Return of The Blades

As our visitors make a very quick-trip back over the Pennines, let’s hope we can manage a better [local] outcome from when they last visited the area on Wednesday, hey? 😊

v Sheffield United

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 10/11).

Fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:

­____________________________________________

____________________Foden___________________

 

_Sterling______________________________Mahrez_

 

__________Gundogan________Silva_____________

 

____________________Rodri____________________

Cancelo________________________________Walker

 

____________Stones__________Dias_____________

 

 

___________________Ederson___________________

Subs: Steffen, Mendy, Zinchenko, Garcia, Laporte, Fernandinho, Bernabe, Torres, Jesus.

Ed continues ‘between the sticks’.

Some doubt in my head about the wing-backs – Oleksandr would consider himself unlucky not to make ‘the 11’ on recent form and Joao has been so good on the right / drifting into midfield also that he might also feel a little ‘put out’ being shoved over to the left. However, I think Kyle might be bursting for a starting ‘run out’ and, in the last Blues / Blades clash, he was really good and, indeed, scored the only goal / winner. SO…Joao, John, Ruben & Kyle is my guess.

Rodders to sit in front of those; Raheem, Ilkay, Barnardo, Riyad & Phil make up a very fluid, interchangeable ‘attacking 5’.

Zack is the reserve ‘stopper’; Benjamin, Oleksandr, Eric & Aymeric are the 4-defensive change-options from ‘the 9’. Fernandinho, Adrian, Ferran & Gabriel make up the midfield / wing / attacking choices from the side.

Notable absences:

-       Nathan Ake – Still not ready for a return - still working on his fitness comeback.

-       Kevin De Bruyne – Injured and anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks away from a return.

-       Sergio Aguero – Still isolating and suffering with the symptoms of Covid-19. He will be re-assessed once he is re-tested.

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

I’ve always got questions about Riyad’s consistency & contribution but he had a decent game in midweek. I’d be happy with that predicted ‘starting 11’.

Result? I think, in December, if you’d have told any dedicated football fan of a Premier League team or otherwise that, come January, Sheffield United will play 5 games and come out of it with a, W W L W W, they’d have thought you’d have-had too much Christmas sherry! An’-yeah-sure; that’s ‘in all competitions’, which includes 2 F.A. Cup games against lower-league opposition…but it also includes 2 league wins in just 15 days after months of not being able to BUY a league win, as the phrase goes.

That suggests to me that they’ve finally found a little of what impressed so many non-blades fans last season; their first season back in the ‘top flight’.

So, once again, we find ourselves pitted against a hard-working side who can be so-very hard to break down. It’s another heavy shift our lads will have to put it in and I’m instantly reminded [as I type those words] how flippin’ hard we had to fight for all-3 points in the reverse fixture back in October, which left me full of praise for our opponents after our narrow, 0-1 victory.

But work hard we do and if we continue with the level of intensity & creativity that we’ve shown in the last few weeks, then we should have enough in us to break down any resistance.

It might not be another 5-0’er but I think it will be another 3 points to us.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

Prediction: Draw

Result: Won

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: Dry, cold, windy. The board might read 4C but a strong, easterly wind will make it feel more like 0C or even below, I’m sure. I can’t imagine any of the conditions affecting the game other than, perhaps, the cold wind making the players want to run around even more…

 

Back to league action

4 back-to-back leagues games now; 3 away from home and the first of those sees us travel to the highest league ground in the country tonight, all before another away game in the F.A. Cup.

I just hope home-sickness doesn’t set in as well as everything else that’s going on at the moment…

v West Bromwich Albion

The Hawthorns

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 10/11).

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

­____________________Jesus____________________

 

 

_Sterling________________________________Silva_

 

____________Foden_________Gundogan_________

 

____________________Rodri____________________

Zinchenko_____________________________Cancelo

 

____________Stones_________Dias______________

 

 

___________________Ederson___________________

Subs: Steffen, Mendy, Walker, Laporte, Fernandinho, Palmer, Mahrez, Torres, Delap.

