…that appears to have finally found some form is, for us and our record there, a daunting-sounding prospect.
There’s a blog announcement at the end of this piece.
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| Tottenham Hotspur 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 / 4-3-3:
____________________Haaland____________________
Marmoush_________________________________Doku
___________Grealish____________Foden___________
____________________Gonzalez___________________
Gvardiol_______________________________Khusanov
_____________Ake_______________Dias____________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Ortega, Lewis, Reis, Kovacic, Gundogan, McAtee, Silva, De Bruyne and Savinho.
Ederson retains the gloves.
My predicted back-4 is Josko, Nathan, Ruben and Abdukodir, despite Rico Lewis being selected last time out and had one of his better games in an otherwise below-par season.
Nico just ahead of those and slightly more advanced, I’m actually suggesting that Pep might give Jack a rare go in central midfield alongside Phil. Either side of those I’m going for Omar and Jeremy to ‘get the nod’.
Erling might not even make the bench but although Guardiola wanted to watch one more training session before making any final decisions, he did sound quite optimistic and, therefore, I’m actually sticking him in the starting 11. 🤷♂️
Stefan continues to provide keeper insurance; Rico and Vitor are two very young defenders on the side. Mateo, Ilkay, James, Bernardo and Kevin are five back-up midfielders in ‘the 9’ who are all 30+ years of age aside from James, while Savinho provides an attacking wing change-option.
Notable absences:
- John Stones – Out with a thigh injury for 8 to 10 weeks.
- Manuel Akanji – Possibly out for the rest of the season after badly damaging his abductor muscle, for which he had surgery on 15th February. Best case scenario is that he could be back around the end of April / beginning of May.
- 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 – Not selected.
- Oscar Bobb – Struggling with niggles, mainly in the ankle and metatarsal areas, as he makes his long comeback from a fractured leg that he suffered last August. In an update on 25th February, his manager informed us that after speaking with the club doctors he was feeling much better. It is hoped that the Norwegian international will be involved in the final part of the season which, of course, isn’t that far away now.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Should our manager go with it and the introduction of Jack in central midfield works then yeah, why not?
Result?
I’ve said that our hosts have found some form and that’s true in the league, at least. They were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions in the space of three days but it didn’t stop them from winning three, back-to-back Premier League outings and in those three matches they even managed to arrest a season-long problem of conceding too many goals; managing two clean sheets and conceding just one in that little run.
Of course we City fans know what a torrid time we’ve had at the still-new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but we did manage a win in our last away fixture of the campaign last season; a victory that helped us secure another league title.
And as a certain ‘doom and gloom’ feeling still swirls around in the air from a lot of City fans, do you know what? I don’t know about you, the reader, but I thought we played quite well against Liverpool last Sunday…it’s just that they were – and are – a much better side than we are at the moment.
We all know our problems now – we’ve got a defence that needs an overhaul in the summer; Kevin has lost his powers, Bernardo too in some ways and why Phil continues to be a shadow of himself from last season I think only the player himself knows. That’s basically the whole of our attacking, central midfield I’ve mentioned there!
But I thought Khusanov had a good game, we definitely look better for having Gonzalez in the side and even when they’re not producing ‘end product’; a lively Doku and Savinho definitely keep the opposition very busy. Marmoush too has added extra pace and threat to our attack.
It’s been a short, partial winter rebuild and one that should have started last summer AT LEAST but there are positive signs to grasp a hold of there.
And if you want another slice of midweek positivity before tonight’s game; we may have lost at the weekend but aside from a Newcastle win, there were defeats for Forest, Bournemouth and Chelsea in the pursuit for a top-4 (or 5) finish. Last night was good for us too, with only Chelsea gaining three points while Villa and Bournemouth (again) both lost. We need to take advantage of these priceless gifts…
Of course this one is going to be tough, it always is. I predicted a draw last Sunday and we lost. I’m predicting a draw once more for this game…🤞
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: After a soggy day in the region, the weather dries up for the 7:30pm (GMT) kick-off. With the pitch nicely watered prior to the match, we’re left with a light westerly breeze and a rather chilly temperature of around 6C, which will feel more like 3C so wrapping-up warm would-be good advice. 🧥🧣☕🥧🍺⚽
From around early March to the end of the season, I may not be able to produce the odd pre-match blog posting due to new time constraints. This will be especially so should we have any midweek fixtures (I’ve haven’t looked ahead but, of course, dates can change depending team involvement in cup competitions).
Now that we’re no longer participating in a European competition, we may well only be playing at the weekends and, if so, I should be okay to continue to deliver my words of City wisdom, such as they are 😁.
I just wanted to mention it now just in case.
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| Solidarity |
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