I think the less said about last night the better.
We’ve taken giant strides under Nuno, but it’s repeatedly obvious that attempting to break down a side content to defend and get men behind the ball exposes a weakness in the system.
There’s no incisiveness in central areas, meaning the ball is invariably shifted wide where teams can double up and cope more easily.
That’s exactly what Stoke did and deservedly emerged with the win.
If there’s a positive to playing Man City, you can feel fairly confident they won’t be sitting deep and surrendering the ball.
On the face of it, this is a much tougher game but it’s one Wolves should feel more comfortable playing.
Man City
Last season spluttered out for City culminating in that comical Champions League exit to Lyon.
They missed so many chances in that game, most notably Raheem Sterling’s open goal howler, and then conceded stupidly soft goals.
And that was their season in a nutshell. Squandered chances and sloppy defending.
Teams know if they can hang in defensively, there’s every chance City will pony something over at the other end.
Have they solved that problem with the signing of Nathan Ake? I’m not sure, but he should improve them and if they can keep Laporte fit they’re chances of success increase exponentially.
They’ll probably bring in at least one more defensive recruit I would have thought, but in the here and now they’ve pretty much got everyone available.
Bernando Silva came off for Portugal but could be back in time to start. Sergio Aguero is training again while Mahrez and Laporte return after positive Covid results.
It’s a shame the Messi transfer didn’t happen, as I would have loved to have seen him stepping out at Molineux.
The away end
Some comments on lifted from the pre-match thread on the Blue Moon Forum.
Wonder how Wolves will set up for this game and what tactics they may employ? Em, em, em, let me see, em, em, maybe the odd long-ball to Traore would be worth a try?
Nightmare fixture first up for us. Against a team that has our number and has become a jinx team. That and a seemingly unprepared squad with Pep still in quarantine and a poor transfer window thus far. Not expecting anything from this one.
Since Wolves have been back in the premiership, we’ve only beat them once. That was at the etihad and they were reduced to 10 men early in the game. A point at Molyneux would be a good result in my opinion..
Tough game. Win sets us up nicely. It does though have a feel to it that if we lose the old demons are there. Glad it’s one of the first games of the season
I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that this is a must win game for city if we have any pretensions on getting the title back. wolves are a team we have struggled against in past, they are perfectly set up to counter our possession game and they are very hard working in defence which makes them very difficult to break down. if we can grab a win the confidence will roll into the next few matches and we could get off to a dream start. however a loss and all the old doubts will come back and there are plenty of teams that will have our number.
Wolves
The big question, as is normally the case in fairness, is whether Nuno goes for 352 or 343?
We played the 352 at the Etihad and 343 at home, winning both games of course, so there’s no major clues to be found there.
Perhaps it makes sense to keep faith with the team that saw off Sheffield Utd? Ruben Neves will be the likely benefactor if Nuno feels we need the extra body in midfield.
It was concerning not to see Diogo Jota in the squad against Stoke. He’s not played well for a while but remains an important player. I wouldn’t like to see him leave.
Predictions
Well done to Bedford Wolf, DancesWithWolves, Graham from Horsham, Happy Wanderer, JHP, Jackomac, Liz, London wolves loyal, Mosman Wolf, Northumbrian Wolf, Stafford Road Steve, The Witley Wanderer, Twixfix, VexRob, Wight Wolf, Zarco, kiwiwolf, pauluswolf and robc306 who all collected a maximum for correctly predicting a 2-0 win at Bramall Lane.
As always if you’d like to join in, simply leave your prediction for this game in the comment section below, which is where you’ll find my best guess.
Up The Wolves!
I don’t think the shoddy Carabao outing makes a huge amount of difference to our prospects in this one, but I’m still not confident.
We’ve got a satisfying track record against City, but they remain the overwhelming favourites and I think they’ll have the bit between their teeth in this one, desperate to get off to a good start and vanquish last season’s demons.
I would happily take a point and will shakily back us to get it.
If we’re anything other than 100% though, it’s going to be a very long evening.
So can we continue our good run against City? Our normal sit deep and counter tactics work a treat against Peps team so it would be interesting to see if we carry on with this new more expansive approach. It’s City ‘s first game of the season so they will want the win so I would suggest a more cautious approach.
2-1 to the Wolves as you say we seem to have Man city’s measure . Thomas can you check my score for last week am sure I had 2-0 thank you.
This one had me scratching my head Dek but I’ve just realised you inputted the letter ‘o’ instead of the number ‘0’ in the Sheff Utd score box, hence why it hadn’t registered as a correct prediction.