Ederson retakes the gloves after F.A. Cup action at the weekend.

A complete change of back 4 from last Saturday too – in comes Oleksandr, John, Ruben & Joao.

Rodders to roam ahead of those and ahead of the Spaniard, is a likely 4 of Raheem, Phil, Ilkay & Bernardo.

Gabriel heads the lot.

Zack returns to the bench as back-up stopper; Benjamin, Kyle - who may be fit enough to ease his way back in from the bench follow a knock to his hip - & Aymeric make up the defensive options from the side. As for the rest, I’m going for Fernandinho, Cole, Riyad, Ferran and, I think, Liam; who might be included in ‘the 9’ in case our hosts put up 2 big ‘banks of 4’ and we need an alternative attack strategy.

Notable absences:

-       Eric Garcia – Not selected.

-       Nathan Ake – Still working his way back from injury; still not quite ready for a return to the match-day squad.

-       Kevin De Bruyne – Hamstring injury or thigh injury? I’ve seen reports stating both. Regardless, he’s anywhere between 3-½ to 5-½ weeks away from a return.

-       Sergio Aguero – Still isolating AND, apparently, suffering a little with the effects of Covid-19.

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

Yep, I like it.

Result? Well, it doesn’t take a football expert to see that our hosts are struggling…badly. ‘Mr Fix It’ has come in and there have been some positive signs of late…some.

Of course, it takes time to turn around such a struggling side – it’s the same set of players (plus 2 recent additions in Andy Lonergan & Robert Snodgrass) who must have been feeling pretty flat as their new boss arrived. And although their spirits will have been lifted by an excellent 2-3 away win at local rivals, Wolves; they’ve still ‘shipped in’ plenty of goals and have been beaten in all other games since Sam Allardyce’s arrival; including being knocked out of the F.A. Cup by bottom-half-of-League-1-table, Blackpool.

I think we’ll face a feisty home side though and I’m not saying for one minute that this will be easy – I’ve seen all-too-often how a ‘Sam side’ can frustrate the hell out of better opposition and then, quite often, sucker-punch them to get the win. We need to be ‘on our metal’ tonight (8:15pm KO GMT).

But a lot of our first-choice players have a well-deserved and much-needed rest last Saturday and our confidence & momentum is very high at the moment.

Work hard…again, and we’ll come back with 3 points as well as jumping to the top of the league, for however long that may be. 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: Although most of the day’s showers should have moved on / fizzled out by the time the ref blows his whistle to start the match, it’ll be a damp-feeling night in the West Midlands. Nothing that will affect gameplay though – the temperature is a cool 5C and there’s just a light, southerly breeze.

4th round v Cheltenham Town

League 2 against Premier League, especially in this round, sounds like a really good, old-fashioned F.A. Cup fixture.

v Cheltenham Town

The rather funky-sounding, Jonny-Rocks Stadium (formally Whadden Road)

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 11/11).

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

____________________Jesus____________________

 

 

_Torres________________________________Mahrez_

 

___________Foden_____________Doyle___________

__________________Fernandinho_________________

 

Mendy_________________________________Dionkou

 

________Harwood-Bellis______Garcia_____________

 

 

_____________________Steffen___________________

Subs: Carson, Cancelo, Mbete, Laporte, Rodri, Nmecha, Palmer, Silva, Delap.

5 of the 9 substitutions allowed in this competition at the moment…

I could be wrong here but Zack might be given this one.

A complete change to the back-4, I reckon and to give all in that [usual] department a well-deserved rest; with Benjamin, Taylor, Eric and a first-team-start for 19-year-old Alpha.

Fernandinho to provide the security & experience between the defence and more-advanced midfielders; with Ferran, Phil, Tommy & Riyad ‘bombing forward’ ahead of the veteran Brazilian.

Gabriel to be given the chance of regaining his shooting boots ‘up top’.

Again, I could be wrong about the keeper situation but I’m going for Scott to be the reserve stopper on this occasion, with Joao, Luke & fit-again Aymeric the back-up defenders. Rodders, Felix, Cole, Bernardo & Liam are the midfield / wing / attacking choices from ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

-       Ederson – Not selected / rested.

