Manchester City V Everton pre-match thread.

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

Everton are not in great form and we are at home, I have high hopes.

Looks very similar scenario to previous seasons. Thankfully, Tim Cahill is unavailable. But anyone fancy Lucky Luk up against Ded or Martin?

 

[ninjamonkey]

Same team as Wednesday for me except for Mangala coming in for Dedryck. Lukaku is coing into some form right now, With no Kompany it's time for Mangla to step into his shoes and dominate a strong powerful striker.

The constant rotation needs to be toned down, especially at the back. Chelsea don't rotate many of their players from game to game, I think they've had the same back 4 all season when they've been available and it shows. They're professional athletes they don't need a rest every other game. I can see Pellegrini bringing in the likes of Milner and Sagna but i hope not. As harsh as it is on them, there's no need to change a winning side after the last 2 performances.

 

[Big Swifty]

I am worried that, with all these glowing reports about Sergio in recent days, he will become a marked man, which usually means that opposing defenders have been told (not explicitly, of course....) to see that he doesn't get too far - with or without the ball. Defenders know what that instruction means, and I dread another injury caused by desperate opposing defenders.

Good publicity attracts a lot of unwanted attention from cloggers. Or am I being paranoid?

 

[MeatHunterrr]

Same team as Wednesday for me except for Mangala coming in for Dedryck. Lukaku is coing into some form right now, With no Kompany it's time for Mangla to step into his shoes and dominate a strong powerful striker.

The constant rotation needs to be toned down, especially at the back. Chelsea don't rotate many of their players from game to game, I think they've had the same back 4 all season when they've been available and it shows. They're professional athletes they don't need a rest every other game. I can see Pellegrini bringing in the likes of Milner and Sagna but i hope not. As harsh as it is on them, there's no need to change a winning side after the last 2 performances.

Possibly not early in the season, but the point is that they are still fresh in March/April time when rotating early in the season and not running them into ground straight away.

 

[cibaman]

Same team as Wednesday for me except for Mangala coming in for Dedryck. Lukaku is coing into some form right now, With no Kompany it's time for Mangla to step into his shoes and dominate a strong powerful striker.

The constant rotation needs to be toned down, especially at the back. Chelsea don't rotate many of their players from game to game, I think they've had the same back 4 all season when they've been available and it shows. They're professional athletes they don't need a rest every other game. I can see Pellegrini bringing in the likes of Milner and Sagna but i hope not. As harsh as it is on them, there's no need to change a winning side after the last 2 performances.

Possibly not early in the season, but the point is that they are still fresh in March/April time when rotating early in the season and not running them into ground straight away.

I thought we looked quite sluggish in the first 20 mins against Sunderland.

 

[rnblade]

If we keep Lukaku and Baines quiet, hopefully we will put in the same performance as we did v Southampton.
The toffees are a tough outfit & Martinez will not be going for a win.

 

[quiet_riot]

Expect nothing less than 3 pts here, same goes for the 5 games up to New Year.

 

[eversince 76]

With Roma coming up and X-mas fixtures around the corner, it'll be an interesting puzzle for Pellegrini and his staff. Glad to see a few coming back fresh soon and they will get plenty of games to get matchfit. But all this is a worry starting after Sats match.

Everton not being in a good moment doesn't fill me with anymore confidence than if they would have been. They are always a tough side to beat and I guess it will not be any different now. In Barkley, Lukaku, and Naysmith they have a lot more to offer going foreward than either Southampton or Sunderland. Us scoring first will be ever so important in this one.

Than again, we are at home, have more class and full of confidence with Yaya playing like he wants to apologize to his teammates for not able to play in the Ch.League. So I expect us to get 3 points from this one.

I'd swap Mangala for Boyata, simply because my guess is that the former is better suited to play Lukaku in terms of pace and physics. But I won't flip if Boyata gets another game; he would deserve another one imo. And I would play Fernando as we need a bit of extra security in front of our CB's. Whatever ... just gonna enjoy the 11 on the pitch and hope they score one more than the opposition.

 

[Sergio Picasso Aguero]

Southampton's main attacking threat is from their fullbacks (Bertrand/Clyne) and we managed to nullify it with Navas tracking back and doubling up with Zabaleta.

Everton's main attacking threat is also from their fullbacks (Baines/Coleman) so I would employ the same tactics to keep them quiet and play the same team with the exception of Prince Vince. This is the perfect game for Mangala, he will love the physical battle with Lukaku and will come out on top as he did with Costa.

Hart

Zabaleta - Demichelis - Mangala - Clichy

Fernandinho - Yaya Touré

Navas - Jovetic - Nasri

Aguero


Subs:

Caballero
Angelino
Fernando
Pozo
Dzeko
Frank
Bacary


City 3 - 0 Everton

Aguero hat-trick

 

[CAPTAINKIPPAX]

I am worried that, with all these glowing reports about Sergio in recent days, he will become a marked man, which usually means that opposing defenders have been told (not explicitly, of course....) to see that he doesn't get too far - with or without the ball. Defenders know what that instruction means, and I dread another injury caused by desperate opposing defenders.

Good publicity attracts a lot of unwanted attention from cloggers. Or am I being paranoid?

I see what your saying Swifty but tbh both Sergio and Merlin are well recognized by opposition defenders already as our most influential players and get clogged to pieces anyway it's just the nature of the beast I'm afraid we just have to hope that fate cuts us a bit of slack, they're both world class players and usually ride the added attention with great avoidance skills they're that good that luckily most mere mortals can't get near enough to do any damage ha lol all clubs have nightmares about their individual game changers getting crocked it's just something we all have to hope and pray doesn't happen to us.