A win last time out but...

…not without looking a little ‘of the pace’ and most certainly a little ‘out of sorts’ in defence.

I think that was to be expected - I certainly anticipated it and I believe it was quite understandable after a trio of games that included Bayern Munich, a big-pitch Wembley, semi-final tester and an intense clash with title rivals, Arsenal.

They’re only human, after all, and we got through our match away at Fulham - a decent, pressing game from our hosts, I thought by the way - having largely rested Bernardo Silva; having-had no Kevin De Bruyne available and giving Phil Foden a few more minutes from the bench as he continues his comeback following appendix surgery. 👍

v West Ham United

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

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

A very fluid 3-2-4-1 / 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Grealish__________________________________Mahrez

 

_________Gundogan____________Silva_____________

 

_____________________Rodri______________________

Akanji____________________________________Walker

____________Dias_______________Stones___________

 

 

____________________Ederson____________________

Subs: Ortega, Lewis, Ake, Laporte, Phillips, De Bruyne, Palmer, Foden & Alvarez.

Ederson continues in net.

A back-3 / 4 of Manuel, Ruben, John & Kyle, I believe will be the case.

Rodders just in front of those and possibly joined by John on occasions; Jack, Ilkay, Bernardo & Riyad are the more advanced midfielders / wingers ahead of the Spanish international.

Erling to ‘go again’, I would think.

Stefan is the reserve stopper; Rico, a returning Nathan & Aymeric are the defenders in ‘the 9’. Kalvin, a possible-returning from injury Kevin (more assessments were to be made after the pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon), Cole & Phill are the midfielders on the side. Julian steps back to the bench for this one as back-up striker, I’m guessing, but we could see the Argentine start instead of Riyad; with Bernardo filling the right-wing position.

Notable absences:

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

-       Sergio Gomez – Not selected.

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

I’ve already spoken about how slightly unsettled I thought our defence looked last Sunday and ‘drilling down’ into that a little; I thought Akanji looked a tad uncomfortable on the left. After all, he’s a right-sided central defender by trade.

However, if I’m correct with that starting-11, I think we’ll largely see John Stones stepping up into that dual defence / midfield role, which will mean Manuel, Ruben & Kyle will ‘shuffle up’ and make up a back, central-3 in this very fluid system we’re seeing of late.

Yeah, it looks very good – I just hope we get a good performance from Riyad, which is very possible, of course.

Result? Our visitors are still in serious trouble and a recent report that I’ve seen suggests that their energy tanks are running low.

They’ve lost the last two league outings by conceding 6 goals but if you bypass those ‘hammer blows’, no pun intended; they put 4 past AFC Bournemouth with a 0-4 away victory after hitting-in 4 at home against KAA Gent in the Europa Conference League. They also held Arsenal at home 2-2 just prior to all of those as well. Put another way, when they get themselves together, they are a side who have the ability to create and find the net.

This is another game we need to take seriously, of course; despite this looking, ‘on paper’, as a, “should win”. Facing a side scrapping for their Premier League existence always brings with it dangers and they may well test our defences more than once.

I’m heartened to see that Bernardo Silva has had a decent rest and might be returning to the starting 11; likewise Nathan & Kevin, although the latter pair may only start from the bench.

It could be tight for a time but on the flip-side; if we find our swagger early on, it could be an impressive scoreline for us / a devastating one for them. Either way, I’m going for us to regain top spot by around 10:00pm. It’s a City win.

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: After a day of near-unbroken sunshine in the area, although very low in the sky; old ‘big yellow’ will still be out as the referee signals for the match to commence. There is a bit of a brisk, easterly breeze, however, so in the shade and when the sun does eventually disappear; 10 or 11C is likely to feel closer to 6 or 7C under clear skies so spectators be warned when choosing what to-set-off-out wearing.

Solidarity