RB Leipzig (A) - Wed 4th Oct, 20:00 | CL | Pre-Match Thread

[aka blue jambo]

Anyway, it’s cracking the flags here today . Currently 26 degrees .
A bit different from February.
There’s a market on in the main square and the bars are bustling . Should be a great few days .

And the shuttle buses to ground are back on

 

[ninjamonkey]

Squad needs to be used here. We've got a worryingly small squad as it is without having a handful of players he doesnt feel he can trust at all which effectively shortens the squad further.

This is a game we obviously want to win, tying the group up quickly benefits us later and a confidence boost would be handy after two defeats but its the one with the lowest stakes for a loss. We can drop points or even lose here and still comfortably top the group so with that in mind, those unlikely to play at the weekend need to play this. Rodri obviously to start but I'd be throwing in rico lewis and one but not both of gomez or bobb on the wing to start and the other to replace second half as and when.

Ederson
Lewis
Akanji
Gvardiol
Ake
Rodri
Kovacic
Nunes
Bobb/gomez
Grealish
Haaland

 

[AshtonBlueMooner]

Right Blues. Bloody do it for Franny. Wear those black armbands with pride and honour the memory of one of our greatest players and whom was willing to put himself forward to try and help the club when we were going through our darkest times.
Fate should give us a penalty on Wednesday, a nod to the great man.

 

[Blue Steel]

Rodri is available but does anyone think Pep will go all stubborn and keep him on the bench as punishment?

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

Rodri is available but does anyone think Pep will go all stubborn and keep him on the bench as punishment?

Of course he will.

 

[St.Pauli support]

Rodri is available but does anyone think Pep will go all stubborn and keep him on the bench as punishment?

Defo. Pep will also sit in the stands as a self punishment.

 

[BringBackSwales]

Rodri is available but does anyone think Pep will go all stubborn and keep him on the bench as punishment?

Almost certainly. Doubt he’ll ever play for us again

 

[big gaz]

Wonder who will pick up an injury in this one?

Woa FFS :-(

 

[big gaz]

Why should Rodri play? Its a piss poor group that we'll likely win. Kovacic needs minutes, there's only two games before the Int break. Play the same team that will play vs Arsenal.

Behave look in the mirror and give you're head a good shake FFs

 

[Axel Freed]

Play Phillips, we can afford to drop points in this joke competition and still be reasonably certain of finishing top.

 

[blue b4 the moon]

Defo. Pep will also sit in the stands as a self punishment.

Fucking typical City!!!!

 

[St.Pauli support]

Don't think tired legs are the problem.
We don't create anything, Erling is totally isolated and our "wingers" are double covered as well.
Without Kev, Gundo, Bernie and Mahrez we have near zero creativity.
Pep needs to invent a different system and quick.

 

[uwe rosler 28]

Ederson

Walker
Dias
Akanji
Garvidol

Rodri
Kovacic
Alvarez

Foden
Haaland
Grealish

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Don't think tired legs are the problem.
We don't create anything, Erling is totally isolated and our "wingers" are double covered as well.
Without Kev, Gundo, Bernie and Mahrez we have near zero creativity.
Pep needs to invent a different system and quick.

Been a weird one this season. Some games we do create and others hardly anything. West Ham away we had 29 attempts with 15 on target. Fulham at home 7 attempts but scored 5 goals so masked the very average performance that day. We still had 68% possession, 23 attempts and 8 on target against Wolves but they were not clear ones so it masks the overall performance which was poor.

When not on top form, we need to be more patient. We should not be conceding 2 goals from 3 shots!

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

Rodri is available but does anyone think Pep will go all stubborn and keep him on the bench as punishment?

I hope not. He hasnt exactly been the bastion of restraint himself and has had his own performance affecting ban to deal with

 

[blueparrot]

Don't think tired legs are the problem.
We don't create anything, Erling is totally isolated and our "wingers" are double covered as well.
Without Kev, Gundo, Bernie and Mahrez we have near zero creativity.
Pep needs to invent a different system and quick.

Looks just like a post from last October.

 

[RayCTID]

We will be more focused for this than we were for the Wolves game (alhough we were shafted out of the points in the league game).Although short of match sharpness there is no reason to rush John Stones back for this.

 

[chickaroon]

Coke Palmer looking good for Chelsea tonight.

 

[Xhavenjoe]

Defo. Pep will also sit in the stands as a self punishment.

Whilst doing the Poznan for the full 90 minutes, hand in hand with Cancelo.

 

[Manchester33]

Is there really a huge difference to finishing top or second?

Here’s our group positions, who we drew in the Ro16 and the outcome.

13/14: 2nd - Barca, KO d
14/15: 2nd - Barca, KOd
15/16: 1st - Dynamo Kiev, Won
16/17: 2nd - Monaco, KOd
17/18: 1st - Basel, Won
18/19: 1st - Schalke, Won
19/20: 1st - Madrid, Won
20/21: 1st - Monchengladbach, Won
21/22: 1st - Sporting CP, Won
22/23: 1st - Leipzig, Won

Every time we’ve finished 2nd in the group we’ve been eliminated in the Ro16. Every time we’ve topped the group we’ve progressed.

Finishing first is not only good for coefficients, prize money and the club’s stature. It also makes progressing to the Quarter final significantly easier.