…a side who don’t always let us have it all our own way.
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| Selhurst Park |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 10/11).
Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (possibly 3-6-1 at times):
____________________Haaland____________________
Grealish__________________________________Foden
________Gundogan______________Silva____________
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Ake_______________________________________Lewis
____________Dias_______________Akanji___________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Ortega, Walker, Laporte, Stones, Phillips, De Bruyne, Palmer, Mahrez & Alvarez.
Ederson keeps the gloves for this one.
Obviously, the rearguard is the most difficult department to guage these days but I’m quite confident of going with Nathan on the left, Ruben & Manuel in the middle and, despite being away from home; I reckon we’ll see Rico on the right in order to add that occasional ‘midfield bulk’ option against a home side who is highly likely to try ‘n’ pack the middle of the pitch.
Rodders to ‘sit in’ and I’m going for a midfield / wing 4 ahead of the Spaniard of Jack, Ilkay, Bernardo & Phil; the latter having apparently got through another foot injury scare, with the help of a couple of day’s rest.
Erling to head the lot.
Stefan continues to be to reserve keeper; Kyle, Aymeric & John are the defenders on the side. Kalvin, Kevin, Cole & Riyad are the midfielders / wingers in ‘the 9’, while Julian is the back-up striker.
Notable absences:
- Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.
- Sergio Gomez – Not selected.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Result? As I’ve already suggested, I wouldn’t necessarily say our weekend hosts have become our bogey side in recent seasons but they sure-hell-know how to trip us up from time to time and stop us from taking all-3 points; occasionally grabbing all-3 themselves whenever we face each other in the league. That’s something we need to avoid-happening more than ever this time around, as we continue to stare at the backs of Arsenal in this title race; despite us-being in a decent run of form in recent weeks.
That’s why I personally believe that we should see in-form players being selected in our starting 11 on Saturday evening (5:30pm KO GMT) and I think Pep will be of that mindset too. 🤞
Often, when we face Palace, they’re somewhere in the middle of the table with their recent form all over the place; often mixed with the ‘full set’ of wins, draws and loses. This time, however, we face a side who is yet to register a win in 2023 and bearing in mind that we’re in mid-March; it’s a wonder how we’re not coming face-to-face with team sitting in the relegation zone! I think, along with the fact that teams below them are struggling to find points, the answer lies in the number of registered draws they have. We’ve just faced this season’s draw specialist in Newcastle (matched only by Brentford, I failed to note in my last posting) and if the Geordie side are the joint-draw specialist with 11 from 24, then Crystal Palace are the budding apprentice with 9 from 25.
They don’t concede a heck of a lot either for a side in 12th and just 5 points out of the ‘drop zone’; I get the feeling that sides who have shared the points with Palace - or managed to grab a win against ‘em - have had to work really hard for it. It would seem, however, that The Eagles simply HAVE to set up to be hard to break down, as scoring appears to be a real issue for them; with just 21 netted from 25-league games played (please, City, don’t be the side who helps to change that trend, as we have done so many times in our history with similar scenarios).
We’ve had a rare, good rest this week and, as I’ve already stated, we’re in decent form. I know, this season, we’ve ‘shot ourselves in the foot’ whenever we’ve looked like extending a 2 or 3-game winning-“run” into something more prolonged but, with more hard work and no silliness / complacency; I believe we can grab all-3 points this evening and extend our current unbeaten run to 8 games in all competitions. I’m going for a City win.
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: Sadly, for those attending the game, early sunshine turns to dark clouds and light rain. And despite a breeze coming from a southerly direction, it’s gonna feel fairly grim at just 5C too. So…I’m sure fans will be hoping that the football action, as well as a sure-to-be hot atmosphere within the ground, will lift the temperature a little…or at least take minds of climatic conditions for a while.
Solidarity
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