One eye on Sunday?

Well, that would just be downright disrespectful to our Wednesday night hosts…and that’s just not Pep’s style.

However, we do have to manage our players’ time amidst such a jam-packed fixture list and it was notable that our boss made just one change in 95 minutes last time out (Rodders for Ferran at late as the 90^th minute) and, so, I think we’ll see some players being rested / protected on Wednesday night ahead of what is, after all, far closer to a ‘6 pointer’ than this, still-very-important clash.

v Burnley

Turf Moor

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 6/11).

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

____________________Jesus____________________

 

 

Sterling_________________________________Mahrez

 

__________Gundogan_________Silva______________

 

_____________________Rodri____________________

Mendy__________________________________Cancelo

 

_____________Laporte________Stones_____________

 

 

____________________Ederson___________________

Subs: Steffen, Zinchenko, Walker, Dias, Garcia, Fernandinho, Foden, Bernabe, Torres.

Ederson keeps the gloves.

Definitely a shuffle of the back-4 ahead of the weekend, I would suggest, and that’s despite it being so watertight at the moment. With a stubborn, organised side to break down tomorrow night, I can see our manager going for Benjamin & Joao on the flanks of the defence, with Joao in particular popping into midfield as he has been doing of late to add some extra creativity. As for the middle of the defence, I think Pep will want to protect Ruben ahead of Sunday’s clash and, therefore, rotate him with John; partnering him with Aymeric as Ruben did last Saturday.

If that’s the case, then Rodders will have to be mindful of his wing-back colleagues bombing forward and, therefore, act as an occasional, 3^rd central defender.

However, ahead of the Spaniard it’s all about attack, with Raheem, Ilkay, Bernardo & Riyad all supporting Gabriel.

Zack is the back-up keeper; Oleksandr, Kyle, Ruben & Eric are the reserve defenders on the side. Fernandinho, Phil, Adrian & Ferran are the midfield / wing / attacking options in ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

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

-       Kevin De Bruyne – Injured. Going off the initial assessment, Kev’s expected return is anywhere from 2-½ to 4-½ weeks.

-       Sergio Aguero – Good news! According to reports, the Argentine has apparently tested negative for Covid-19. However, having had symptoms he’s not quite ready to train with his teammates just yet but shouldn’t be too far off with that. We are told that it’s likely to take two weeks or so to get his fitness / strength back, so by my reconning he might be in the match-day squad for our trip to Arsenal on Sunday 21^st February (missing 4 more games in the meantime).

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

Pushing the home side hard from the wing-back department to help break the oppo down could leave us a little exposed if we’re not careful and I’m never comfortable with Benny in the side. I also hope that Riyad has one of his good days and that we see a return of 'decisive' Raheem (I've got strong memories of an absolute sitter that he missed on this ground and he has been going through similar, jittery form of late).

However, I think we do need to-not-risk certain players before Sunday and so, for that reason, yes; there’s always an opportunity to change things / bring on up to 3 subs from 9 in the 90+ minutes.

Result? Before their defeat away at Chelsea, who perhaps felt a little refreshed under a new manager, Burnley actually managed 3 back-to-back wins against Premier League opposition. Seriously, I cannot remember the last time they achieved that. One of ‘em was in the F.A Cup but wins against Liverpool (A) 0-1, Fulham (A) 0-3 and Aston Villa (H) 3-2 is decent to say the least. Again, when did Burnley manage 7 goals in successive games against Premier League sides?!

2 of those 3 results came with clean sheets too – something they’re far more proficient at – and prior to that trio of results, they weren’t shipping in that many goals at all as they chipped away at sides; picking up valuable points ‘here & there’.

I’ve felt like a stuck record in recent weeks when preparing a pre-match analysis but this is going to be yet another game where we’ll have to graft so-very hard if we want all-3 points against another hard-working, very organised team.

I’m going to say something similar to what I said in my last blog posting, which is that I don’t think they’ll be loads of goals but I do think we’ll grab another hard-fought 3 points.

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: Nothing of any real note; no conditions that will affect the game. Chance of some light rain and little in the way of a breeze from the west; even a chilly 5C shouldn’t harden the pitch at all. Slight update on the weather as of 10:00am on 03.02.2021: Rain on & off in the Burnley area all day now continues thoughout the game and, so, the pitch should be nicely 'greased up' for some slick passing but hopefully not mistimed tackles. The direction of the light breeze has changed to a northerly too and it's notable that the previously-forecasted 5C is gonna be more like 3 or 4 now.