Tough one to fix but I’ve corrected your score. The table is showing you’ve made 2 predictions so I’ll try and figure out how to rectify that point so it doesn’t cost you later in the season.
Thank you Thomas i’ll try and hit the nought in future.
As long as you hit ‘nought’ for the opposition and not the mighty Wanderers.
Tough game. If Jota is not on the bench tomorrow, then they may be some truth to Man C interest. This game can go either way, with perhaps lady luck being the deciding factor! Would be happy with a point.
St Kitts
We play Monday 8:15pm.
You are right. I meant Monday! And I meant Jota to Liverpool not Man C.!! Sorry, I used to get senior moments, but now I seem to get senior hours!!
Two games. Two vastly different performances. This time? Who knows? But I shall keep sticking my neck out…
We do have an excellent record against City in recent seasons and we are set up very well to counter a team like theirs. We ought to expect to give them a game.
However, they are a quality unit and there apparent lack of success last term is only in relation to how dominant Liverpool were.
Perhaps their late start to this campaign may give us an edge and even those two Covid recoveries might have taken a toll on the fitness of the individuals concerned – it seems to linger for months from what I’ve heard .
So it probably is a very good time to play them.
Go on then. I’ll go for a Wolves victory.
Glass half full over this one …. play like the 1st and last 20 as we did last Monday a result will be on the cards….Traore as a wing back does not sit well with me and will be destroyed down the right defensively but will do his stuff again going forward against the slow City back line ….I thought Burr played well when he came on last week …will be a good test … midfield, now there’s an abundance of options,but the back 3 picks itself ….perhaps Podence ,Neves, Moutinho Burr and Marcal ….RJ and AT…. with AT playing centrally between RJ and the midfield ….wolves win
Traore might not be the answer at right wing back but Buur is a long way off what’s required at this stage. I can see Nuno persevering with Traore there until there’s a better option and may well also go for five in midfield leaving just the two up top.
Man City are great going forward but shite at the back, as Marcel knows from a very recent encounter, so this could go any which way. Hopefully no Aguero so:
Be interesting game
Take nothing from that cup game apart from the lads having a bit of a run out.
City not much cop early doors and i think we will catch em cold.
Did the rope a dope trick last night and monday will be completely the opposite you watch.
Very confident we can do this.
Bit of a late start so i shall be watching it in my pyjamas.
I think the win at Sheff utd ticked a lot of boxes that people in the press like to have a dig about football teams in general. But we
Won away from home
Scored more than one goal
Kept a Clean sheet
This really gets the ball rolling for us with a very favourable run of games coming after this one i think its a no pressure game with all the pressure being on city to get off to a flyer.
Ill be happy with a draw so im going to go for 1-1.
Also I love the third red kit ?
Yeah I like the 3rd red kit too, I think its the one I would buy this season tbh. What I actually like most about it is the attitude it shows Wolves have, yeah we have a lot of Portuguese players get stuffed your just jealous of our skill and ability. So Wolves fans there you go be loud, proud and wear that Portugal national team Wolf shirt and say to the doubters, yeah we Wolves and we’re coming fore ya fuck right off.
As for the Man City game being realistic it’s going to be tight, City will be flying in to get started, the game we’ve had should help us, maybe they will be wary, but I’m going with a 2-2 draw
For those that wasted a tenner on watching our dire performance against Stoke….I bet you didn’t realise you could of watched the first half for bugger all on HesGoal.com !! didn’t stream the second half for some strange reason…probably because we were that bad in the fist half….
Anyway onto Monday . Pep is still self isolating so hasn’t had time with his squad . Plus we are definitely their boggy team….I expect a decent game and us to edge it again…just
COYW
After hesgoal gave up I watched 2nd half on you tube live.
Hardly need to say it but this is a very tricky game. Aguero won’t be fit in time. Some hints in the media he could be out for sometime. Covid cases could affect fitness level of some players and delayed start may have left them undercooked.
Having said that they have a big squad of very good players. They should win but there is a detectable lack of togetherness about them and some claim that Pep is reaching his notorious falling away after being at the same club for a number of years. (Hope these words are n’t going to bite me in the bum).
So though not convinced by my own words I’m going for a win, last night was I hope just a blip.
Predicting a cracking game
Hope Jota and Killman ok – was it covid checks ?
Love third strip, should have been second strip
Not sure why you think Neves will not play.
Interesting how this preview blog topic came out rather quickly, certainly not as near match time as usual.
