There’ll be no pre-match blog posting for the following games:
- Real Madrid at home on Tuesday 11th February.
- Newcastle United at home on Saturday 15th February.
- Real Madrid away on Wednesday 19th February.
This is largely to do with an up-and-coming week’s holiday away.
Next up for me and once I am back will be ahead of our home fixture against Liverpool on Sunday 23rd February.
😟 🙏 💪
…another opportunity for humiliation? It’s an away fixture to a lower league club in the F.A. Cup. 🍌
That was ‘orrible last Sunday…
Terrible passing, appalling decision making and, just generally, so many awful individual errors and performances from our players last Sunday. And to think, at one stage we looked to have stemmed the Arsenal tide and even took control for a period of time early in the second half before we imploded…again!
But in the end, worst still, for me least, was watching our side UTTERLY torn apart in the final 20-25 minutes – it was like watching City of old under our current manager; the way we used to toy with the opposition to the point of it being almost embarrassing. Ole! Ole! Ole!
I mean, I’ve watched City for over 40 years and I was very accustom to a hammering on quite a regular basis. Well, having not been used to that feeling for some considerable time it really stung me last weekend the way Arsenal looked far stronger, sharper, quicker and WAY more assured.
After a period where we appeared to have steadied the ship in terms of results, as I begin to put this piece together ‘the morning after’ (personal therapy) it felt like we’d hit an iceberg and what makes me shiver is the fixture list ahead from now until 8th March; all seven fixtures included. Look ‘em up… 😨
At least we’ve since signed someone, in Nico Gonzalez, who looks like he’ll add some robustness to our midfield core. 🤞
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| Gaughan Group Stadium (Brisbane Road) |
For all sorts of reasons and not just because it’s the 4th-round of the F.A. Cup against lower league opposition, there are plenty of choices (and ‘motives for’) our manager could make for this fixture and, therefore, plenty of room for error in my predicted 11 and subs.
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:
___________________Marmoush___________________
Savinho____________________________________Doku
________Grealish_______________McAtee__________
___________________Gonzalez____________________
Gvardiol___________________________________Lewis
___________Akanji_____________Khusanov_________
____________________Ortega____________________
Subs: Ederson, Reis, Stones, Kovacic, Gundogan, Foden, Nunes, Silva and Haaland.
Stefan in goal for this one, despite being one of the players who didn’t exactly cover himself in glory last Sunday.
A back-4 I’m going for Josko, Manuel, Abdukodir and Rico, who was-apparently the subject of a late bid from Chelsea last Monday.
Nico to start? I’m saying, “Why not?”…and I think he’ll get the nod from his manager to make his Manchester City debut right from the very start.
Ahead of our new and latest signing I’m thinking Savinho, Jack, in a more central role, James could get a very, very rare start and although Jeremy is in a similar position to both Nathan and Ruben in that he’s been out (again) for almost 3 weeks; reading Pep’s mind as the subject came up yesterday, I just get the feeling that the Belgium international could return and start this afternoon.
Omar in his more-central position of main striker today.
Is Ederson back fit after a small issue last weekend? There was no mention of him in the pre-match press conference and so I’m just guessing that he’s back to provide keeper insurance in a few hours’ time. Vitor and John are two defenders on the side; Mateo, Ilkay, Phil, Matheus and Bernardo make up five very, very experienced midfielders in ‘the 9’ waiting for their turn. Erling is back-up striker today, although he could be rested / protected completely to make way for Divin Mubama, I suppose.
Notable absences:
- Nathan Ake – Close to a return and Pep said yesterday that there’s a chance Nathan could play a part this afternoon. I’m guessing that, ahead of a very tough six-game period starting with Real Madrid on Tuesday night, we won’t be seeing the Dutch international in the squad today.
- Ruben Dias – For Ruben, read Nathan.
- Rodri – Out for the season with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury. Surgery was completed months ago and the slow road to recovery continues.
- Kevin De Bruyne – Rested / protected.
