Thursday 26 October 2017

Roles reversed?


Forget our attacking prowess for a brief moment…at home, West Bromwich Albion have to overcome & penetrate a defence that has only conceded 4 league goals in 9 games (and not many in other competitions either) - something we so-very-often have to contend with on ‘home soil’ ourselves!

 

The Baggies too have a reputation for being ‘steely’ and 'hard to break down' and do, indeed themselves, have the joint-6th-best league defence going into this game; leaking "just" 10 from 9 outings. 

 

Could be a case of, 'who blinks first'…


Brief word on last Tuesday night.


In addition to all that has been happening of late with family illness issues and just before a much-needed holiday; I woke up on Tuesday morning with a sore throat that soon developed into a 'seasonal cold'.

I made it to - and through - work but by 8:00pm on Tuesday night, I was nodding off and only discovered the City score on Wednesday morning! Well into my cold by then; through blurry eyes on Wednesday morning I saw on TV…

·         0-0 at full time
·         0-0 at extra time
·         Eventual 4-1 winners with the bizarre ABBA penalty-taking rule
·         Some controversy about Pep and some of the City players moaning about the flight / weight / shape / size or whatever of the ball used in the League Cup (or on the night at least)?
·         And that the referee had wrongly allowed us to use too many subs in extra time; another crazy rule change in the League Cup that went wrong at the time (and for Arsenal’s game too, with rumours also that we might have to play the tie all over again)!

I heard also that…

·         Claudio Bravo had a stormin’ game, with the Manchester Evening News giving the fella 9/10!
·         Oleksandr Zinchenko had a very good, 7/10’er at left-wing back.
·         Most of the rest were average at best; with quite a number of players producing poor performances, which was confirmed on Wednesday from a report I got from one of my mates who was there on the night.

So, assuming we DON’T have to have a replay against Wolves, we had an ‘off night’ and yet-still managed a clean sheet in open play and progressed into the quarter finals of the first 'trophy target' of the season.

v West Bromwich Albion

The Hawthorns

Brief, basic one is this – I am preparing to head off on holiday Saturday morning…

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from starting line-up in the last game: 9/11 in the League Cup).

Fluid 4-4-1-1:

___________________Aguero____________________




____________________Jesus____________________



____Sane__________________________Sterling____

___________D. Silva_________De Bruyne__________


Delph___________________________________Walker

_____________Stones______Otamendi_____________





___________________Ederson____________________



Brief word…

Back to a more ‘familiar 11’ following mid-week’s game and, I think, a slight change in formation from the Fluid 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 we’ve seen of late with, instead, more of a 4-4-1-1 with 2 strikers.

Another quick note is that Tosin, I think, might get rewarded for a decent performance in midweek with a spot on the bench…equally Eliaquim might ‘sit this one out’ altogether after a dodgy display, by all accounts, on Tuesday night.

Having said all of that, I’m releasing this Blog posting before any pre-match press conference so there’s more room for error than usual…

Notable absences: Benjamin Mendy (injured long-term), Vincent Kompany (injured) & Eliaquim Mangala (Not selected).

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


Yep…we might need that formation / personnel to break ‘em down BUT Gabriel & Sergio might also have to help out by ‘tracking back’ if our hosts ‘pack the midfield’.

Result? Could be a game of chess but I think it'll be one where we’ll see their ‘king fall’ in the end.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Win


Announcement: There’ll be no pre-match Blog posting before the Napoli game in midweek as I’ll be away (hoping to watch it somewhere though) AND there might not be time to release a pre-Arsenal one either, after I get back a-week-on-Saturday.

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