Stats don’t always tell the whole story but, then again…sometimes they do.
A very quick look back…
Against FC Copenhagen, not only did we have a whopping 79% possession but of the huge number of shots we had, 27 in total to the home side’s measly 4, 13 of those attempts were on target. 👍
Rewind to the Everton fixture the game before and once again we had 73% possession but of the 19 shots to their 5, only 3 of our strikes were heading for goal. Thankfully, 2 of those found their way into the net and we managed to grab all-3 points…despite leaving it until 19 minutes from ‘the 90’ before scoring our first. We even managed a clean sheet on that occasion, which is a rare bonus these days.
However, similar to the Everton match in some ways, once again we had 70% possession and a MASSIVE 31 shots to Chelsea’s 9 last Saturday but only 5 of those efforts were on target. That’s awful and when you add all-3 games together, it’s an enormous 77 shots from us but only 21 were ‘goal bound’. Put another way, that’s not too far off just 1 in 4 on target, which is pretty poor considering the talent we have at our disposal in my opinion.
That being said, Pep would no doubt come back with the fact that we are creating chances and he’d be dead right. And, of course, everyone can have ‘one of those days’ and not wishing to sound like I’m singling one player out; Erling Haaland most definitely had one of those days last Saturday. On another day, he’d have been looking at least a hattrick.
The league scrap was always going to ‘ebb & flow’ but last weekend’s home draw did leave me feeling, the following day, like we’d just suffered a defeat. Chelsea did play quite well in the first half – they threatened us on a number of occasions and it took two excellent saves from Ederson to keep us in the fight. One of their defenders too, Axel Disasi, had a flippin’ excellent game! 🙄
So, we’ve gone from having our league title destiny in our own hands to handing that advantage over to Liverpool; with Arsenal having found form too and hitting in goals like crazy! All we can do, then, is keep in touch with the lead side and that starts with a game against a team who won this corresponding fixture last season…
Etihad Stadium
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game which, for me blog-wise, was our game against Everton on Saturday 10th February: 8/11).
A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3:
____________________Haaland____________________
Bobb______________________________________Silva
_________De Bruyne___________Foden____________
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Ake______________________________________Walker
_____________Dias_____________Stones____________
____________________Ederson_____________________
Subs: Ortega, Gomez, Lewis, Akanji, Susoho, Kovacic, Nunes, Doku & Alvarez.
Ederson in between ‘the sticks’.
I reckon we’ll see a back-4 of Nathan, Ruben, John & Kyle start for this one. With John possibly in ‘the 11’ tonight, if he feels like he has full freedom of movement as he continues his latest comeback from a season blighted by injuries, then we COULD see an occasional back-3; with the England man dipping into midfield whenever possible. However, that could prove a little risky with our visitor’s ability to counter to good effect, as we saw all too well just over a fortnight ago at their place.
Rodders, once again, to expertly ‘do his thing’ in front of those defenders – when WILL he get a rest / have someone who can adequately cover for him?!
I’ve got a feeling that we could see an attacking quartet of Oscar, Kevin, Phil & Bernardo tonight but I stand to be corrected as always.
Despite having an off day last Saturday and despite also the loss of his gran just a few days earlier; Erling to ‘go again’ up front.
Stefan is our reserve stopper with only 7 days to go before he makes the starting 11 in the 5th round of the F.A. Cup on Tuesday 27th February; Sergio, Rico & Manuel are the defenders who join the German keeper. The ‘3 Ms’, Mahamadou, Mateo & Matheus, are 3 central midfielders in ‘the 9’, while the ‘2 Js’, Jeremy & Julian, make up our wingers / forwards waiting on the side.
Notable absences:
- Josko Gvardiol – Out with an ankle injury for about another fortnight.
- Jack Grealish – Out with a minor groin / hip injury and is expected to return in around 10 days.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Result? Well beaten at home last Saturday by Liverpool but Brentford were the better side for the opening 20 minutes. And at 0-3 down, our visitors did manage to breach the Reds defence to pull a goal back. However, defensive errors cost them the match and they lost 1-4 to keep The Bees just 5 points above the ‘drop zone’.
Of course, due to a rescheduled fixture, it has resulted in us facing Brentford twice in 16 days and my belief that they would score against us just over a fortnight ago came to fruition, sadly. They are a difficult opponent for sure. In fact, they struck first and we only went into the break on an equal footing, scoreline wise, thanks to a Phil Foden strike 3 minutes into first half injury time. Phil was on fire that day and I hope we can bring the 23-year-old more into the game than we could against Chelsea last weekend.
We also need to defend better – I’ve mentioned the missed chances that we’ve had in the last 3 games but when I look at our league record, at least, over the whole season; 26 goals conceded in 24 games played is just not like us. 🤔 Kyle Walker, one of five Manchester City Captains elected this season, has stepped forward since the Chelsea draw expressing his feelings on that very subject matter.
There was a fantastic reaction from Rodri when he equalised at the weekend and it’s of some comfort to learn that the likes of Kyle, who was culpable for allowing Raheem Sterling to turn him for Chelsea’s goal, has been in conversation with his fellow defenders to iron out some vulnerability issues.
It was also obvious to me that there was both a relaxed but very much focused demeanour from our manager in his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon and I just get the feeling that there’s a concentrated and collective determination to get back to winning ways as soon as possible…and that opportunity is tonight.
Most certainly we have to be mindful that the West London side will put up a good fight and be alert also to their various, dangerous-attacking / counter attacking threats.
I’m going for a City win…and I’m even going to suggest that we might keep a clean sheet too. It’s 3 points to us; moving us back into 2nd and just 1 point off the leaders…for 24-hours at least.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: Win
Result: Lost
(There was no pre-match blog-posting for that game due to a long weekend holiday)
Expected weather conditions during the game: Damp for a few hours before the game so the pitch should be perfect for some slick passing. It’s then forecasted to dry up for the match and for fans making their way home 👍. 8 to 10C is the temperature with hardly a breeze to speak of.
Solidarity
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