silva_______________
____________________Rodri_____________________
Mendy__________________________________Walker
____________Laporte_________Stones____________
____________________Ederson___________________
Subs: Steffen, Cancelo, Ake, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Foden, Sterling.
The easy one first – Ederson starts in net.
And for the moment, at least, a fairly easy one also predicting the wing-backs - certainly for this game - which is highly likely to be Benjamin on the left, who has had a couple of decent games by his standards, and ‘easy pick’ Kyle on the right. Now, here comes my first ‘head scratcher’.
I’ve been wondering what’s happened to Aymeric of late; proper frowning within myself as I had started to get used to our ‘dream-team pairing’ of both him & Ruben in the middle of our defence. But then he disappeared and along came John Stones who DARED to show some rare confidence and, indeed it could be suggested, form.
Was Laporte now out of favour? Had John caught his manager’s eye both in training and on the pitch; leaving the Frenchman simply in the position of losing his place to the England man? Even Eric Garcia was getting in the match-day squad ahead of him; a player who has made it perfectly clear he wants to leave and, if the price had been right for us, would have done so in the last transfer window.
There were certainly no reports of any injury to Aymeric; none that I could find at least.
As games ticked by with still no Laporte in the starting 11 or, even-sometimes, the match-day squad; questions have finally started to be asked of Pep on this very subject and his answer has been that he’s simply managing his squad in terms of the packed fixture list that lies ahead.
As one journalist pointed out recently, Guardiola doesn’t necessarily do, ‘pick your strongest 11’. Instead, the Spaniard tends to pick sides to face whatever opponent his team is about to face; possibly-also, in my opinion, with ‘alf-an-eye on the next game or two depending on who that might be against; in what competition and how far away the next fixture(s) is (are).
A lot might say that’s good management; some would argue that you pick your strongest / most in-form players first regardless and then rest accordingly as soon as possible. Makes for a good debate, thinking about it.
And…thinking about it, if-indeed that’s what Pep is doing – managing his resources – why WOULDN’T he keep one of his prize assets rested / protected ahead of a jam-packed schedule and, instead, utilise Eric Garcia while we still hold his contract? As long as Aymeric doesn’t come back rusty & cold and, therefore, possibly prone to a niggly injury then it does make some sense. So, back to it…
…and having said all of that, I think our manager will ‘throw us a curve ball’ here. I think John keeps his place in order to cement, further, some form but will be joined by very-much-rested, Aymeric.
Rodders is ‘the holder’, I would think, and ahead of him is Ferran on the left, hat-trick hero from his last outing, Riyad, on the right having-also been given a full night off in midweek; and ‘go again’ Bernardo in the middle with Kevin, who also enjoyed a bit of break in Portugal last Tuesday.
Gabriel, who only played 19 minutes of ‘the 90’ plus stoppage time, starts ‘up top’.
Zack is the back-up stopper; Joao and a returning-from-injury Nathan are the two defenders on the side. Fernandinho, Ilkay, Phil, who is one game away from his 50th City appearance, and slightly out of form, Raheem, make up the midfield and more creative & attacking change-options from ‘the 7’.
Notable absences:
- Eric Garcia – Not selected for this one but is highly likely to start on Wednesday night, I would say.
- Ruben Dias – Not selected / rested / rotated / protected...whatever.
- Oleksandr Zinchenko – Not selected and, just like Eric, has a good chance of being in ‘the 11’ in 4 days’ time.
- Sergio Aguero – Back in training…again, but this game, once again, comes too soon for the injury-plagued, Argentine legend. Might get a spot on the rather large bench in midweek and may even be given a small run out if the situation suits, I would think is likely.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Yes – for this game, yes.
Regular readers will know that I always get a little twitchy when I see Mendy’s name in the starting 11 but I can’t deny that he’s had a couple of decent’ish games recently and, as opposed to Cancelo, it is his natural side.
Continuing the ‘Mendy theme’ for a moment - I was so pleased to hear his manager say recently and for the first time to my knowledge, that the Frenchman needs to learn how to defend better. It’s not like Pep to put such detail on things like that in public but…FINALLY!
If I’m correct, I think our visitors do have some pace in attack and, therefore, that defensive line-up does probably have our paciest defenders in it too, so that would be a good thing if my prediction is correct. If Rodri DOES start, this could be a test for what some Blues have been saying about the Spanish midfielder recently; that he lacks ‘turning speed’ and pace in general. I hope they’re wrong.
Result? I’ve mentioned the word “complacent” quite early on in this piece and it’s for this reason only. They are a team who have struggled early on this season and there must be quite a few negative reasons why they currently sit 4th-bottom on just 7 points out of a possible 30. They’re also a team who have conceded the most goals in the league so far this season, with 19; a fact ex-City player Tosin Adarabioyo won’t thank me for highlighting when he UNDOUTABLY reads this blog. 😊
But they have started to turn that around a little with 2 wins in their last 4 games and their most-recent victory is an impressive-sounding one, away to Leicester City!
In that game, in fact, half of Fulham’s shots were on target and they had almost as many corners as their hosts. I heard a very brief report on the radio just yesterday where it was said that they looked impressive and ‘good for their victory’.
I suppose you can say this about most sides, these days especially, but what I’m trying to say is; switch off against these and they clearly have it within them to hurt you.
However, I just think that we’re more ‘on it’ now than when we were stuttering ‘n’ spluttering at the start of the season and I think we’ll just be too strong for ‘em. In some ways, I think this’ll go similar to the recent Burnley game…and possibly with a similar scoreline too.
It’s a City win for me…IF we remain ‘switched on’ and don't turn off.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: N/A
Result: N/A
Expected weather conditions during the game: Dry but cold. Overcast skies sees the game start & continue at just 5C, which is likely to feel closer to 1 or 2C in a bit of a north-easterly breeze. I think we might see some players donning gloves this afternoon…
Coming very soon:
Some ‘transfer talk’ round-up & opinion.
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