v West Ham United

Despite what I posted just two days ago; having woken up way, WAY earlier than expected this morning, I’ve now just got enough time to throw out a pre-match blog-posting ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s game (2:00pm KO GMT).

v West Ham United

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:

______________________________________________

 

Sterling______________Jesus______________Mahrez

 

_________Gundogan______________Silva__________

 

_____________________Rodri____________________

Cancelo_________________________________Walker

 

___________Laporte____________Dias_____________

 

 

____________________Ederson___________________

Subs: Steffen, Zinchenko, Ake, Stones, Fernandinho, Palmer, Foden, McAtee, Grealish.

Ederson in between ‘the sticks’.

A little rotation in defence? With competition for two central defensive positions very high due to the quality of players we have to fill that position; any ‘chink in the armor’ of any of those players may well leave them exposed to-being dropped down to the bench at the very least. I didn’t get to see our fine performance and win in midweek but I have combed through reports and opinions of the match and although I understand that he didn’t have a BAD game; I do believe that John Stones and had couple of wobbly moments and was a little slack in marking on one occasion and so, for that reason, I’m going for our manager to partner Aymeric with Ruben tomorrow afternoon. In form players Joao & Kyle are either side of that pairing.

Very much in form also is Rodders, who continues in the defensive midfield position. Ahead of all of those is likely to see our usual, fluid, interchangeable 5; this time in the form of Raheem, Ilkay, Gabriel, Bernardo & Riyad.

Zack is the reserve goalie; Oleksandr, Nathan & John represent the defenders in ‘the 9’. Fernandinho, Cole, Phil, James & Jack are the midfield / wing / attacking choices on the side. Can I just say that again? That’s a bench that includes midfielders / wingers with the talents of Fernandinho, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, James McAtee & Jack Grealish…and both Kevin De Bruyne & Ferran Torres aren’t even ‘in there’! Sorry, I still have brief moments as a Manchester City fan where I feel I have to give myself a little pinch…

Just a quick note about Phil & Jack: Both are, apparently, to be assessed today ahead of tomorrow's fixture and, therefore, I've put 'em on the bench; assuming that they're ready to see some action but not quite 100%.

Notable absences:

-       Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.

-       Kevin De Bruyne – Out with Covid-19 with an “isolation countdown” starting from 17.11.2021; whilst assuming also, after that, that he doesn’t suffer any after effects. Latest reports are that he is feeling tired, as well as having no taste, so I’m not expecting a quick, reintroduction to the side even when he’s deemed able to ‘mingle’, once more.

-       Ferran Torres – Out with a foot injury until around Christmas time.

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

Sure do. Regular readers may recall that I quite often have some doubts about Riyad Mahrez in terms of whether he’s gonna ‘turn up on the day’ or not and all I can hope for is a repeat of Wednesday’s performance; where I understand that he was a constant threat all night.

Result? It’s a toughie for sure. David Moyes really does have ‘em playing well and even though, after a good run of results, they eventually came unstuck away at in-form Wolves in their last league outing; they bounced back with an away win in Europe last Thursday.

They also have a near-full squad to choose from; with only 1 “regular” out injured in the form of defender, Angelo Ogbonna.

I think there’s little chance of us seeing either of our scorelines against The Hammers from our 2019-20 season, where we registered a 0-5 at their ground and a 4-1 at home. However, I like the fact that we’re facing a side that will feel they can grab something from us if they have a day when they’re really ‘on it’.

Facing a side like that should keep us sharper than usual and as long as we’re strong and organised at the back; I’m happy for our visitors to come and ‘have a pop at us’.

I never want us to be complacent and it’s something Pep would never allow, of course, but facing an in-form side that’s taken some very good scalps this season so far should eradicate any such sloppiness.

Two in-forms sides clashing should make for a very good game and it could just come down to who has the better players. On that premise…it’s a City win for me.

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: Cold…really cold. 2C is the official [forecasted] temperature but it’ll feel below zero with a light, north-westerly breeze, I’m sure. There’s a chance of a sneaky shower too, which could be a little sleety / snowy. I think we’ll see a number of outfield players choosing to wear gloves on Sunday and if there are any of the 22 who are ‘shrinking violets’ that don’t like the cold, then we’ll certainly know who they are some time between 2:00 and around 3:50pm.