Brighton & Hove Albion (H) - Sat 15th March, 15:00 | PL | Pre-Match Thread

Match Result Prediction?

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Just been thinking since yesterday afternoon - How long before Pep considers playing some of the youth instead of the players who have repeatedly no-showed?
Khusanov (20 years old) the best player for the past few games and one of the youngest in each team he’s played in
Surely it would’ve been better to even bring on O’Reilly instead of Kovacic who has been completely unreliable, while O’Reilly has taken every chance he’s been given
KDB showing his age - alternatives for him; Echeverri has just arrived, and I know Pep said he won’t be until the end of the season, but he has been named on a preliminary list off 33 players for Argentina's WCQs. - No player who isn’t at a decent level gets that treatment, so why not at least have him to come off of the bench and actually have the legs to run instead of an over 30 who can’t run
Surely the youngsters can get a chance instead of players who have not been at the races for this season (e.g. Gundo, Kova, etc)
 
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ireluke said:
Just been thinking since yesterday afternoon - How long before Pep considers playing some of the youth instead of the players who have repeatedly no-showed?
Khusanov (20 years old) the best player for the past few games and one of the youngest in each team he’s played in
Surely it would’ve been better to even bring on O’Reilly instead of Kovacic who has been completely unreliable, while O’Reilly has taken every chance he’s been given
KDB showing his age - alternatives for him; Echeverri has just arrived, and I know Pep said he won’t be until the end of the season, but he’s just been called up to the Argentinian senior team for the first time I’m pretty sure - No average player gets that treatment, so why not at least have him to come off of the bench and actually have the legs to run instead of an over 30 who can’t run
Surely the youngsters can get a chance instead of players who have not been at the races for this season (e.g. Gundo, Kova, etc)
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Echeverri has been named on a preliminary list off 33 players for Argentina's WCQs.
 
CL qualification, and the FA Cup are at stake in the games against Brighton and Bournemouth. We have had enormous problems to deal with this season and they have almost been insurmountable. The result is that the physicality of our team is possibly the worst in the Premier League when once it was the best. We addressed this in part in January in the transfer market. Khusanov has been wonderful. At the same time, Savinho has settled in, and Doku has returned from injury. The future looks extraordinarily bright if Rodri makes a full recovery and if Echeverri fulfils his potential. The present though is challenging. We are without Stones, Akanji and Ake, and Foden and Bernardo are out of form. We face 2 of the most vibrant sides in the Premier League back to back in games that will be critical to this season.

I think if we beat Brighton we will go on to take the 4th spot at least, and if we beat Bournemouth, then we can win the FA Cup, particularly as by the Final we will be a stronger side than we are now. However, easier said than done. I am not clear what Pep is doing with Nico and Marmoush. Marmoush was on the bench vs Forest and Nico substituted as Pep struggled to find a set-up that would give City dominance at Forest. We were almost there but Foden and Bernardo really struggled to make the killer pass / shot. It's not easy to break a massed defence down. Arsenal managed it once vs Man Utd who adopted very similar tactics.

I think Pep was slightly derailed from playing Marmoush by the form of Savinho and Doku. They are playing very well but it's difficult to maximise their potential when our midfield is struggling to control games. I hope we drop a winger and play Marmoush in behind Haaland.
 
Goater101 said:
Saturday 3pm should be nice weather. Let’s get behind the lads and drag us over the finish line.
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City's home support this season has been poor. Now is the time to deliver. This game and Bournemouth are back to back Cup Finals. Brighton will be thinking similarly about this game and are in form, and confident. But their game-plan will let us play.
 
Against Forest we looked a completely different team when Nico came off, the game immediately turned into a transition based game which doesn't suit us. The move, IMO, should have been to take off Bernardo and put Gundo next to Nico to bait Forest into pressing higher. Foden, unfortunately, has become a pretty pointless player for us at the moment. He's not really giving anything right now, sideways passes, no moving between the lines and most of the time he will put himself in an area that is full and have his hands by his sides demanding the ball - it's not gonna happen.

Eddy

Rico - Khusa - Dias - Gvardiol

Nico - Gundo

Savinho Doku

Haaland - Marmoush
 
Should be a good game this, they play some lovely football and their movement is superb.

For me, it calls for the same team midfield/attack that hammered Newcastle and some more direct football if required.
 
Ortega

Khusanov - Dias - Reis(?)

Nico - Bernardo

Savinho - Foden - Marmoush - Gvardiol

Haaland

It's really slim pickings at the back and in midfield. Can Gundogan cope just playing deeper next to Nico or will he still be exposed?
 
No1 was Colin bell said:
better win this six pointer. Unlike yesterday’s no show. Lucky spurs managed to peg back Bournemouth. This run in ain’t gonna be easy. Right now no games look like a gimme way we are playing. Maybe Leicester and Southampton. But I look at a resurgent Aston Villa, Brighton pushing for Champions League spot. Palace one of our bogey teams. Everton away. Wolves in dogfight. The team really are gonna have to dig in and the issue is a good few of them know next season they’ll be digging in somewhere else. Anyway CTID.
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We’ve just been through the hard running games. Saturday onwards gets easier.
 
EdersonsSmiley said:
Ortega

Khusanov - Dias - Reis(?)

Nico - Bernardo

Savinho - Foden - Marmoush - Gvardiol

Haaland

It's really slim pickings at the back and in midfield. Can Gundogan cope just playing deeper next to Nico or will he still be exposed?
Click to expand...
I like a couple of things here - I want to Khus and Reis given every chance to form a partnership; Gvardiol more advanced.
Chalk and cheese, Gvardiol - total liability at the back, potential world-beater as an attacking midfielder.
 
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