Call it “spin”, if you like, but following weeks of many-a-pundit telling us that it’s now “x”-number of weeks with only one win for Manchester City in “x”-number of games etc.; if we beat the Hammers this afternoon then it’ll be 3 wins and 2 draws from our last 7 games. What a difference a couple of weeks makes, hey?
I wonder if those same pundits will reel off that particular stat should we get the win this afternoon…
A quick word on our last game…a victory and clean sheet no less!
Although our legs seemed to go a little in the second half for a good while and Leicester appeared to get stronger during that same period; I thought there was improvement both collectively and individually from us last Sunday, especially in the first half. A lot of the players’ legs do seem to tire quite soon into the second half of games lately, I have most definitely noticed.
Momentum is now there for the taking and the smiles / relief on the players' and management staff's faces last weekend will hopefully now grow into renewed confidence after a rare, long-tough period for us.
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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 (occasional 3-6-1):
____________________Haaland____________________
Savinho____________________________________Silva
________De Bruyne_______________Foden__________
____________________Kovacic____________________
Gvardiol___________________________________Lewis
____________Ake_______________Akanji___________
_____________________Ortega____________________
Subs: Carson, Walker, Simpson-Pusey, McAtee, Gundogan, O’Reilly, Doku, Grealish and Mubama.
Stefan has the (hopefully thermal) gloves for this match.
A back-4, sometimes 3, of Josko, Nathan, Manuel and Rico.
Mateo continues in the position vacated by Rodders at the start of the season.
In attack, I’m going for Savinho on the left once more, Bernardo on the opposition flank with Kev and Phil in the middle.
Erling up top.
Scott is keeper insurance for this one, although he could be joined by Spike Brits or A.N. Other keeper. Kyle and Jahmia are two defenders on the side and they sit near three midfielders in the form of James, Ilkay and Nico. Jack and Jeremy are two wingers hoping for their turn at some stage, while we might continue to see former Hammers’ striker, Mubama, included in ‘the 9’.
Notable absences:
- Ederson – Is only just back in training so this game is likely to have come a little too soon for the Brazilian stopper.
- John Stones – John’s name didn’t come up in Pep’s pre-match press conference so I’m guessing that he’s still out with a reoccurrence of a troublesome foot injury.
- Ruben Dias – Out with his second muscular injury of the season. Going off the initial assessment and information given, the Portuguese international has another 1 or 2-weeks recovery time remaining.
- Rodri – Out for the season with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury. Surgery was completed months ago and the slow road to recovery continues.
- Matheus Nunes – As was the case with John, nothing was mentioned either about the 26-year-old midfielder so I am simply assuming that he remains out with his second unknown / undisclosed injury of the season.
- Oscar Bobb – In a recent interview, the Norwegian international informed us that he was back on the grass and running once more as he trains alone. He has put a timetable on being back in and around the squad late January / early February; adding that his main focus is to come back not just as soon as possible but as strong as possible. Oscar also gave us a taste of what could have been this season by reminding us of what good form he was in pre-season; saying that he felt really strong before he fractured his leg in training.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Although a lot of Blues don’t like to see Bernardo out on the right – if we want to utilise Phil Foden in his most dangerous position; if we want to include Kevin De Bruyne AND if we want to [hopefully] see Savinho have just-as-good-a-game on the left flank as he did away at Leicester 6 days ago, then that’s where the little pocket dynamo will have to be.
Result?
Form a bit all over the place; not a healthy-looking league position (13th and a mere 8 points above the ‘drop zone’). Additionally, not only do our visitors have two players suspended for this match, having both received 5-yellow cards, but they have three injuries; two of them to key-attacking players, Michail Antonio and, very recently, Jarrod Bowen. Now they find themselves travelling to the home of the 4-times-in-a-row Champions of England.
As for us? Our players have had a rare 6-day rest before home league ‘n’ domestic cup games, which is just what the [Manchester City Club] Doctors ordered.
I am the last Manchester City fan to say that any game, especially one against Premier League opposition, is going to be a forgone conclusive win. No way – we will have to graft and craft our way to victory on this cold, January afternoon.
However, when I take into consideration that there are no further reported injuries; when I feel the relief for the players not only for two, back-to-back undefeated games but also that they’ve managed a near-full week’s rest and when I look at West Ham’s last 7 results…
West Ham United 2-5 Arsenal
Leicester City 3-1 West Ham United
West Ham United 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
AFC Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham United
West Ham United 1-1 Brighton and Hove Albion
Southampton 0-1 West Ham United
West Ham United 0-5 Liverpool
…I see a side who has real trouble with teams way above ‘em in the league whilst, at the same time, just about squeeze past lower-placed opposition or have to settle for a share of the points. Maybe I’m reading too much into those results but I hope that continues today.
All things considered I’m going for a City win.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: Win
Result: Won
(Pre-match blog posting from that game)
Expected weather conditions during the game: Cold, dry and partly sunny. 3C is the forecasted temperature at the start of the match but it already begins to dip into the second half by another degree to just 2-Celsius above freezing. Perfect conditions to keep the outfield players cool as they ‘leg it around’...not so good for the keepers. 🥶⛅😎🧣☕🥧🍺⚽ About 1 to 1-½ foot of snow is on the way tonight and tomorrow, my northern friends, but it looks like it’ll turn to rain tomorrow afternoon at some point…
Solidarity
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