They are a surprise for me, at least.
In fact, I think I owe their manager an apology after referring to him as a “journey man” in my prediction piece near the start of the season; a blog-posting where I put them down for relegation come May 2022.
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| Etihad Stadium |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 7/11).
Fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:
______________________________________________
Foden______________Sterling______________Mahrez
__________De Bruyne__________Silva_____________
_____________________Rodri____________________
Cancelo_________________________________Walker
___________Laporte____________Dias____________
____________________Ederson___________________
Subs: Steffen, Zinchenko, Ake, Stones, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Palmer, Grealish, Jesus.
Before I talk about the line-up, I must add my voice to that of many City fans who were left scratching their heads at Pep’s personnel choices last Tuesday. What the ‘eck was he thinking by not resting certain key players who, by his own, very recent words, said-needed a break?!
And why, also, did he not give some minutes to some or all of the youth players he dragged over to Germany with him?!
None of that makes any sense to me and I agree with one online poster the day after the match; who pointed out that Guardiola didn’t do us any favours when considering that, apparently, clubs are eying James McAtee; a player who has just over 18-months left on his contract and Pep missed a perfect opportunity to show the lad that he has faith in him; that James does have a chance of making it at City. I just hope that the youngster is given that chance in the 3rd round of the F.A.Cup in January.
For me, it’s a classic Pep ‘head wobble moment’ and, once again, in the Champions League too. Frustrating.
Having said all of that and in our manager’s defence; one City fan did inform me the following day (I didn’t get to see the game) that Leipzig were kicking lumps out of us for practically the whole 90+ minutes and that the referee did virtually nothing to deter their aggressiveness.
Huh, I dunno then…did Pep have some kind of insight into how our hosts were going to conduct themselves; did he have knowledge of the referee and feared that our younger players wouldn’t get any protection; with them-possibly ending the match more traumatised than anything else?
Anyway, moving on…
A bit of added guess work for this one, with several players who had knocks ‘n’ niggles having late fitness assessments this morning; just a few hours before the 12:30pm (GMT) kick off.
Ederson reclaims the gloves for this league clash.
A familiar & strong back-4 of Joao, Aymeric, Ruben and Kyle; hoping and assuming that Kyle is fresh and ready to ‘go again’ after his midweek runout and having played so many minutes so far this season.
Rodders in place as defensive midfield adds even more strength to that back line and he’ll link up with a fluid, attacking 5 of Phil, Kevin, Raheem, Bernardo and, I’m guessing, Riyad; who may get a starting reward for his goal in midweek.
Zack reverts back to the bench after his starting appearance last Tuesday; Oleksandr, Nathan and John make up the defensive personnel on the side. Fernandinho, Ilkay, Cole, Jack and Gabriel are the midfield / wing / attacking options in ‘the 9’.
We could see Gabriel start this one and perhaps Raheem on the right instead of Riyad; Jack too could ‘get the nod’ instead of Phil if Phil’s ankle is still troubling him and your guess is as good as mine as to whether Kevin is still feeling the after effects of Covid or not. There are just SO many doubts about this one. Both Aymeric and Nathan had ‘niggly issues’ too and are amongst many who will be assessed this morning…
Notable absences:
- Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.
- Ferran Torres – Out with a foot injury until around Christmas time.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Result? On & off over the last few seasons, our visitors have managed to take quite a few points off us and not just on their own patch either. That wasn’t the case last season, as we recorded victories both home & away against ‘The Wolves’, but I’m sort of glad we got beat on Tuesday night…and that Pep looked considerably irritated afterwards (at himself perhaps? Doubtful…) because they way the West Midlands outfit have been generally performing so far this season; they look to be a side who are difficult to break down (just 13 goals conceded in 15 league outings), whilst at the same time have it in them to break away and nick a goal / draw / win.
Although the midweek outcome meant absolutely nothing, result wise, I think a slightly “angry” response from us is just what we need as we return to league action against a side that can be stubborn.
For all the positives I’ve thrown at Wolves in this piece so far, they’re very good form and run of result has started to look a little shakier in recent weeks; with their last 5 reading: L W D D L. Having said that, I feel that I must point out that their last (L) result was very, VERY close to being another draw; only for fffffff…lippin’ Liverpool to get a 94th-minute winner at Molineux.
I’ve been thinking a lot about ‘reaction’ this week following Tuesday’s result and if most or all of those late fitness test come back positive; then added to players who WERE given the night off in midweek, I think we’re gonna see a response from us.
Our visitors, as I say, can be organised ‘n’ stubborn and they don’t concede many…but they don’t score many either. It COULD very much be a game where we have to be patient again and grind ‘em down but I’ve got a feeling that we’re gonna breach their defences quite early on and if we do, I’ve got another feeling that they’ll capitulate whilst, at the same time, offer little in response.
I’m going for a City win and one that could have a decent margin to it…
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: The game starts off with dark, murky clouds and a bit of mizzle-drizzle and this will turn to more persistent rain as the game progresses. Fans might want to make haste on their journey home or to the pub, as the rain is forecasted to get even heavier from around mid-afternoon. 6C is less cold than it has been in recent days but it does come with a bit of a blustery, southerly breeze.
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