After an early season bump in the road…

…a chance to make it five unbeaten in all competitions on Saturday afternoon (3:00pm KO BST).

But it’s going to take both a lot of graft and plenty of craft to take all-3 points off the men from Lancashire.

v Burnley

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 / 4-3-3 (occasional 3-6-1):

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Doku_____________________________________Silva(C)

 

_________Reijnders_____________Foden____________

_____________________Rodri______________________

 

O’Reilly____________________________________Lewis

__________Gvardiol_____________Dias(VC)___________

 

 

__________________Donnarumma__________________

Subs: Trafford, Ake, Stones, Gonzalez, Phillips, Mukasa, Nunes, Bobb, Savinho.

Gigi returns in goal for this league fixture.

To Lewis, to Nunes or to Stones? With only one official / recognised right-wing back there; all-3 are deemed to be able to fill the right side of our defence. I’m going for Rico to get the call this afternoon and that’s despite him limping off the field heavily in midweek; something he appeared to have run off in the second half. Nico-O-, Josko and Ruben make up the rest of our back line.

Rodders steps back into the starting 11 today and ahead of the 6’ 3” defensive midfielder I’m going for Jeremy, Tijjani, Phil and Bernardo.

Erling returns up front following a little back niggle and a rest in midweek.

James returns to the bench as back up stopper; Nathan and John make up a reserve defensive pair. Nico-G-, Kalvin, Divine and Matheus are four midfielders ready to step into midfield from the side should they get mobilised, while Oscar and Savinho give us two tasty wing options from ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

-       Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.

-       Steffan Ortega – Not selected..

-       Rayan Ait-Nouri – Injured. The nature of the injury and length of time out is still unknown.

-       Abdukodir Khuanov – Out with an ankle issue. We were told on 23^rd September that the Uzbekistan international will be out for a few games. Exact return date unknown.

-       Mateo Kovacic – Back training with his colleagues after a long injury layoff and surgery on his Achilles tendon but this game is likely to have come too soon for the Croatian international. Good news though. 👍

-       Rayan Cherki – Out for a 2-month period from the date of the announcement on 30^th August with a thigh muscle tear.

-       Omar Marmoush – Out with a bruised knee ligament issue. Unknown return date but it will be a matter of weeks by the sounds of it; possibly returning either just before or just after the next international break in October.

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

Yep.

Result?

When you look at our visitor’s league campaign so far this season, winning just 1, drawing 1, losing 3; scoring just 5 and conceding 8 doesn’t look good at all. They currently sit 16^th and are just 1 point above the ‘drop zone’.

However, I still believe that we’ll need a lot of graft and craft to overcome The Clarets this afternoon and my reasoning is this.

Back in the Premier League, following promotion last season, they hit the ground with a bump; losing away to Spurs 3-0. Up to that point, and following on from last season, they weren’t a side used to conceding a lot of goals.

Then came a clash of two promoted sides, as they hosted Sunderland. Do you follow football closely? If you do then you don’t need me to tell you how well the Tyne and Wear side are doing so far following their ascension from the Championship. Their only league defeat? When they met Burnley at Turf Moor on 23^rd August.

After winning their 2^nd Round League Cup tie, Burnley then scored 2 goals away at Manyoo yet somehow managed to lose 3-2. Following that, the current champions and league leaders, Liverpool, just about squeezed past today’s visitors with a 95^th-minute penalty to steal all-3 points from the home side. In their last league outing, Burnley came from behind to share the points with Nottingham Forest; overcoming ‘new manager syndrome’ an’ all.

To sum up all of that, I don’t believe this Burnley side are a pushover in the slightest and they could well be sitting in a slightly false league position.

Then there’s this…

In midweek, despite the fact that it was a much-changed Burnley side that faced Cardiff City at home in the 3^rd Round of the League Cup, Scott Parker was not a happy man with regards to his side’s performance both with and without the ball.

Although it may well be a very much changed 11 that we’ll face in the league on Saturday afternoon; we could have to contend with a side who will want to correct a few recent wrongs and that can be a dangerous scenario.

As I say, I just sense a slightly tough afternoon for us and I hope that our fans can really get behind the lads rather than, perhaps, sending out any frustration vibes form the stands; as we go knocking on the away side’s often heavily-bolted door.

As for us, we are on that good run that I’ve mentioned at the start of this piece so that winning feeling and momentum must be reverberating around the dressing room and club generally. I can’t imagine any sort of complacency setting in after just 3 wins and a draw and that’s certainly not in our manager’s nature and, therefore, shouldn’t be in our player’s mentality either.

Personnel wise, we do have a larger list of injuries than anyone of us would like and, personally, I’m gutted to have Khusanov out because he was looking really solid at right-back. ☹ Natural left-wing back, Rayan Ait-Nouri, is a miss too of course but at least in Nico O’Reilly, we have a young lad full of energy who has grown into that position throughout last season; thanks to Pep’s vision and coaching methods I’m keen to add.

