Big decisions to be made v Leeds United

I can’t help feeling that Pep, despite likely denials I’m sure (I’m prepping this piece the day before his pre-match press conference), will have half an’ eye on Wednesday night’s 2^nd-leg clash in Madrid – I can see him wanting to rest / protect as many of his players as possible but without compromising this-also extremely important fixture.

It's a very fine balancing act for sure…

…v Leeds United

Elland Road

Very surprisingly, none of the press asked the almost-inevitable question of our manager about him-possibly having some of his thoughts on our midweek game and, therefore, didn’t give him an opportunity to reject the idea outright.

I think he will make changes / rest some key-attacking players (there are less options to do the same defensively) and I’m gonna suggest one possible surprise starter, should he be deemed ready by the medical staff to start a Premier League game, of course.

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).

Fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:

______________________________________________

 

Grealish_____________Jesus______________Sterling

 

_________Gundogan___________Palmer___________

 

_____________________Rodri____________________

Zinchenko______________________________Cancelo

 

___________Laporte_____________Dias___________

 

 

____________________Ederson___________________

Subs: Steffen, Egan-Riley, Ake, Mbete, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Foden, Silva, Mahrez.

Ederson keeps the gloves.

Although he’ll be a key player and a welcome return on Wednesday night following his European suspension last Tuesday; I think Joao will come straight back into the starting 11 and slot in at right-wing back. In-form Oleksandr is likely to start on the opposite flank of the defence and although I’m thinking that Nathan could get a start in order to rest / protect either Aymeric or Ruben (or possibly Oleksandr); I’m going for the French & Portuguese pair to start this evening.

Rodders to continue in the defensive midfield role and I’m going for our fluid, interchangeable, attacking 5 to consist of Jack, Ilkay, Gabriel, Cole & Raheem. Of course, Cole is the ‘wildcard’ that I’ve ‘chucked into the mix’ and, if fit enough, I’m confident he’d do a good job and himself proud. If not – and if I’m right with the other 9 outfield players – Pep’s going to have to include either De Bruyne, Foden or Silva in the starting 11 and hope to withdraw them at some stage to reduce fatigue and the chance of injury.

Zack is the reserve keeper; Conrad, Nathan & Luke are the defensive replacement options on the side. Fernandinho, who had a good Champions League run-out at right-wing back just 4 days ago, Kevin, Phil, Bernardo & Riyad make up the midfield / wing / attacking options in ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

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

-       Kyle Walker – Still out with an ankle injury with an ‘unknown return date’ but the England international will miss our midweek return leg against Real Madrid, at least. What a blow…

-       John Stones – Out for this game but our manager did say that the 27-year-old could be available for Wednesday night in Spain.

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

Yep.

Result? What a turnaround their new manager has achieved since his arrival on 28^th February 2022. 2 defeats in his opening 2 games, as the American found his Premier League legs, has turned into 5 without loss; a run of results which looks like, L L W W D W D.

However, they were so ‘stuck in the mire’ before he arrived that their fans must still be looking nervously over their shoulder as they sit, as I type this 2 days before the game, just 2 places & 5 points above the ‘drop zone’; having played 1 more game than the team in 18^th.

Apparently, Jesse Marsch likes to deploy a 4-2-2-2 formation which, if I understand it correctly, is a narrow, compact setup that’s both defensive in nature whilst still allowing for 2 strikers ‘up top’. It’s designed, primarily, to be hard to break down but having the effectiveness of being good for counter attacking.

Where it can fail, so I believe, is against teams who like high possession and it’s also vulnerable to sides who like to stretch play and use the flanks…so it’ll be interesting to see if their coach might want to tinker with his usual set up against us.

Either way, it’s gonna be another hard game for us. The other week, when we still had 7 league fixtures ahead of us, I had a few ‘red flag’ fixtures in my mind and this was one of them. It still is. This new fella is a motivator and there’s no denying how well he’s turned the fortunes around of a team that was already used to playing ‘high tempo’, energetic-style soccer football. It’ll be packed out too and their home fans can definitely be that ‘12^th man’ when needed.

If I’m right – or in some way close – to that starting 11, then we have enough attacking players in there to cause them issues for sure…although I do say that whilst crossing everything that Jack has at least a 7/10 game; the highest score I’ve ever seen him have in a sky-blue shirt on just 3 occasions in his first season so far.

I think it’s gonna be a tough game and we’ll have to ‘huff ‘n’ puff’ a lot to get the 3 points we desperately need to keep ahead of our title rivals. We might even have to call on our ‘bigger guns’ to get the job done; whether that’ll be from the bench or putting them on from the start.

 

I spoke to a Manyoo fan the other day who watched Leeds away at Palace in their last outing. He offered some words of comfort by saying we, “…should have no problem against ‘em”; referring to us winning, of course. However, he did note that the West Yorkshire side were very physical that night and kept kicking at / targeting Wilfried Zaha in particular. Of course, it’s a physical sport but I hope the home side don’t get too silly – we don’t need any more injuries, especially at this crucial time in our campaign.

 

We’re playing well and have hit some form; we’ve also got some players hitting really good personal form too and both of those factors should have a positive effect on the mood & confidence in the dressing room.

It should be a crackin’ game - there might be goals at both ends but looking at all of those factors above; I’m going for a City win.

By the way, this is our last domestic game of football to be played on a Saturday for the remainder of the season; with 3 Sunday afternoons and a Wednesday night to follow.

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: Sunny intervals and dry for the 5:30pm KO (BST). 14 / 15C isn’t too bad at all for our last fixture in April but there will be a brisk, westerly breeze blowing over / in & around the 37,792-capacity stadium.

Solidarity