Blue chews-daze: Two back-to-back defeats is almost…

…‘old school’ City.

There’s a bit of analysis of our current defensive midfield conundrum included in this piece.

v RB Leipzig

Red Bull Arena

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 10/11).

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

____________________Haaland____________________

_Doku___________________________________Foden_

____________________________Alvarez____________

____________Nunes_____________________________

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Gvardiol__________________________________Walker

____________Ake________________Dias____________

____________________Ederson____________________

Subs: Carson, Ortega, Gomez, Lewis, Akanji, Stones, Phillips, Kovacic, Silva, Bobb & Grealish.

Wow - it appears as though we might see 11-from 12 on the bench tonight!

Ederson in net.

I’m going for a back-4 of Josko, Nathan, Ruben & Kyle.

Rodders to most-certainly return as our deepest-lying midfielder; I think we’ll see Jeremy, Matheus, Julian & Phil ahead of the Spaniard as our attacking / creative midfielders / wingers / forwards.

Erling to head the lot.

Two keepers on the bench take the form of Scott & Stefan; Sergio, Rico, Manuel and, if deemed fit enough after another assessment in Germany, possibly John make up our defenders on the side. Kalvin, Mateo, a returning Bernardo, Oscar & Jack are 5 midfielders / wingers in the 11 (from 12) waiting to get a Champions League run-out tonight.

Notable absences:

- Kevin De Bruyne – Recovering from a torn hamstring / surgery. Expected return around December / January.

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

Yes, although I really do hope we’re in a position to give some of the players who played most, if not all of last Saturday’s game as well as starting this one, an early’ish withdrawal ahead of Sunday’s match.

Result? Last weekend, our hosts managed to share points with the mighty Bayern Munich in a home 2-2’er; a team they sit just 1-point behind in their domestic league. 5^th is their current position in the Bundesliga after 6 matches played; just 3-points off the leaders, having scored an impressive 16 goals whilst conceding 6.

If any City fan believed that we were handed a group where we should be beating ALL teams then they might want to have a little rethink where Leipzig are concerned.

As for us, I’ve got to say that on the second half showing of BOTH sides in our League Cup exit last Wednesday, Newcastle deserved to edge it as they eventually did, 1-0. Their hunger for victory appeared greater than ours. The first half, I thought, was a training match for us.

Similarly, I have to say that for their excellent work rate, superb defending and devastating counter attacks, Wolves deserved all-3 points last Saturday, it pains me to admit. Yeah we had a few chances that we should have done better with and there were a few questionable decisions too…against both sides to be honest, I have to add, and Pep was keen to rebuff suggestions in his post-match press conference that we lost the game because of the referee. Too many of our players had an off-day.

However, even more worrying is how we’re struggling to cope without the excellent Rodri. Kalvin Phillips doesn’t appear to be the answer, albeit it can’t be easy to step into a team – and such big boots – having hardly kicked a ball since he signed in July 2022. But I have to say that it surprised me to see Mateo Kovacic struggle so much in that position too last Saturday afternoon; I really thought he was the type of player who could adapt his game in order to fill that hole for a short time. Oh for a fit John Stones (or Bernardo Silva?)…or an Ilkay Gundogan.

Having said that, the Croation must have felt a little overwhelmed as the home side hurried & harried both our central midfield and defence just behind him - it must have been like being dropped into the middle of a forest fire armed with just a few buckets of water. At least we have Rodders available for tonight and Pep will have had full week to find a solution to a very obvious problem before we travel to the Emirates Stadium this-coming weekend.

As a sidebar, I think a lack of a natural left-wing back with some pace was, on this occasion at least, exposed last weekend.

Still, long term, it poses a bigger question about what we do without our rock-steady and hugely influential Spanish defensive midfielder because if we lose him for a month or two with an injury, then we could find ourselves up a certain creek without a certain piece of boating equipment. All I can suggest in the meantime and for this season at least, is that when it’s not completely necessary to play the 27-year-old, then bench / rest / protect him as much as possible until we do find an answer as to his cover / replacement.

Would Rico Lewis, either on his own or as a ‘twin pivot’ with someone else, be a good suggestion against Arsenal, as well as on other occasions when needed? Furthermore, could I perhaps propose that a twin, defensive axis of Gvardiol & Lewis be a good combination in front of the defence, with a back-4 of, say, Ake, Dias, Akanji & Walker (with John Stones possibly not available at the moment)? Gvardiol, after all, has both good passing accuracy & range as well as his defensive qualities. Or am I just over thinking the issue?

As for tonight, will some delayed travel disruptions getting over to Germany due to a storm over Europe affect us? Possibly…but I’m reluctant to properly ‘chuck that one into the mix’ and I very much doubt our manager will want to either.

What I do want to have a little gripe about at this stage in my blog-posting, is that not only is this fixture and our next one on Sunday afternoon game-numbers 3 & 4 of back-to-back away fixtures but of the 3 matches to follow those; 2 of ‘em are away also. Putting it another way, 7 matches; 6 away from home! What’s that all about, fixture schedulers?!

After some considerable waffle there, I’m now gonna keep it short & sweet. I think it’ll be a tight game for a good while and a close result in the end. However, I think we’ll sneak it by a goal and possible two if we get our swagger back and with Rodri back in the heart of it all. A City win for me.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:

Prediction: N/A – Played them in the Round of 16, not in the group stage.

Result: N/A – Played them in the Round of 16, not in the group stage.

Expected weather conditions during the game: 13C, clear skies and a light, westerly breeze. Dry is good, of course, but if I were a fan heading to the ground, I’d do so armed with a decent enough coat to cope with a slightly chilly night (9:00PM KO local time / 8:00pm KO UK time).