-       Kyle Walker – Injured. Just a “knock” / bruised hip by the sounds of it so shouldn’t be out for long / might be available to some degree for Tuesday’s game.

-       Oleksandr Zinchenko – Not selected / rested.

-       Nathan Ake – Still working his way back from injury / not quite ready for a return.

-       Ruben Dias – Not selected / rested.

-       John Stones – Not selected / rested.

-       Kevin De Bruyne – Hamstring injury and will be out for 4 to 6 weeks. Obvious statement alert: That’s a BIG blow…

-       Ilkay Gundogan – Not selected / rested.

-       Raheem Sterling – Not selected / rested.

-       Sergio Aguero – Having had to isolate due to being in contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19, the Argentine striker now has the virus himself (I THOUGHT there was something wrong when he didn’t make the bench for the Villa game after, by my reckoning, his ‘contact isolation’ period was over). This time, his 10-day isolation clock started ticking on 21^st January but even then, we’ll have to see how severe his symptoms are / how well he recovers. I’m sure we all wish him well with a virus that can even strike down some of the fittest.

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

Yes.

Result? Our hosts haven’t recorded a win, oustide of the F.A. Cup, since the 5^th of December but, to their credit; they have drawn their last 4-league games and, so, clearly have some resilience about them.

If this was a packed home stadium, I could see a little more ‘banana skin’ about this clash but I just can’t see anything other than a City win.

Should be a good F.A. Cup game though and with the many changes of personnel for us; they might sneak a goal.

In the end though, and as I say, I think we’ll progress…

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Cold but dry at least [after large parts of the country have been hit with heavy, prolonged periods of rain]. 1C moving toward 0C is likely to see some of the players choosing to wear gloves; while hot drinks will be the ‘order of the day’ for those working on the sides, I’m sure. The pitch doesn’t have undersoil heating so there might be some parts of the pitch hardening up as the game progresses (5:30pm KO GMT) but I can’t imagine the weather conditions causing too many issues.

Wet pitch, uncertain opponents and…

…a likely ‘tweaked’ City side.

v Aston Villa

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 7/11).

Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:

______________________________________________

 

__________________De Bruyne___________________

__Sterling_______________________________Silva__

 

____________Foden_________Gundogan__________

 

____________________Rodri_____________________

Cancelo_________________________________Walker

 

____________Stones__________Dias______________

 

 

___________________Ederson_____________________

Subs: Steffen, Zinchenko, Mendy, Fernandinho, Doyle, Mahrez, Torres, Jesus, Delap.

Just 3 changes from the last game, I reckon…

Ederson is not one of those changes, though, and starts in net.

3 of the back-4 to ‘go again’ with Joao stepping on the left, I would say.

Rodders to replace Fernandinho as the defensive midfielder, with the Brazilian having-had a fine game but likely to be ‘game managed’.

An ‘attacking 5’ then, I think, with no natural striker, which includes Raheem, Phil, Ilkay, Bernardo & Kevin in a very fluid system.

Zack the reserve keeper and only 2 defensive replacement options of Oleksandr & Benjamin (both are left-sided but there are other defensive options there in the match-day squad). Fernandinho, Tommy, Riyad, Ferran, Gabriel & Liam make up the rather impressive midfield / wing / attacking options in ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

-       Eric Garcia – Not selected.

-       Aymeric Laporte – Has progressed from light training alone to training with his teammates in recent days but is not yet ready following injury.

-       Nathan Ake – Still out injured.

-       Sergio Aguero – Fitness being assess following Covid isolation; having been in contact with someone with the virus. Not deemed ready for this one.

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

Yep, like it.

Result? Our visitors have had some serious Covid disruption recently and I don’t know whether that’ll leave them low on first team players and ‘out of sorts’ generally or whether it might…might, leave some of their players rested and ‘raring to go’.