Well done, Thomas, for the timely intervention, the previous posts were getting near the insulting mark from a certain regular, which could have deteriorated into outright warfare!
On to Monday pub time.
Hoping to have my new away top, the lovely blue one, by kick off, and to be as ecstatically happy as the blue wearing supporters will be miserable as we once again take all three points from the game.
We have made some excellent squad additions, who will soon gel perfectly, and will be all over City like a cheap suit.
5-1 to me babbeez, as we win yet another game on our way to winning the Prem.
I too like the new maroon strip, but unless some friendly fellow blogger ponies up $100.00, I ain’t getting one.
FOwb
Helps me to win the preddo league as well as Wolves winning the Prem if I put the score in the right place!
See, I ain’t perfect!
Who do you mean?
Are we the only two who like the blue No2 kit Clive? It feels so.
Don’t worry there must be more colourblind wolfs out there.
One trophy down two to go Premier League or F.A Cup. If we do finish in the top six as someone has already put we will have to drag our arses round Europe again and aparrantly it was two exhausting for our players so do we want to finish in the top six I know let’s finish seventh then we don’t have to bother with Europe.
It really is unbelievable so of the blogs on hear we don’t want to bother with thic completion or that one oh it’s not the same as it used to be no shit life isn’t the same doesn’t mean you give.
Three trophies a season up for grapes for the top two Divisions and some Wolves fans think we are to precious to bother with one it doesn’t really warrant our attention anymore, well your wrong.
What’s the point of finishing as high as possible in the league only then to slag of the benefit ie Europa league.
We have not won a major trophy for 40 years and now we can be picky unbelievable.
Hope we lose a few in the Premier League don’t want to finish to high we have to play in midweek again…….oh the strain.
Thankfully having looked at other social media sites at least there are some Wolves fans out there that still want to win something…..anything they still know the fundamental principle of supporting your club is and that is to see them win trophies.
Paul, give it a rest mate… please.
We get your point.
Thank you.
Paul.
Your’e In danger of getting boring mate.
Calm down lad. Calm down.
Looks like I will be the first to predict a loss for Wolves. Unlike a lot of others I am a realist when it comes to predictions. I really hope I am wrong but they will surely have too much firepower for us.
The less said about last night the better……. so ……. I like the new strip but don’t think we will beat City.
I like this blog because it has always been of a high quality, with some well made points and observations. Bit disappointed that the last one is sinking to insults and people not seemingly respecting others opinions. Sorry that’s my opinion I await the down thumbs.
Onto the game. Probably the best time to play Citeh, as they seem to be trying to regroup. A display akin to Sheff Utd is a must, solid defense and play at them. Boly and Trarora to be a bit wiser in their link up. Think it’s a win for us.
We can beat them of course, but will we ?
Traore had sterling in his pocket last season, but will nuno put him there?
Have jota and neves been rested a bit with the man city game in mind ?
If we beat them A g a I n , will the pundits actually give us a modicum of praise?
Will man city fans have a similar meltdown to some wolves fans if they lose to a supposedly inferior team?
No team has a divine right to win any game , that’s what makes football great
We lost to stoke, we will lose to other lesser teams too , get over it
Love the new kit
Well done to the kit designer peeps
Utw
Let’s get the new lads bedded in and drive on playing the Kind of football we know we can, some great flashes on Monday, but little to read into on last nights game.
City are hit with injuries and Covid as we speak, we have a anomaly with Jota , conspiracy theories are rife but Nuno brushed it all aside today and simply said,’he’s not available”
So I’m hoping ,”he is available” on Monday because he does posses a match winning goal at all times within his game.
I’m scared shitless to predict a loss against one of the best teams in the land.
Never the less, I am going to put a brave face on and be positive.
Wolves 2
City 0
Jota’s value is probably at its highest now. He started for Portugal and scored just last week.
If we can get enough for him and then buy that Arsenal wing-back, it might be the best thing to do.
As I said at the end of last season, he is too inconsistent to be a starter and help us get to the next level. Half of the two Premier League seasons, he was under-parr.
Seems like a nice guy though. Never caused any problems.
I agree with Tim, Jota is one of our own now having been part of our success in the Championship. However, apart from his goals in the Europa he hasn’t fizzled this year like he did in the season before. Brilliant in the famous Man Utd cup tie , great work to set up Jimenez at Spurs, works hard for the team but has lost his way a little bit and had his nose pushed by Podence and now Fabio. Take the money Jeff but buy a first team player for RWB. Good luck Diogo, thanks for what you have done for us.
