Napoli (H) - Thu 18th Sept, 20:00 | CL | Pre-Match Thread

Match Result Prediction?

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Tevez City said:
____________________Trafford_________________

Khusanov_______Dias__________Gvardiol_______O'Reilly

___________________Gonzalez_____________

Savio_________Foden_______Reindjers___________Doku

___________________Haaland____________________
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I know you're desperate for Trafford to play, but there's not a prayer that Donnarumma doesn't start on Thursday

He's our number 1 keeper, and has been brought in for huge games like this
 
chris85mcfc said:
I know you're desperate for Trafford to play, but there's not a prayer that Donnarumma doesn't start on Thursday

He's our number 1 keeper, and has been brought in for huge games like this
Click to expand...
Pretty sure Trafford was brought in as no2 for Edersons last season so he wouldnt have started anyway if Ederson hadnt insisted on leaving, so nothings really changed in the order but the name of the no1 goalie.
 
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Blue Smarties said:
Think they played the Thursday game last season, before playing us on the Sunday. Luck of the draw.
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This is correct. Funny how we have the same league fixture at the same time as last season. Last season they played Thursday, us the Wednesday. Same Sunday kick off.

As you say, the luck of the drawer.
 
Ric said:
I wouldn’t make too many changes, as we need to get a bit of momentum going. Worry about Arsenal after this.

Donnarumma
Khusanov
Dias
Gvardiol
O’Reilly
Gonzalez
Rjeinders
Foden
Bobb
Doku
Haaland
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Who's picking up KDB?

Berni and Rodri = rest ?

Berni certainly, think Rodri should start and play 60 with Nico coming on.

Need Kova back ASAP.

Bobb.or Savinho on the left.
 
alexmcity said:
Having less possession than United wasn't planned. Pep explained recently that he won't give up on his principles, including possession-based football. What will change is being more direct when there are spaces to attack.
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I do think that things have definitely changed, in that teams enjoying less possession are winning so many more games nowadays that they no longer bother running around like headless chickens, wasting energy like they used to.

Knackering the opposition was the inspiration for the possession-based game in the first place.

You can see how relatively relaxed teams look against us now when we have the ball 30 yards from their goal, completely different body language to that they used to show 18 months ago.

Rather than the stats for possession and the contrived Xg, I'd rather see one for 'chances created per minute of possession' or similar. That might raise a few eyebrows.

Anybody not knowing yesterday's score and looking at the conventional stats for the match wouldn't believe that we won 3-0.

I tend to look at
shots;
shots on target;
corners,
to get a feeling for how a game's gone, when I've been unable to follow it live. It's rare that I then watch extended highlights and they tell any different story.
 
alexmcity said:
Having less possession than United wasn't planned. Pep explained recently that he won't give up on his principles, including possession-based football. What will change is being more direct when there are spaces to attack.
Click to expand...
I don't think that was a pre-planned ploy. I think City were fatigued and pragmatically chose to control the game by defending the penalty area and using pace on the counter.

Reijnders and Rodri have a lot of room for improvement. The good thing is that we can expect this.
 
Probably be looking to rotate as much as possible while still fielding a strong XI

Gigi

Nunes
Dias
Aké
O'Reilly

Gonzo
Bobb
Reijnders

Doku
Erling
Savio

Classic 4-3-3 with wingers not inverting, give it a go in this slower tempo game might work a treat. Have a look at Bobb central aswell.
 
Pep will take into account the Arsenal game. Getting a result there could be huge for team's morale, and a win may be decisive for our league campaign. Yes, it's not likely, but Arsenal will be wary of our transitions. They'll try to be smart and nick it, which may play in our hands.

Imo, we'll see changes vs Napoli, between 2 and 4 new starters compared to United.
 
The derby was about the 3pts so job done.

And whilst 45% possession and 81% passing accuracy are alarming, I think our attacking approach was to create these narrow overloads to then find space in behind. It was slightly chaotic and required a lot of first time passing and movement which probably caused us to come unstuck.

Napoli and Arsenal are much more drilled on and off the ball and put simply, if we play the same way we'll get hammered. But I would expect us to play a more traditional shape and be a lot more balanced for it.

Bernardo was wide right, but I wouldn't want him in the side at the moment. He takes too many touches and loses the ball too regularly to be in it. Foden needs to be the 10, I'd play Doku, Bobb and Haaland ahead of him and I'd look at Rodri and Nico to provide a bit more balance initially.
 
K-Bo said:
we didn't get knocked out in the group stage is my point, and we were comically awful. Can def afford to lose 1 or 2 games in this new format
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We can lose a few games alright but I think the club will want to finish high in the league phase.
We are way behind arsenal and liverpool in the CL rankings for the Club World Cup.
With the high prize money I'd say the CWC is a competition that the club hierarchy treats as very important.
 
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