Having played just 15 league games (4 games in hand on some teams and 3 over a lot too!); I find that I’m drawn to their defensive record, which reads a fairly impressive / just 16 leaked in 15 league games played; netting 29 times. Not bad at all.

Another game, therefore, for our lads to ‘knuckle down’ and work hard to both breach their defences whilst, at the same time, keeping out their ‘danger men’.

If we manage to build on our high confidence whilst at the same time not-get complacent & sloppy, then I see another 3-home points. That’s what I’m going for.

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: “Storm Christoph” should have dumped a fair amount of rain on the Etihad pitch leading up to the game to make it a bit…interesting. In fact, it continues to rain as the game kicks off (6pm GMT) - “Greasy pitch” is likely to be an understatement. Fairly mild for January in the north west of England at around 9 or 10C; a bit blustery too but I think it’ll be the wet grass that’s likely to affect the game the most – how much depends on how good the surface is at absorbing 60+ hours of rain…

Expect another hard, gritty…

…game against an unpredictable and often stubborn, Palace side; a team who is most definitely becoming a bogey side for us, especially on our own patch.

v Crystal Palace

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).

Fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:

______________________________________________

___________________De Bruyne__________________

Sterling__________________________________Torres

 

_____________Foden_________Gundogan__________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Cancelo__________________________________Walker

 

____________Stones____________Dias_____________

 

 

____________________Ederson____________________

Subs: Steffen, Zinchenko, Mendy, Harwood-Bellis, Fernandinho, Silva, Mahrez, Jesus, Delap.

Ed in net.

Probably the strongest ‘back-4’ there, if I’m right, which includes Joao, John, Ruben & Kyle.

Almost naturally-selected Rodders has the job of sitting just in front of those.

Although a little bit ‘out of sorts’ at the moment; I’m going for our boss to start Raheem on the left with the Spanish manager shifting the industry of Phil in the middle; with Ilkay and, I think, a re-introduction of Ferran on the right for this one. Kevin is ‘in there’ too, for me and despite looking ‘leggy’ towards the end of the last game, and he might, once again, take a position further up the field.

Zack is the reserve keeper; Oleksandr, Benjamin & Taylor are the reserve defenders from the side. Fernandinho, Bernardo, Riyad, Gabriel & Liam are the midfield / wing / attacking options in ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

-       Scott Carson – Not selected.

-       Aymeric Laporte – Recovering from injury / not yet ready.

-       Eric Garcia – Not selected (and may be in advanced talks with Barcelona ahead of a January move).

-       Nathan Ake – Similar to Laporte; recovering from injury but not yet ready.

-       Sergio Aguero – Still in isolation following contact with a positive Covid-19 case. Should be the last match that he misses for this reason…

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

Yeah, I like it.

Result? It does concern me, to some degree, that The Eagles have come to the Etihad in recent seasons and have taken points from us. I have to say, at this point of course, well-done to them for doing so.

And in their last outing in midweek, they came away from The Emirates Stadium with a clean sheet and a point against a recently-resurgent Arsenal side, although I understand that the home side’s attack was a little lame on the night (I didn’t watch it / just briefly read a report).

And, in fact, I believe Roy Hodgson’s men came close to getting a couple of their own, which pretty much sums up our recent encounters with the men from Selhurst Park – hard-working & organised in their defending with decent attacking players that can 'break your hearts' at the end of quick break-aways. We have been warned.

But, as I’ve alluded to in my subheading, that’s not always the case.

Their last 5 is all over the place – L L D W D – and they were slammed at home 0-7 by Liverpool just 4 weeks ago (seems longer than that), before leaking another 3 goals without reply in the very next game; this time away to Aston Villa. That’s 10 of their 29 league goals conceded in just 2 outings (therefore conceding “just” 19 in 16 league games otherwise)! Strange team…

I find that I go into this game confident that our MUCH-improved defence can keep counter-attacking threats out and having seen the sheer determination from our lads to break down a very organised & hard-working Brighton 11 last Wednesday; I’m confident also that we can breach their defences.