Being without both Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush leave big gaps in our creative and goalscoring capabilities but where we have conceded just 1 goal in September, we’ve scored 8. 👍

I look at the spine of that team with Donnarumma, Rodri and Haaland and if those around ‘em have good games too then that’s a pretty strong starting 11; with various qualities on the bench to pull from too, despite having five internationals not included in the matchday squad. A lot of ‘em have had a week off too.

Work hard, remain patient and we can pick up 3 points this afternoon and that’s what I’m going for - a City win.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: For the majority of the game it’s gonna be dry and overcast. However, light rain may start to move in as the clock ticks towards full time and depending on the journey home, some fans could get a little damp after the match. 15C is the forecasted temperature with a light, southerly breeze. Perfect conditions on the pitch. 🧥🌭🍟🍕🍺⚽

Solidarity

Old school fixture.

It was as recent as 7^th January 2024 when we last faced The Terriers. It was at home in the 3^rd Round of the F.A. Cup, where we came out of it 5-0 winners.

But it’s one of those fixtures that drums up some fond memories for me.

Of course…

Yes, of course I have to mention ‘the 10-1’. I remember that it was chilly, slightly misty Saturday afternoon and as pepper-loaded Maine Road pies were being munched into by many around me and foamy beers were being drunk likewise; light began to fade and the giant floodlights flickered into action.

The visitors, in a yellow & black-check top, had the better of the start and could have been a couple of goals up in the first 8 to 10-minutes. At that point, it just felt like another arduous exercise of standing in the cold watching us struggle…in Division 2 (now Championship)! Prior to this fixture, our previous three home results read, Manchester City 2-3 Sheffield United, Manchester City 1-1 Barnsley and Manchester City 1-1 Middlesbrough, so you can understand that the first 10-minutes or so felt a bit same ol’ same ol’.

Of course, any City fan of a certain vintage will tell you the outcome and how it unfolded and, for me as a 16-year-old, it felt like we’d won a cup; rather than having just collected 3-league points in early November. Another thing that stood out for me was just after the whistle was blown – the 19,583 crowd felt, and sounded, more like 35,000+. There was a real buzz about the place both inside and outside Maine Road’s walls.

I couldn’t wait to get home and share the excitement with my dad and, equally, I couldn’t wait to watch – and tape – the highlights. I still have the original VHS cassette with written label stuck inside the box cover.

Even on Sunday morning I still had that excitable feel. We didn’t get Sunday papers delivered to my mum and dad’s house and we didn’t always buy a Sunday paper either. I did that morning - I couldn’t wait to read about the whole 90+ minutes; seeing if the journalist shared my astonishment at what I had witnessed.

After arriving back home with the paper I remember feeling a little deflated, as we were nowhere to be found on the back-3 or 4 pages. I think we were as many as 5-pages in from the back. I suppose we were in Division 2 but still…it was 10-1 for flip’s sake!

So, foolishly smelling blood five months later, I purchased an away ticket and a club coach ticket for the return league game at their place. We lost 1-0. 🙄😂

Still, fond memory Number 2 was visiting Huddersfield’s old ground, Leeds Road. It was a proper old fashioned ground and what I clearly recall, and was quite fond of despite the fact that it looked a bit decrepit, was their huge side terrace which looked similar to the Kippax Stand.

A couple of years prior to that and just before I got my first (junior) season ticket, ANY opportunity to listen to or watch City I would grab. I recall one recorded TV highlight of an away trip to Huddersfield Town when we had a black ‘n’ red-striped away kit. We won 0-2 and, at the time, I was in awe of Clive Wilson’s attacking threat. Here are the goals from those brief highlights.

So, there you have it – some of the reasons this fixture evokes fond memories for me, even the one where we lost away…again.

v Huddersfield Town

Accu Stadium

It’s always slightly trickier to predict a starting 11 in the early round of the domestic cups; especially the League Cup, I would suggest. But, here goes…

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 11/11.

A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-6-0 (occasional 3-6-1):

________________________________________________

_____________________Bobb______________________

 

Nunes___________________________________Savinho

 

_________O’Reilly_______________Foden____________

___________________Gonzalez_____________________

 

Gvardiol____________________________________Lewis

_____________Ake______________Stones____________

 

 

____________________Trafford_____________________

Subs: Bettinelli, Ortega, Mfuni, Dias, Rodri, Mukasa, Silva, Reijnders, Doku.

Not only would I expect James to come in for this competition but it was confirmed by our manager yesterday that the England Under-21 keeper will start.

I’m going for a back-4, occasional 3, of Josko, Nathan, John and Rico.

Nico-G- comes in as our deepest lying midfielders and ahead of the Spanish Under-21 international my guess is Matheus, Nico-O-, Phil and Savinho, with Oscar possibly being given a slightly more advanced and central role in a fluid, attacking 5. Should be interesting. 🤔

With regards to the substitutions, the boss could give two keepers a trip out as matchday squad players; he could, as I’ve been suggesting lately, include Kalvin Phillips who has been training with his teammates for a number of weeks now. Equally, he may include more than just a couple of EDS players. Once again, it’s another difficult one to read.

I’m going for two reserve stoppers in the shape of Marcus and Stefan and two back-up defenders in the form of Stephen and Ruben. Rodders, Devine, Bernardo and Tijjani make up four midfielders on the side, while Jeremy gives us a wing option from the bench.