Can we bounce back from that dire performance? Hopefully yes, but not with Traore at wing back.
Oh no ! Looks like Jota is off to Liverpool! Please tell me I’m wrong surely Nuno wouldn’t let him go
Tough game but one we can certainly win. Let’s hope 3-5-2 is one day in the past and we go 3-4-3.
2-1 Wolves. Jiminez, Traore
From The TImes:
“…. the fee for the 23-year-old Portugal forward is expected to be more than £35 million…”
So then you get that Arsenal guy and that Hoever guy. Damn!!
Or….
“….Reports coming out of Spain suggest that Semedo is high up on Wolves’ list of targets.
The Portuguese international, 26, has been playing at right-back for Barca since arriving from Benfica in the summer of 2017 – he’s gone on to make well over 100 appearances in that time.
Semedo, who is a client of Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute agency, has been mentioned as a potential successor to Doherty…”
The Hoover Dam???
That’s in Arizona.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2
Manchester City 1
Hi bedders … hope you’re good mate!
Tough game but one we can certainly win. Let’s hope 3-5-2 is one day in the past and we go 3-4-3.
2-1 Wolves. Jiminez, Traore
If I am to believe the reports, though I don’t often do that, then Diogo is off to Anfield and young right back Hoever is coming the other way. OK business I would say, given our plethora of forward talent and our dearth of talent for the right back slot. The writing was certainly on the wall when he wasn’t in the squad for Stoke.
So on to Citeh. Easy pickings they are for us of late. Nuno picks the team so I won’t bother but my score prediction is………….below.
Sky confirm Liverpool agree £35m deal.
If it’s kosher, Diogo is one player I will really miss.
Good luck lad, you deserve it for sure.
Diogo has had some brilliant performances for Wolves but has been struggling to gain any form for some time. Hope he regains his mojo for the Reds. Probably best he moves on and a great opportunity for him. Always welcome at the Mol.
Wish Diogo all good things….just don’t score against us please.
Meantime still feeling a bit stunned by failure last night, I mean Stoke??
Any result possible Monday. Wouldn’t be surprised to be on the receiving end of a fast start from Citeh…as in. what’s good for the goose…
A bit queasy about Traore in defence
Oh sod it…another high quality game that we won’t lose! Please dog
But if we get that right back from Liverfool, he can slot straight in and we can then unleash the Adama beast……
Stirling already has brown shorts!!
If Diogo goes – and I expect that he will since no- one is going to turn down a 4 year contract at Liverpool, I think that we need another attacking/ no :10 type player as well as a right wing back. Hope uncle Jorge has got another hidden gem up his sleeve. Tough one coming up on Monday and I think that we are vulnerable with Adama in defence so I hope for a win but would be reasonably happy with a draw.
There was all sorts of gobbledegook going on at work this afternoon. Someone said Jota is going to Liverpool to buy a Hoover. I said that’s a bit weird going to Liverpool to buy a Hoover when he only had to go up Homebase by the ring road in Wolvo. Any way it turned out that Jota is going to sign for Liverpool and we are getting a bloke called Hoever as part of the deal. Just as well all that was cleared up. What with Coady as sweeper and Hoover at right back we have a ready made cleaning company in defence. I’m sure there was a bloke knocking about called Paul Brush. We should sign him . That would be jolly good. What does it all mean ? It means WWFC are going to take Citeh to the cleaners on Monday night. Stirling will be hoovered up. Walker swept aside and Pep will lose his hair with all the stress. WWFC 2 CITEH 1
Both teams still undergoing changes.
Tight game.
Hi it’s leaving?
Who’s next …neves
Gutted
Jota…..bloody typo!!
I see this one as a free hit as would most teams. That said there’s currently some uncertainty around the camp and that bloody right back position is still a big problem so I’m expecting the worst while hoping for the best.
We’ll expose the city defence…
Would be good to get another double over City again……well one can dream can’t one.
Can someone just clarify something for me
We sell jota for £35 mill
Doc for 15 mill
And we got £30 for costa and Cav??
With Neto and Podence, as well as Traore and the new lad Silva, we can afford to let Jota go. But he did have a good rapport with Jiminez…..
I’m not at all confident about our chances on Monday. I doubt if Traore will play in defence, surely there are other options ?
My heart is having a serious arm wrestle with my head on this…….
Wonder if we can recover from the loss to Stoke. Not feeling good about this one…
Shock setback against Stoke, especially given the players we used.
