Tighten up and gather momentum once again.

That would be my wish over the coming weeks as the end of the domestic season is just about visible now 10-weeks away on the far horizon.

Quick comment on our last game…

To me, that looked like a performance where the players didn't know how they-themselves would react after being used to such a long, winning run and following the derby defeat. I thought we played well...but in patches and I think that's reflected in the scoreline in some ways.

And it’s strange how we've gone from a solid team who doesn't concede many to conceding in our last 4 matches a total of 6 goals. Still, we managed to score in 3 of those games a total of 11 so we shouldn't complain too much or be overly concerned, I would say.

Hopefully, though, we can ‘tighten that up’ again before we meet much stronger sides because although we can very much be ‘free scoring’ as we were last Wednesday night and against Wolves recently; equally we all know how many missed chances we're all-too-often guilty of.

If we can just sort that out at the back once again - we know we can and have better defenders than we’ve had in recent seasons - then that should give the more-advanced players renewed confidence…and once they have that in abundance; I reckon we’d start another winning streak but, this time, at the ‘business end’ of the season as key cup fixtures start to head in our direction.

Let’s hope we can both build some winning momentum once again starting on Saturday night (8:00pm KO GMT) in south-west London whilst at the same time keep our first clean sheet in 5.

v Fulham

Craven Cottage (picture taken before construction started)

Just got a feeling we might go with no recognised striker for this one, as we have done so from time to time…

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 / (3-7-0):

______________________________________________

 

Foden___________________________________Mahrez

___________________De Bruyne___________________

 

_________Gundogan____________Silva_____________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Zinchenko_______________________________Cancelo

 

_____________Dias____________Stones____________

 

 

____________________Ederson____________________

Subs: Steffen, Mendy, Walker, Ake, Laporte, Fernandinho, Sterling, Jesus, Aguero.

Ed in net.

50% change to the back 4 from the last outing, I’m guessing, with Joao & John coming in to join Oleksandr & Ruben.

Rodders to come back in as defensive midfielder.

And attacking 5 then, I reckon, in the form of Phil, Ilkay, Kevin, Bernardo & Riyad all interchanging as needs must.

Zack the reserve stopper; Benjamin, Nathan & Aymeric provide defensive cover from the bench. Fernandinho, Raheem, Gabriel & Sergio are the midfield / wing / attacking options in ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

-       Eric Garcia – Not selected.

-       Ferran Torres – Not selected. If I’m right, I just get the feeling that Nathan Ake has been training long enough with his teammates now to put himself back in the frame following his rather lengthy injury and with the defence becoming a little leaky of late; I just wonder if Pep would like an extra defensive presence on the side to remind his “regular” defenders that there are plenty of options to come in. Then again, I could just be completely over-thinking the whole thing…

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

Yeah, I like the look of that.

Result? For those who have watched our hosts quite regularly, the general consensus seems to be that they are a better side than their position in the table (3^rd bottom as I type this) suggests.

They certainly do like to keep a philosophy of playing decent football with an attacking, creative flair whenever possible. The problem seems to be, from what I understand, that it doesn’t often pay off for them in the end; with missed chances and then a defence that can ‘give away’ and undo hard work.

Of the bottom 8 sides – and despite having played one more game than two of ‘em - I’d say they’re ‘in there’ with a few teams who have a better chance of survival than others but I’m hoping, of course, that they don’t improve their chances this weekend.

As for us, hard work is still required tomorrow if we’re to come home with ‘all 3’ but we should be buoyed by our midweek victory and 5-goals scored. I would hope, also, they will have poured over any flaky issues we had at the back with a view to rectifying them.

Do that and I can only see a City win, which is what I’m going for.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Bit of a sharp wind is expected to whip in off the River Themes side / from the west tomorrow night…the side of the ground that’s most exposed at the moment due to the complete re-build of the Riverside Stand (see progress video in the link below if you’re interested). That being the case, I can see the average 13 to 15MPH average winds - with possibly higher gusts - having some impact on play, especially whenever the ball is played high of course. Other than that, it’s dry but with a night-time temperature of just 6C throughout the match; I can imagine it being pretty nippy, especially for those on the side of the pitch facing the construction site / wind.

(RIVERSIDE STAND CONSTRUCTION UPDATE VIDEO)