But it comes with a caveat that…if we switch off at the back for a second; IF we don’t work very hard up front and if we waste our chances, then this is a clash that-could-easily swing from 3-home points to a big-fat zero.

Should make for a tense game in some ways - I think it’ll be another close one but I believe that we’ll come out of it on top. It’s a home win for me.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

Prediction: Win

Result: Draw

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: After a fairly wet week and largely wet Saturday too, conditions for the match on Sunday night (7:15pm KO GMT) are forecasted to be dry, overcast and with a temperature of around 4 to 5C. No issues there.

Back to league action and…

…the first of 3, back-to-back home-league games, assuming they all go ahead amidst Covid-19 disruption of course.

v Brighton & Hove Albion

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game, which was full of uncertainty in an F.A. Cup game: 7/11).

Fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:

_______________________________________________

___________________De Bruyne___________________

__Sterling________________________________Silva__

 

_____________Foden_________Gundogan___________

 

__________________Fernandinho___________________

 

Cancelo___________________________________Walker

______________Stones_________Dias_______________

 

 

_____________________Ederson____________________

Subs: Steffen, Zinchenko, Mendy, Harwood-Bells, Rodri, Nmecha, Mahrez, Torres, Jesus.

Ederson to reclaim the gloves, I would say.

In front of the Brazilian, I think we’ll see possibly our strongest back-4 in Joao, John, Ruben & Kyle.

With Rodders seeing 67 minutes of ‘the 90’ and Fernandinho only 23; I think the latter might get the deep-lying midfield role.

Ahead of him, I reckon, will be an attacking 5 of Raheem, Phil, Ilkay, Bernardo & Kevin, with the Belgium international playing in he ‘false number 9’ role (could be Phil…and I could be wrong altogether there).

Zack resumes his place on the side; Oleksandr, Benjamin & Taylor are the reserve defenders. Rodders, Felix, Riyad, Ferran & Gabriel are the likely midfield / wing / attacking options in ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

-       Scott Carson – Still in isolation following a positive Covid-19 test.

-       Aymeric Laporte – Back in light training following a hamstring issue. It was suggested on 10^th January that it might be a week-to-10-days before he can be considered in any match-day squad.

-       Eric Garcia – Still in isolation following a positive Covid-19 test. I thought his isolation time was over now…(in final talks with Barca?)

-       Nathan Ake – Injured with a muscle problem and no known return date.

-       Sergio Aguero - Still in isolation following being in contact with a positive Covid-19 tested person.

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

Sure do! Strong / looks good.

Result? A quick glance at the league table and you’d be forgiven for thinking that Brighton are a struggling side in a fight for survival. Of course, sitting just 1 place above the ‘drop zone’ and only 3 points ahead of the team directly below them, means that they are in some considerable trouble.

However, I think The Seagulls can consider themselves to be in a slightly false position in comparison with the majority of their displays – they’re a hard-working, organised side that have given a very good account of themselves in a lot of matches which, in the end, just didn’t work out for them results-wise a lot of the time, in my opinion.

I think 4 draws in the last 5 league games – 8 in total and the most draws in the league - suggests that very industrious nature of theirs…

So…we’ll have to work very hard for it tomorrow evening, I would suggest; especially in the weather conditions forecasted (read on for that).

But we are working hard at the moment and with that ‘special zip’ back in our game too. Perhaps, at times and in the second half against Birmingham, that was missing a little and I think it was an overall performance that Guardiola wasn’t particularly happy with.

However, I believe that any ‘slightly off’ parts of our game last Sunday will simply help to push us on further and although I don’t think we’ll see a particularly high-scoring game; I can see a clean sheet and all-3 points being the final outcome.

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: It’s a good job we have a good pitch. Even so, having rained continuously from the early hours of Wednesday morning, which will turn even heavier for a good few hours from mid-afternoon; the wet stuff continues to fall throughout the game, which will no-doubt test the drainage on the ‘hallowed grass’. A chilly 4C too for the 6pm KO (GMT)…but it’s the rain that’ll definitely have some impact on the game.