If we can play as well as we did in Sheffield then we can beat Citeh. If we stutter like we did against a Stoke, then we’ll be unlikely to get anything from this game.
Two different extremes then and, given that, I’m going down the middle for a 2-2 draw.
Wish these games are on the weekend, always working during these Monday games :/
Keep the faith. Even with Jota going, don’t think we’ll be facing Chorley any time soon. Or training on Asda’s car park.
Nice perspective Telford but the bandwaggoners won’t understand.
A few days ago I made a bold prediction elsewhere in WolvesFans Land where I said that we will be topping the premier league after the 5th game of the season. I said that we could get at least a point in this game then win the next 4 (winnable) games. I might have gone a bit overboard when I stated that these games should be a walkover. To be fair I said this just after the Sheffield Utd game. Then came Stoke! And now Jota is leaving too.
I think we will give a good account of ourselves – however I have to think about protecting my joint Prediction League title and be a bit more sensible and less overoptimistic.
I sincerely hope I am wrong but I think we will lose 2-1.
Wolves v Manchester City goes back in the midst of time – indeed to the late Victorian era when in 1899 the first game ended 1-1 at Hyde Road, Ardwick.
Since then the two teams have played each other on 121 occasions (not including the Asian Cup) with Wolves ahead 49 victories to 48.
However the reason I have posted is the amazing number of goals scored between the teams over the years which currently stands at 452 – almost 4 per game on average. Over a comparable period this surely must stand comparison with any other fixture.
There have indeed been some quite staggering results – in one season 5-0 to Wolves was reversed when the fixture was played in Manchester. The fixture is littered with crazy scorelines such as 8-0, 6-1, 6-0, 4-3, 8-1, 7-2, 6-4, 4-0 etc and not all of them interwar or postwar by any means when more goals tended to be scored.
One of my earliest recollections was in August 1962 when in the opening game Wolves won 8-1 with Ted Farmer scoring 4 and George Showell putting through his own net for the City goal. We had arrived back from holiday at Weston Super Mare about 2 hours before kick off so dad and I dashed off to catch the 58 bus from Sedgley into town whilst mum sorted out the washing. Quite right too – a woman’s job is washing!
Fast forward to March 1973 and a hat trick from The Doog and 2 from John Richards saw Wolves romp home 5-1 in one of my all time favourite games in my all time favourite era (The 1970’s). Rodney Marsh scored for City.
That night the Club Lafayette was heaving as Wolves continued their fine form and we had a drink or three and a dance or 10 with some lovely crumpet (Sue from Ashmore Park with the Austin A40 – hope she is reading this) and we also had a FA Cup 1/4 final v Coventry City to look forward to!
Indeed heady days.
Monday – got to be a repeat of the 5-1 – aint it?
BOG
As the present Mrs DG’er will attest…
I don’t like changes.
And Diogo Jota leaving is a change too many for me at the moment.
It smacks of the start of the break up of ‘The Pack’.
The Band of Brothers that have seen us through two brilliant seasons where we have upset most of the odds and left many so called Top Six defenders on their backsides in our wake.
Which brings me to one of my all time favourite goals scored by a man in Old Gold over more years than I care to remember.
There have been many absolute crackers.
Waggy’s against Arsenal in the snow… or The Doog’s Molineux debut hat trick… or one of Kenny Hibbit’s rockets… or King John’s clinical finishes…or Bully’s barnstormers…or Raul’s volleys…or any of Ruben’s Worldies…
The list goes on and on.
But the one I remember most clearly is the one scored by Diogo Jota against Manchester United, that magical night at Molineux.
The way he twisted and turned Shaw until he ended on his fat bottom.
The pace he showed and the accuracy of his finish. The goal was never in doubt.
The way he celebrated in front of The adoring South Bank hordes.
Those memories will never go away and will live with me until I draw my dying breath.
Good luck Diogo.
But not against The Pack eh?
Think I agree with the above… need to see some experience coming in the door. Jota inconsistent but provided a constant threat and on the good days could be unplayable. I accept that Neto and Podence provide similar if less proven capabilities. I always rated Bennett and would like to see him get a few run outs (or did I miss him getting moved on).
Really tough one to predict
I am fearing a city side that need to avenge the spectacular double we did on them last season but I seriously think the south bank contributed to the winning goal at home
The tale of two Traore.
Probably need but don’t want him to play RWB.
Want him top of the pitch, but probably can’t have him there.
I think both teams will get exposed defensively, so a draw for me.
