One of three international breaks before Christmas out of the way, just one casualty from that set of matches and, so, it’s back to domestic football; with a 3:00pm (BST), Saturday kick-off. 👍
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| Etihad Stadium |
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 / 4-5-1 / 4-2-3-1:
____________________Haaland____________________
Grealish_____________________De Bruyne___Savinho
___________Silva________________________________
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Gvardiol___________________________________Lewis
____________Dias_______________Akanji___________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Ortega, Walker, Stones, Kovacic, McAtee, Gundogan, Nunes, Foden and Doku.
Ederson continues in net.
I think it’s going to be ‘go again’ with regards to our back 4 (occasional 3), so that’ll be Josko, Ruben, Manuel and Rico, who continued his fine domestic start to the season with a good display also for his country last Tuesday.
Something Mateo Kovacic won’t exactly be cheering about - but probably fully expected - is a likely return to the starting lineup, I would say, of ‘our Rodders’. I think he’ll need some gametime in his legs before the visit of both Inter Milan and Arsenal in the following eight days. Whether he’ll get a ‘full 90’+ is another matter; players returning from hamstring issues need to be treated with a lot of kindness and patience, right Kev?
Ahead of the returning Spaniard, I’m going for our manager to pick Jack, Bernardo, Kevin and Savinho, who was back in training also following his second little knee niggle of the short season so far.
Erling ‘up top’, I’m guessing, and that’s despite reports of the passing of a very close family friend. The Norwegian international has apparently been told that his club will allow him time off for compassionate leave at any time should he want it.
Stefan continues to provide keeper insurance from the sideline; Kyle and John are the only defenders that sit near the German stopper. Mateo, James, Matheus and Phil provide a rather impressive looking set of midfielders waiting for their turn, while Jeremy is the replacement wide man in ‘the 9’.
Notable absences:
- Nathan Ake– Out injured with, what we are told, is a thigh / muscular issue. Another source has it down as a hamstring injury. Either way, the Dutch international will be out for around 6 weeks from the date we were given the information, which was 13th September.
- Oscar Bobb – Out injured with a fractured leg that he received in training. Expected return is anywhere between mid-November and mid-December going off the initial assessment / information released.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Result? A side who have beaten us both home and away in the Premier League; two results which total a third of all meetings between the two clubs in the Prem. A side who, after the first three games of the season, sit 6th and just 3 points behind us.
They’re a side also who have French-born-pairing Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – a dangerous attacking pair who already have 5 goals and an assist between them in the league. I also think that, in Mark Flekken, they have a decent keeper too.
Strangely enough, those qualities that I have highlighted pretty much sum up our visitors; as one Bees fan posted on a site very recently, ‘How we currently play hasn't changed in years - we just sit back and then break, while only having 35-45% of the possession’.
So, as we know all too well, this’ll be yet ANOTHER game where we’ll spend a vast amount of time attempting to break down walls. However, what we City fans know all too well also is that teams can exploit us with the very same, fast-breaking qualities which is part of Brentford’s current philosophy.
The warning signs are laid out in front of us. ⚠
As for us, we appear to be in fine shape personnel wise – only recently injured Nathan and long-term injury, Oscar, are missing from the squad.
I look at that predicted starting 11 and, for the most part, it looks very, very strong indeed; especially in central midfield, down the whole right-hand side and, of course, up front.
However, if I was to be slightly critical and even a little anxious, then I believe that there’s a small weakness on the left-hand-side of our defence. Josko, it has been noted on more than one occasion by a number of observers, can, at times, get pulled out of position or ‘forget himself’ when it comes to his defensive duties on the flank; while next to him we do [in that predicted lineup] have a good defender, in Ruben Dias, but one who could-very-well be exploited against fast-breaking sides. A turn of pace is not the Portuguese international’s strength, it has to be said.
If I was their manager, that’s the side of the pitch I’d be telling my player to pressure if and when possible.
I appear to say this with most of my outcome predictions but I make no apologies for it – I reckon our visitors will breach our defence but, in the end, we should have way, WAY too much for them at the other end; as long as we remain patient and play to the strengths of our various, very talented players.
It’s a Manchester City win for me.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
(Pre-match blog posting from that game)
Prediction: Win
Result: Won
Expected weather conditions during the game: A very pleasant day indeed. After summer was very briefly replaced by something much, much cooler, especially in the early hours of the mornings; 18 / 19C, a light, southerly breeze and some sunshine should feel very nice for those about to enjoy a 3:00pm, Saturday afternoon game. ⛅😎⚽
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| Solidarity |
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