- Oscar Bobb – For Oscar, read Nathan also.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Yep.
Result?
A quick reminder for fans about to watch this one: There is no V.A.R. today, as it now doesn’t come in until the 5th round; something Leicester City were ruing last night…
Our East London hosts’ first third of the season most certainly contained a mixed bag of results – win, draw, lose, repeat was their tune from the start of the season until around the end of November.
December was most definitely their turnaround month and they’ve carried that steady, positive form right up to this weekend…well, aside from their last game which ended in a 0-1 home defeat to in-form, 4th-place Stockport County. Other than that, W W W D W W W W W D D L W W L looks bloody good since landing on the supercharged springboard in the month of Christmas.
From my brief research earlier in the week, ‘The O’s’ don’t necessarily have a standout goalscorer or an assist king so having scored 40-league goals in 28-league encounters this campaign, I have to assume that they carry several goal threats throughout their side. Defence wise they look very solid, it has to be said. 28 league games played, as I’ve mentioned; just 25 conceded. Oh for a record like that for us, once again…
In this competition, they beat Oldham Athletic at home 2-1 in the 2nd round and after ending their 3rd-round match at home to Derby County 1-1, Orient won that one 6-5 on penalties to set up this 4th-round fixture.
As for us, a rare full week off has helped ease the physical aches and strains but an extra day’s rest which their manager allowed before training resumed might have given some of our players more time to reflect on and ‘stew over’ last weekend’s performance and result. Still, it’s good to see a much-fuller squad now with more lining up on the verge of a return.
Will our hosts score? Well, with home advantage and with us-possibly fielding a debutant defensive midfielder and possibly a very young defender with just 50-odd minutes of play in a City shirt under his belt then, yeah; that is a distinct possibility.
But whether they do or they don’t, I think we’ll have too much for ‘em over ‘the 90’. It’s a City win for me.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: N/A
Result: N/A
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| Solidarity |
Straight to it…
v Arsenal
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| Emirates Stadium |
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game which, for me blog-wise, was our home win against Chelsea last Saturday: 7/11).
A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:
____________________Haaland____________________
__Marmoush___________________________Savinho__
________De Bruyne_______________Foden__________
____________________Kovacic____________________
Gvardiol___________________________________Nunes
___________Stones_____________Akanji____________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Ortega, Lewis, Khusanov, Reis, Gundogan, McAtee, Silva, Bobb and Grealish.
Ederson retains the gloves.
I’m going for a back-4 of makeshift left and right-wing backs, Josko and Matheus, either side of central defenders John and Manuel.
Mateo just in front of those, while a more advanced quartet come in the form of Omar, Kevin, Phil and Savinho.
Erling is the furthest forward but is likely to see a lot of new teammate, Marmoush.
Stefan continues as reserve stopper ahead of what is sure to be a start for him in the F.A. Cup next Saturday; Rico, Abdukodir and Vitor are three defenders on the side. We’ve got three midfielders in the shape of Ilkay, James and Bernardo, while I’m going for Oscar to make his first bench appearance since August alongside Jack, who make up two wing options from the bench.
Notable absences:
- Nathan Ake – Remains out with a muscular issue.
- Ruben Dias – Continues his absence due to an abductor injury.
- Rodri – Out for the season with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury. Surgery was completed months ago and the slow road to recovery continues.
- Jeremy Doku – Out with another undisclosed injury that he acquired at the very end of our clash with Ipswich Town on 19th January; his third injury spell of the season. Last weekend, his manager informed us that the Belgium international will be out for “a while”, so… 🤷♂️
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Result?
The last time we went to the Emirates, 8th October 2023, it was without Rodri who was serving his last of a 3-match suspension following a straight red at home to Forest for violent conduct. We lost that game against The Gunners 1-0, having held out until the 86th minute. I have a feeling that every 20 minutes is going to feel more like 86 minutes for us Blues on Sunday afternoon.