Notable absences:

-       Gianluigi Donnarumma – Not selected.

-       Rayan Ait-Nouri – Injured. The nature of the injury and length of time out is still unknown.

-       Abdukodir Khuanov – Out with an ankle issue. We were told on 23^rd September that it would be for a few games. Exact return date unknown.

-       Kalvin Phillips – Not selected.

-       Mateo Kovacic – Information from our manager on 17^th September was that the Croatian international will be returning from injury soon.

-       Rayan Cherki – Out for a 2-month period from the date of the announcement on 30^th August with a thigh muscle tear.

-       Erling Haaland – Out with a minor back issue. The Norwegian international is apparently expected to be okay for Saturday’s league game.

-       Omar Marmoush – Out with a bruised knee ligament issue. Unknown return date but it will be a matter of weeks by the sounds of it; possibly returning either just before or just after the next international break in October.

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

Yep.

Result?

Prior to their last game, our host appeared to be a side who knew how to score but also had defensive frailties; scoring 15 goals and conceding 11 in just 8 league fixtures. Then on Saturday, they pulled off a 0-0 result at home. Don’t you just love football? 😆

Their highest goalscorer, Joe Taylor, only has 3 of those 15 so that tells me, quite simply, that they’ve got some goals in ‘em throughout the team, which can often be more dangerous [than one focal point scorer]. The highest number of assists comes from Alfie May with just 2. I’m not even sure what that last statistic is telling me but I’ve included it regardless.

It’s quite funny that their side should include an, ‘A. May’, as some of you might recall; former Manchester City player, Andy May, played for Huddersfield Town in ‘the 10-1’ and was the scorer of The Terriers goal that afternoon! Weird…

Cup games often throw up surprises and the neutrals love ‘em. In fact, if you have a look at the previous round, there were a number of eyebrow raisers ASIDE from the Grimsby result.

Plus the fact that when a manager changes so many of his personnel it can sometimes upset rhythm and make it difficult for an 11 to settle. The home side may well breach our defence.

In the end, however, when I look at that predicted squad of ours, I’d like to think that we’d have more than enough to progress to Round 4.

It’s a City win for me.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Fine and dry but as the early autumn sunshine dips on the horizon for the start of the game, the temperature will start to dip to a low of 11C by the end of the match. Perfect conditions for the players to exert themselves 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️‍➡️; perfect excuse for fans to get a warming pie down ‘em. 🧥🥧🍵🍺⚽

Can I just say a big FECK OFF to all the moaning d*ck ‘eads who, following our game against Arsenal, whined on about Pep switching to a 5-4-1 and, eventually, a 5-5-0 in the second half? I think this is the first, possibly second, time he has ever done it at Manchester City in almost 10 years and, as I say, he only did it in one half of an effin’ game FFS!

Before the players even emerged for the second half, I actually muttered to myself, “This is gonna be like The Alamo”. So I, for one, was very pleased that Pep recognised this and adapted his team accordingly as the minutes ticked by. It was just a shame we couldn’t hold out right towards the very end.

I actually thought it was well played by us and, in fact, it was Arsenal who started the match a little cautiously, which was something they too got criticised for by TV pundits at the time (I swear I’m going to start watching live football games with the volume off again, as I once did for a period of time 😒).

How many times, certainly more recently, have you heard people slag Pep off for being too stubborn for NOT adapting his team when necessary? Now he goes and does it…and gets slagged off again!

Worst still, a lot of this flak has come from so called, “people in football”, in one way or another.

Morons…

Soon after I’d got that off my chest, I read this piece online:

'A huge step in the right direction for a side still developing’

Published at 09:06 BST on Tuesday 23^rd September 2025

Freddie Pye
Fan writer

A deep-lying low block is rarely associated with Manchester City, but given the confidence Pep Guardiola has in his defence this campaign, he may now have an extra weapon in his armoury.

For almost the whole game at Arsenal, City had executed the gameplan to perfection; defend in a compact set-up, attack swiftly on the break and protect any lead they gain.

When Erling Haaland did exactly that after some fine work from Tijjani Reijnders on the counter-attack, City's coaching staff deployed their wingers as wide full-backs, and dropped the midfield deeper. Embrace Arsenal's threat, place the onus on Mikel Arteta's side to break them down and take the points from north London.

City were resolute, brave and showed immense mental strength to hold their lead. When Gabriel Martinelli equalised with just minutes remaining in injury time, many supporters may have been disappointed but that feeling should turn into pride and confidence after a difficult week.

Fans should acknowledge the run of games City have endured and emerged on the other side of with seven points from a possible nine across all competitions. Remember, Guardiola's side had returned from the international break off the back of successive defeats, and had to face a Manchester United side in desperate need of points, the reigning Italian champions and Arteta's improved and bolstered Gunners.

For all the talk of capitulating in the face of adversity, defensive concerns and an inability to threaten on the break, City have proven all these assumptions to be wrong.

Sunday afternoon was a huge step in the right direction for a side still developing and also without a host of key names because of injury.

Find more from Freddie Pye at City Xtra

Well said that fan. 👏

Solidarity