We seem to be following the same…

 …script in recent games, don’t we?

Scene 1: Playing quite well / improving but missing several good chances to kill teams off.

Scene 2: Still looking flaky at the back and fading in the second half / latter stages of games, whilst opponents appear to have energy to burn.

Let’s hope we can go ‘off script’ in some respects on Sunday afternoon and improve on some of those areas.

v Ipswich Town

Portman Road

With no questions being asked in the pre-match press conference about the fitness / availability of players other than one regarding Oscar Bobb in Part 1 of the presser, I’m going to assume that the absence situation remains unchanged from our last fixture.

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 / 4-3-3 (occasional 3-6-1):

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Savinho____________________________________Silva

 

________De Bruyne_______________Foden__________

 

____________________Kovacic____________________

Gvardiol___________________________________Nunes

____________Ake________________Akanji___________

 

 

_____________________Ortega____________________

Subs: Ederson, Lewis, Simpson-Pusey, Gundogan, McAtee, O’Reilly, Doku, Grealish and Mubama.

It feels like a toss of a coin situation with regards to the keepers at the moment. I’m going for Stefan to keep his place.

I think we’ll see a back-4, occasional 3, of Josko, Nathan, Manuel and new-face-on-the-right, Matheus.

Mateo just in front of those and further up front I think it’ll be Savinho on the left, Bernardo largely on the right with Kevin and Phil in the middle.

Erling up front.

So, if I’m correct, Ederson sits as back-up stopper, while reserve defenders take the form of Rico and Jahmai. Ilkay, James and Nico make up three midfielders on the side, while wingers Jeremy and Jack along with striker Divin complete ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

-       Kyle Walker – Has asked to leave the club and, therefore, I can’t imagine him being part of any matchday squad.

-       John Stones – Making progress with an ongoing foot injury. Pep informed us in his Brentford pre-match press conference that John was possibly capable of playing 40-45 minutes but he didn’t want a repeat of what we’ve witnessed this season so far, where John has returned too soon in order to help out his team / teammates and has then been forced to take further time out; having aggravated the problem area in his foot.

-       Ruben Dias – Going off the initial assessment and information given, the Portuguese international now has just a few more days’ recovery time remaining from his second muscular injury of the season. On 10^th January, Pep said that the Portuguese international was getting better.

-       Rodri – Out for the season with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury. Surgery was completed months ago and the slow road to recovery continues.

-       Oscar Bobb – We were treated to some good news in one of Pep’s pre-match press conferences recently, where it was revealed that the Norwegian international had resume partial training with his teammates.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Yep.

Result?

Just inside the relegation zone in 18^th place and losing 3 of their last 6 league games doesn’t, on the face of it, sound good at all, does it? However, without having really watched them besides the odd match highlight every so often; I get the feeling that when they’re in the mood for it, they are a hard-working team who can frustrate many-a-side.

For example, in the last three weeks they went to Fulham and came home with a share of the points; they beat Chelsea at home 2-0 and they went to the Emirates and were only defeated by a single goal to nil. In fact, of the bottom four sides, it’s Ipswich who have the best defensive record by a good 10 or 11 goals.

It’s scoring that they’re struggling with but now that I’ve said that, just you watch former City player, Liam Delap, spoil our day 🙄. In 21-league outings, The Tractor Boys have just 20-league goals, with Liam getting 8 of those plus 2 assists.

As for us, I’ve mentioned the areas that we’re struggling with but I also used the word improving in my subheading. That improvement is, thankfully, being reflected in our results; with a last 7, including the F.A. Cup, looking like this: L L D W W W D.

Smiles are returning to some of our players’ faces; in particular, during our last game, to Phil Foden’s mush. Confidence? Well…I think we continued to see some lack of confidence issues at Brentford both in front of our goal as well as theirs. Overall mood? That has to have been given a lift by the announcement that Erling Haaland has just signed a NINE AND A HALF-YEAR CONTRACT! Just in case you hadn’t heard…

Yes, we’ll need to work hard for the points; yes we need to work on those defensive frailties and yes-also we need to stop wasting so many flippin’ good chances. “Just” do all of those and this could be 3 more vital points as we hunt down a top-4 place finish…although I heard the other day that a 5^th-place finish might also carry a Champions League place next season; presumably through some qualifying round or two.

Prediction? A City win.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: A cool feel with dark, grey skies. 2 or 3C is the official temperature but forecasters are sticking a “feels like” of closer to zero. Layering up in the stands is definitely advisable. ☁🧥🧣☕🥧🍺⚽

Solidarity