Wounded by a late, late winner for Wolves on their ‘restart game’ at Goodison Park last Monday; perhaps afraid about teetering at the edge of the relegation zone having gained just 1 point from their last-possible 12.
If so, you know when they say about such animals…
v Everton
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| Etihad Stadium |
Rotation / rest for some, I think; reward for others, perhaps…
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 6/11).
Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (possibly 2-7-1 at times):
____________________Haaland____________________
Grealish___________________________________Silva
__________Foden_______________De Bruyne_______
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Cancelo__________________________________Walker
___________Laporte_____________Stones__________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Ortega, Gomez, Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Phillips, Gundogan, Mahrez, Palmer.
Ederson keeps his place in goal.
I’m sticking my neck out a little here by suggesting that just one defender from last Wednesday night starts this afternoon…and that’s despite excellent performances from both Nathan Ake & Rico Lewis; with another solid display also from Manuel Akanji. SO…John survives but is joined by Joao, Aymeric & Kyle. Those who find themselves dropped might be saved for / see action in our away trip to Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.
Rodders is likely to be asked to ‘go again’ as our deepest-lying midfielder and ahead of the Spaniard is a bit of bold guesswork too.
Jack had a very strange game 3 days ago – an AWFUL first half where he just ran into players; spent time on the floor before the actual fouls started flying in later on in the game and missed two crackin’ chances to score. Then, in the second half and despite extra “attention”, I’ll call it, from the Leeds players; he got better and better and actually ended up with two assists! Weird. Therefore, I’m going to suggest that our manager will be hoping that he can gain some momentum from that ‘second 45’ and ask him to start on the left once more. I think Phil needs a run-out and with Ilkay Gundogan playing 78 minutes against Girona, 88 v Liverpool and the ‘full 95’ against Leeds; a slot might be available for the 22-year-old in the middle. Kevin to be given another start but, if so, I’d expect him to be withdrawn quite early if at all possible and, lastly in that department, I think we’ll see Bernardo being given his first post-World Cup run-out on the right of our attack.
Record breaking Erling is ‘up top’.
Stefan continues to provide keeper insurance while Sergio, Rico, Manuel & Nathan are the defenders in ‘the 9’. Kalvin, Ilkay, Riyad & Cole are the midfielders / wingers on the side waiting for their chance.
Notable absences:
- Ruben Dias – Out for an unspecified period of time with a hamstring injury sustained in his last match for Portugal.
- Julian Alvarez – Still having ‘time out’ after reaching the final of the World Cup – could make a return for our next game, which is Chelsea away in the league on Thursday 5th January.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Absolutely.
Result? In addition to our visitors having their collective backs against the wall, they also welcome back both central defender, Conor Coady, who was ineligible to play against his parent club on Boxing Day and long-term absentee striker, Dominic Calvert-Lewin; although the latter is still unlikely to be fully up to speed / 100% match fit.
As for us, we’re in very good shape personnel-wise.
I think they’ll be a collective determination from The Toffees not to fold and come away from yet-another game with zero points and they may well offer some considerable resistance for a while. However, I honestly can’t see anything other than a City win unless we have an off day in one way or another - I actually think it’s just a case of “by how many”…
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: Wet. Light rain that started around 1:00am will continue right through the morning; into the afternoon and right throughout the match a beyond. 9C doesn’t sound terribly cold for December but it’s unlikely to feel that mild’ish in the damp atmosphere. A steaming-hot pie might be a good idea for fans in attendance. As for the players, that’s gonna be a nice, ‘zippy’ pitch for some quick-passing moves.
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| Solidarity |
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