How our lads managed to muster the energy to do what they did last Saturday is one of the most impressive moments in my Manchester City watching.
Pep said, shortly after the game, that “…they [his players] give everything” and I’m sure that I’m not alone in feeling so-very proud of ‘em.
SO…5-days rest and a deep breath before we begin the final leg of our title defence, starting tonight on the South coast.
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| American Express Community Stadium (Amex) |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).
A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-2-3-1:
____________________Alvarez____________________
Grealish_____________________Foden________Silva
__________De Bruyne___________________________
_____________________Rodri____________________
Ake_____________________________________Walker
____________Dias_______________Akanji__________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Ortega, Gomez, Lewis, Gvardiol, Stones, Kovacic, Nunes, Doku & Bobb.
Ederson returns in goal following the F.A. Cup game last weekend.
I can envisage one change in the starting-11 back-4, with Dias coming in for Stones. Therefore, I think we’ll see Nathan & Kyle on the flanks of the defence with Ruben & Manuel in-between.
Rodders just in front of those.
I’ve got the feeling that we might just see the same front 5 that faced Chelsea last Saturday, which is Jack, Kevin, Phil & Bernardo, all behind Julian ‘up top’. If I’m right, that’s just two changes from our last outing including the keeper.
Stefan steps back as reserve stopper; Serio, Rico, Josko & John make up a rather large number of defenders in ‘the 9’. Mateo, Matheus, Jeremy & Oscar are the midfielders / wingers / forwards on the bench.
Notable absences:
- Erling Haaland – Injured. Nothing major, by the sounds of it at least, but the Norwegian international striker is still unavailable for this fixture; presumably with the same muscular issue that was recently reported. Personally, I don’t think Erling has ever fully recovered from his 2-months out with [a stressed foot-bone] injury and needs ‘the full treatment’ - a complete ‘mind & body’ reset, if you like…
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Yep.
Result? This is the time for us to properly ‘lift off’ – a morale-boosting, gut-busting win in the F.A. Cup semi-final last Saturday was followed by a much-needed, 5-day break for our players that included 2-days of no training / home-stay on Sunday & Monday; all of which SHOULD see us use tonight’s game as a defining springboard to ‘push on’ for title-defending glory. That would be the ideal scenario, at least 🤞.
Similar to what I’ve said in recent blog-postings about both Newcastle United and then Aston Villa; The Seagulls have been an unpredictable element this season. 44 points with a couple of games in hand over two of ‘em does see them still-clinging on to hopes that they can reach some sort of a European place. However, their ‘last 6’ in the league of L W L D L D does paint the picture of what I’ve already suggested.
I’m not going to delve too deep into why that may be but I think some of it might be to do with the signals their Manager put out a few months ago regarding his frustrations about the club’s recruitment; plus hints about him-wanting to ‘move on’ in the summer for those-very reasons. Have his players, therefore, felt ‘that vibe’ form their boss and subsequently ‘dropped off’ a notch? I don’t know for sure but, as far as we’re concerned, I do hope so.
What could be in their favour, beyond home advantage that
is, is the fact that although we’ve had the “luxury” of a full-5 day’s off for
a change, our opponents have not ‘kicked a ball in anger’ for a full-12 days.
At this part of the season…wow! On the plus side for us, however, is the fact that Brighton have several key injuries. I'll take anything at the moment; at the risk of sounding desperate for 3-points...
It’s definitely going to be a tough one – when I looked at our last-6 fixtures some time ago I did have this down as our second-most difficult. Having now realised that our hosts have had almost 2 week’s rest & preparation time, I think that difficulty level has now gone up a notch.
We should be a lot fresher than we were 5 days ago – huh…there’s very little chance of us looking anywhere NEAR as ‘heavy legged’ as we did last Saturday at times. Plus, a morale-boosting, semi-final winning game is bound to give our lads a mental boost too.
As is often the theme for us this season; I think they’ll score but I think we’ll score more. I’m going for an absolutely vital City win.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: Win
Result: Drew
(Pre-match blog posting from that game)
Expected weather conditions during the game: Damp & breezy…of course. 9 or 10C is the official temperature; feeling a little cooler than that with that-westerly waft.
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| Solidarity |
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