Both side’s league form is actually very similar, with both teams having 4 wins and 2 draws in their last 6 league outings. We have more wins more recently, if you follow my meaning; in the last 4 games we have 3 wins and 1 draw, while they have 2 victories and 2 draws. They have home advantage.
All that suggests that this could be a close contest…and that could very well be the case.
But if the questions were asked of us Blues, “Who is the flakiest side of the two? Who is more likely to concede and capitulate in the end?” If we were being really honest in answering those questions, I think we’d have to say, “We are”. 😢
But it’s a hard one to call in some ways – I’ve heard reporters and pundits say that, despite their form in terms of outcomes, our hosts aren’t exactly playing all that well at the moment; it’s just that they’re somehow getting the results. That, of course, is all that matters in the end but it does suggest that there might be some vulnerability about them. They’re certainly missing the injured Bukayo Saka.
Then there’s our attacking threat, which has most definitely gone up a few notches recently. There are several reason for that:
1. Kevin De Bruyne appears to be being ‘game managed’ very well and is avoiding injury / breakdown, for the moment at least. 🤞 He might not be the Kev of old and I don’t think we’ll ever see that again but a fit Kev is often a big danger to any opposition. Although I have to add that his game / passing radar was way off on Wednesday night.
2. After his second admission of the season, just a few days ago, that he had been feeling burnout following 2023/24 and then a summer tournament with England, who reached the final of Euro 2024, and following a false start after the first time he felt sure he was over it; Phil Foden appears to have FINALLY overcome his early season fatigue. Last season’s Premier League Player of the Season appears to be firing once more. Although, like Kevin, he too didn’t have a good game in midweek / appeared to be marked out for the most part.
3. We’ve bolstered our attacking threat with the exciting January acquisition of Omar Marmoush. I think the team is really going to benefit from his acquisition.
4. Oscar Bobb is also very close to a long-awaited return, having been injured with a fractured leg since last August.
When you throw into the mix Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Erling Haaland…somehow the word “wow” doesn’t quite say it when you look at our attacking potential.
Of course, you can’t play all of those at once (I’d love to see that tried though! 😂) and while Jeremy Doku is still out injured, Oscar Bobb will also take time to get fully back up to speed.
I’ll get this one out of the way and apologies in advance, City fans – I just can’t see us winning this one. Then, as my thoughts in midweek very easily bypassed Club Brugge (even before that match) and looked, instead, towards today’s opponents; I was swaying from thoughts of defeat to a draw, to a defeat and back to a draw once again, for all the factors I’ve listed above.
I don’t think there’s a doubt that they’ll be goals at both ends and I say that knowing that our hosts have the joint-best league defensive record; conceding just less than a goal per game with 21 leaked from 23 matches played. That’s the level of confidence or hope at least that I have in our recently-bolstered attack.
But it’s our soft middle and a lack of specialist wing-backs that concerns me and I can only hope (there’s that word again) that if we do score we can limit them to at least the same number of goals.
Hope is a good thing and, therefore, I’m going for a share of the points. It’s a draw from me and after some good results for us yesterday with regards to those teams tucked in just behind us; a tough away point is better than none.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: Draw
Result: Lost
(Pre-match blog posting from that game)
Expected weather conditions during the game: Crisp, sunny, clear. There’ll definitely be a chill in the air (5C dropping down to just 2C in the second half) when the sun buggers off about 5:00pm but it’s a calm, dry and pleasant evening for a good game of footy. 🧥🧣☕🥧🍺⚽
The ridiculous, just for a laugh attacking formation if all were fit (apart from Rodders who is out for the season)…
The 3-5-1-1 / 3-6-1 attack-formation:
____________________Haaland____________________
___________________Marmoush___________________
Savinho_____________________________________Bobb
_______De Bruyne_____Foden_______Silva___________
________Ake__________Dias_________Akanji________
_________________Cannon fodder__________________
You score 5…we’ll score 17!
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| Solidarity |
