…a side who have been known to inflict some damage on us in the last few seasons; a side, also, who are showing some improvement under their very experienced and still-new manager.
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| Etihad Stadium |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).
Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (possibly 3-6-1 at times):
____________________Haaland____________________
Foden___________________________________Mahrez
____________Silva______________De Bruyne________
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Ake_______________________________________Lewis
___________Laporte_____________Akanji___________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Ortega, Cancelo, Walker, Dias, Stones, Phillips, Gundogan, Grealish & Alvarez.
Warning: There are numerous question marks to follow… 🙄
Ederson to continue in net? I’d say it’s likely but he didn’t exactly cover himself in glory last Thursday night…and that’s despite an (another) assist to his name. There might be raised hopes in Stefan Ortega’s head that he can get two, back-to-back games as the 4th round of the F.A. Cup looms large next and there may well be extra scrutiny from Pep about Ederson’s next few performances…but I’m going for Guardiola to give this one to the Brazilian over the German.
Aaahhh…the defence – the guessing game continues. Does our manager say, well done Nathan and well done Rico (two excellent performers in midweek); ‘go again’ or does he say to both Joao & Kyle, right…now you show me what you have to offer us. I would imagine that despite getting buffeted by some of the Spurs players on Thursday that Rico should have the [young] legs to be able to start; perhaps the physios will have a greater say when assessing Nathan. Does Pep give recently-returned John two games in less than 72 hours or does he instead go a little softly-softly on the England central defender and pop Aymeric back into ‘the 11’? All answers on a postcard.
SO…I’ve settled on a back-4 of Nathan, Aymeric, Manuel & Rico but I’m also bracing myself to be very wrong.
Rodders gets the deep midfield position once more and I think we’ll see a few attacking / creative changes, with Phil, Bernardo & Kevin all coming in to join ‘go again’ Riyad who, on top of some good performances and form; truly excelled last Thursday. THAT performance but also this kind of form is what the Algerian is capable of and THAT is the reason I get so frustrated with him when he goes though one of those spells where he looks like he’s both forgotten how to play football and / or can’t be bothered. Keep it up Riyad…please!
Erling ‘up front’ hoping to add to his 2023 goal tally, having scored his first for the calendar year last time out.
Stefan is likely to be on the bench as reserve stopper; Joao, Kyle, Ruben & John provide a wealth of defensive experience on the side. Kalvin, Ilkay & Jack are the midfield / wing replacement options in ‘the 9’, while Julian might feel a little disappointed to find himself reserve striker once again after his run-out the other day.
Notable absences:
- Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.
- Sergio Gomez – Not selected.
- Cole Palmer – Not selected.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Result? Just 1 defeat in in our visitor's last 4 league outings, which includes 2 wins, is enough to suggest improvement in itself; conceding just 3 in those 4 games also suggests a tight, organised and hard-working Wolves side. Even when they’ve been beaten in recent weeks in either the league or F.A. Cup it’s only been by a single goal. Yes fellow Blues, this looks to be another potentially frustrating game of-having to hammer repeatedly on their portcullis, whilst at the same time having to be prepared for surging counter attacks.
Hopefully without the opposition scoring, there’s potential for this match to go the way of our last one in the first half; testing both the nerve and patience of the home crowd once more. If so, we’ll need the kind of step-up in gear and strong mental attitude that we saw from our lads in the second half against Tottenham.
I think we are in for a testing afternoon but whether we’ll be in for a tough ‘first 45’ or whether we’ll take control earlier in the match this time; I think we’ll grab all the points. 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: A damp-feeling day without necessarily seeing any rain. A rather dull / murky day and chilly too at just 3C. Added motivation for the bare-legged players to move around more…
Solidarity
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