Result first but I’d also like…

…to see a good performance from us this afternoon (12:30pm KO BST).

We were sloppy away at Aston Villa; Sevilla was no real test and was described by some as ‘a walk in the park’ for us and with wrong personnel choices in the starting 11, in my humble opinion, slowing the hell out of our attack and disrupting our rhythm against Dortmund last Wednesday night; I want 3 points, of course, but I’d love to see the right players being selected and our accurate passing, free-flowing football back.

v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Molineux

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 7/11).

Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (possibly 2-7-1 at times):

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Foden___________________________________Alvarez

_____________________________De Bruyne_________

___________Silva________________________________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Cancelo__________________________________Stones

_____________Ake_____________Akanji____________

 

 

____________________Ederson_____________________

Subs: Ortega, Lewis, Gomez, Dias, Phillips, Gundogan, Grealish, Palmer, Mahrez.

Ederson is the custodian of the gloves as well as our net.

I just can’t work out what Pep’s plans are going to be with our back-4 at this moment in time and I’ve almost given up trying to apply logical guesswork; just wanting to keep, instead, the same 4 that he picks in our previous outing. In fact, that’s what I’m gonna do and, so, it’s Joao, Nathan, Manuel & John in front of our Brazilian goalkeeper.

Rodders to ‘go again’ as the anchoring midfielder and this is both what I THINK Guardiola will go with as well as what I HOPE he does with the rest of the midfield, which is to go with Bernardo & Kevin in the middle with Phil & Julian flanking them.

Erling to top the lot once again before the international friendly break.

Stefan is the reserve stopper; Rico, Sergio & Ruben are the reserve defenders on the side. Kalvin, Ilkay, Jack, Cole & Riyad make up our midfield / wing options in ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

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

-       Kyle Walker – Very close to a return and he could make the match-day squad this afternoon. Following Pep’s pre-match press conference early yesterday afternoon, there was to be a further training session and assessment of the England international right-wing back before a final decision was made. I’m gonna guess that he won’t be risked in our last match before the break.

-       Aymeric Laporte – Continues to progress in training following a lengthy time out with a knee injury that he had surgery for but he won’t be ready for this fixture, according to his manager.

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

Although he’s rarely had a bad game when asked to play in the right-wing back role; it’s never sat very comfortably with me seeing John Stones in that position. I’d like to think that if we actively pursued Sergio Gomez to compete for the left-wing back position; with Kyle Walker just coming back from injury and being a doubt for this fixture then the Spaniard could start on the left; enabling Joao to move over to his natural position on the right. But hey…that’s just me.

Other than that, not only do a agree with the rest of that predicted starting 11, I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll see that very team selection, or similar at least.

Result? Our host’s league position doesn’t look too good when you first glance at the table but they’re a very tough side the break down – they’ve only conceded 4 goals in 6 league games and that’s the meanest defence in the Prem.

I’m not sure if we’ll face a back-4 or 5 today but either way, we’re sure to-also face an organised and packed midfield with the threat of counter attacks to be very wary of. Pep has quite-rightly said that if our attitude is off even ever-so-slightly this afternoon then we are likely to suffer for it.

Will their new signing Diego Costa play a part? I’ve heard everything from, ‘he’ll need a few weeks training to get himself match ready’ to, ‘he could make his debut against us’. I’ve got a feeling that he might make the bench and depending on what the scoreline is / how the game is progressing around the 60-minute mark; we could see the Brazilian born, Spanish international striker come on.

But, as I’ve already alluded to, if the right players are selected and we ‘sharpen up’ our passing and general play – along with that right attitude our manager referred to – I think we’ll ‘fly in the face’ of Wolves’ strong defensive stats and bang a few in this afternoon; regardless of whether or not they manage to break away and score at least once.

Like Crystal Palace, today’s opponents have been an occasional thorn in our side in recent seasons but I’m sticking with my confident feeling – it’s a vital City win heading into a fortnight’s domestic break.

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: Lovely day for a game of footy. It should be around 15C as the game kicks off; a forecasted top temperature for the day that’s set to last throughout the match. Dry with sunny intervals but in the shade and with a brisk north-westerly breeze, it might be advisable not to go ‘short sleaved’. Perfect conditions for the players to exert themselves for 90+ minutes.

Solidarity