I haven’t seen the supposed leaked line up but I think it’s a better idea to start Doku and this is why:
The pattern in which most our games have gone all season is that we start very brightly, giving teams a lot of think about with our sharp passing and penetration. Sometimes we’d score 1, 2, 3 or even zero. Then comes the second half or sometimes late in the first half when the teams begin to settle into the game and begin to come at us. City and the opposing teams will take turns in holding the ball and creating chances in a more even way till the game ends.
Usually when we win it is our early goals that we’d hold onto when the games become more even till the end of the match. For example if we got two goals early on amidst loads of missed early chances, the game would become more even as the game wears on and they’d either score one or nothing. Referee blows the final whistle and we win.
Following this pattern it would be wise to get as much advantage early on in creating as much chaos as possible in their their final third. There is every likelihood that in the the first 30 mins we will hold the ball and create countless chances and yet the score line would still be 0-0 allowing them to settle and gain more confidence if we don’t. We must give their frail back line no time to settle early on when we are our sharpest and then go 2 or 3 up ideally. Doku is the man for this and because he doesn’t yet have the stamina, we can bring Grealish on at the 60 minute mark. I’m not saying this should be the approach going forward but I think it’ll make sense in this game.
