…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 |
(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?
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.
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