We did play quite well and certainly had our chances; some VERY good chances, particularly in the second half. I think 22 City shots but only 5 on target tells a big part of the story. They defended well and in numbers too, of course.
But now we face, not even arguably, our biggest league challengers at home at the weekend and, at home, it’s an opportunity for us to pull a 5-point gap on ‘em. That opportunity is too good to miss on [just] ‘Gameweek 5’.
One last thing to say on last Wednesday’s game before I move on…
…but nothing to do with the match itself.
Both the Radio 5 Live commentator and co-commentator didn’t sound very impressed with it and one fan-online comment later described it as looking like their gran’s old curtains.
I’ve seen footage of fans being asked about it on Ian Cheeseman’s matchday vlog – of those who purchased and were wearing it on the night; laughably, even THEY didn’t sound overly convinced by it, despite splashing out 80-quid (or 120-quid if you wanted it put in a box 😂)!
That just goes to prove what I’ve been saying for YEARS as kits got further and further away from traditional colours and mad, made-up reasons for styles; such as a flippin’ area telephone code - stick a badge on it and they will buy it regardless…
I don’t even think the blue (shorts and socks) looked like a nice shade of, supposedly, sky blue – they look more pastel turquois to me. It’s just horrible all round.
Noel - it’s ‘Definitely NOT City’. 👎
v Arsenal
 |
| Etihad Stadium |
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 / 4-3-3:
____________________Haaland____________________
Grealish______________________Foden______Savinho
___________Silva________________________________
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Gvardiol___________________________________Lewis
____________Dias_______________Akanji___________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Ortega, Walker, Stones, Kovacic, McAtee, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Nunes and Doku.
Ederson has the gloves.
I can only envisage the same defence as it was midweek and that’s Josko, Ruben, Manuel and Rico.
Both Kyle Walker and John Stones are deemed fit and ready to play but in such a high-intense / important game, would two players with very limited minutes since the World Cup be risked in the starting 11? I think Tuesday night’s League Cup game provides a good opportunity for the likes of Kyle and John to get some game minutes into their legs and lungs. Besides, in Rico we have a player who can give us the option of an occasional, extra man in midfield, if that’s what Pep thinks he needs for this fixture.
Rodders to sweep in between those four and the midfielders / wingers ahead of him, who I think will include Jack, Bernardo, Phil and Savinho.
Erling up front.
Stefan continues to wait his turn and, like Kyle and John, that should come in just a couple of days’ time. Kyle and John do make up the only defenders on the side this afternoon, while Mateo, James, Ilkay, Kevin and Matheus are five midfielders amongst the subs. Jeremy is the only winger in ‘the 9’.
Notable absences:
- Nathan Ake– Out injured with either a thigh / muscle injury or a ‘hammy’. 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?
I’d be lying if I fancied Josko’s chances against Bukayo Saka – I’d much prefer it if we had Nathan Ake there instead but that’s not possible. I don’t think Josko is a bad player but the central defender does continue to lapse in his left-side defensive duties from time to time and if you do that against the likes of Saka then you risk putting your side into serious trouble. Hopefully, the 22-year-old Crotian international will be given instructions to concentrate more on his defensive duties rather than venturing forward on Sunday afternoon.
In addition, that’s why I’ve gone for our manager to continue to pick Grealish over Doku. Jack does like ball control and does drop deep / track back, which could help Gvardiol deal with Saka. Then again, there’s a good argument that says if we give Arsenal the problem of having to deal with the explosive and relentless Doku on the left, then Sake might be forced back himself to help HIS full-back / wing-back.
These are exactly the type of decisions Pep has to deal with, of course.
Result?
Some simple stats but one that really stands out for me:
· We’ve both played 4 league games.
· We’ve won all 4, they’ve won 3 and drawn 1. 🟢
· We’ve scored 11 goals to their 6. 🟢
· We’ve kept just one clean sheet and conceded 3 goals…while today’s visitors have conceded just 1 goal in 382 minutes of league football. 🔴 Like us, they also kept a clean sheet in an identical 0-0 draw in Europe in midweek.
That last one, of course, is my stand-out statistic.
I recall listening to the post-match summary after the North London Derby last Sunday and the commentator was bristling about how well Arsenal had defended against their North London rivals, which they won 0-1.
When they last visited the Etihad in the league last season, I seem to recall that they drew a certain amount of criticism after the match for setting up very defensively. We had a whopping 73% of the possession that day but just couldn’t break ‘em down; with the game ending 0-0. We had 12 shots to their 6 but just 1 of ours was on target (a poor 8.3% shot accuracy) to their 2 (33% shot accuracy).
So, we go into this game as the joint-best league goal-scorers against the joint-best defenders. You might be able to guess what’s coming…
In my subheading, I used the words to describe returning players, “They will improve soon enough”. However, I just think that this game as come a little TOO soon and I cannot get the feeling of a draw out of my head; much as I’ve tried to think of a way we can get all-3 points without becoming too vulnerable at the back.
It’s a share of the points for me which, considering we are 2 points ahead of The Gunners with late World Cup returners yet to ‘click into gear’ (Walker, Stones, Rodders and Foden), isn’t such a terrible thing, I don’t think and as much as I’d LOVE the win. 🤞
A draw it is.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
(Pre-match blog posting from that game)
Prediction: Win
Result: Drew
Expected weather conditions during the game: As if the weather system actually has its own calendar; BANG on the autumn equinox the weather goes from warm and sunny [in most of the UK most of the week] to cloudy, rainy and breezy. Temperatures will eventually reach 18C (with a “feels like” of 20C) by about kick-off time, which isn’t too bad at all despite the showers and breeze. As for the playing conditions, that should lightly water the pitch perfectly to Pep’s liking. 🌦
Solidarity
No comments:
Post a Comment