Sorry to see Jota go. Think he’s a hard worker that keeps his head in the game (although he was having some difficulty finishing lately.) Best of luck to him, except against us.
Hope to see the same energy at the start of Monday’s match as they had playing Stoke.
WGH
I don’t like to disagree but I’d like to see a little more energy than they had playing Stoke, quite frankly.
I think I misworded (is that a word?) my statement. What I meant was that I hoped the energy level was the same as in the first half of the Stoke match. You’re right the second half was very lackluster to say the least. Oh, and feel free to disagree at any time. A free exchange of ideas and opinions is what makes this place so great.
WGH
I will not listen to any negative comments about Mike Dean every again.
Wolves are 6/1 to beat Citeh at the Mol.
For christ sake they beat them three times last year.
They have only lost once to Citeh in the PL and then it was because Big Willy got sent off in the first 15 minutes.
To add oil to the fire, all cup competitions are important.
The highlights and best memorys of my supporting life has been two league cups, one sherpa van trophy and one championship play off final, especially the thumbs up from Sir Jack.
So going to predict a draw and bet on a Wolves win
Hard to say what’ll happen but might as well start positive seeing as we are at ‘home’.
Maybe let one in but as long as we score one more than them.
3 points!!
I’m sitting on the fence for this match. Reason being if I predict a draw then Wolves will win!
COYW
It’s too early in the season to be pessimistic. It won’t be like Stoke.
Not feeling comfortable about this one, despite our good record against them. That Stoke match was a bit of a reality check that we still have problems with tempo and creating chances through the middle. I hate predicting a defeat, so I’ll go for a draw.
Agreed Jack.
Hope this helps.
COMBs!
I’m convinced we will continue our recent dominance over citeh – but only just …..
UTW
Would love to keep the run against City going but that shocker against Stoke????
Wolves 1 – 2 City
I was shocked how bad we were against Stoke, in the Cup game.
Nuno picked a team to win and we were terrible.
Man City are unknown with this being their first game, so a hard one to call.
Heart is ruling my head, so it’s another win. There’s no easy games so we will have to be at our best.
Would love to see us come out of the blocks fast again.
My biggest concern for this one is Sterling slipping into the gap between Boly and RWB Traore, working his way into the penalty area and hitting the ground (whether fouled or not). City may or may not be rusty, but a couple of pivotal moments will decide this.
Shame Diogo’s gone gone gone. but we do have Neto and Podence can both play that role
Hope we win but Think we will do well to get a point
Mixed feelings about Jota leaving but I understand the commercial aspects of the deal.
Given our performances against Man City last year I am expecting at least a point from this game.
Don’t really want to see Traore at right wing back.
That comment in the opposition view at the top of this blog shows how far we’ve come – a City supporter saying they’d see taking a point from a visit to the Mol as a good result. I’m going for Nuno to have done more work on the new approach and so get us back on track with a win. I think we might score a few as well.
Thanks Diogo, all the best for the future, you deserve success.
Even so COYW
Hoping for another of those magical nights but I think the lack of a crowd will be a big factor in this one. Molineux under the lights is normally an intimidating place to be, sadly not this time
Just feel we may be a little under-cooked for this one.
Citeh under-performed badly last season. Prime examples of the games that cost them their title were the two against us. A little like us, they just ran out of steam at the end of their European adventure. Since then they have had to pick their wounds. If there was even the slightest chance of them under-estimating us this time around that was washed clean away by watching our performance at Sheffield.
Here it is, first game of the season a chance for them to put a marker down. This is likely to go with the current empty stadium balance in favour of away sides.
Meanwhile we are still bedding in one of two key players and the slightly revised style.
BUT – this should be a great game. Our central defence is still solid. Raul will cause Ake and whoever partners (probably not Laporte) him problems and Aguero is will a big miss.
This result means nothing, it’s a free bit and a great opportunity to give Neto and Podence a real run out against the possible champions. So looking forward to it.
By Tuesday morning we could have consecutive defeats enriching the loss of Jota. Viewed in one way it could be viewed as a grim landscape. But that would provide misleading directions.
So, mentally grab every positive pass, tackle, save, run with the ball, header and shot tonight. Sustain yourself with it. Then by the time the time this transfer window closes we really be snarling on the leash and ready to start getting our teeth into the next episode of the journey – ‘Nuno 3 – Assault on the Six’
1-1 is the result I’m going for but to get anything will be a decent result against a tough team who we beat twice last year!
No wonder the performance was very flat against Stoke, the impact of Jotas impending departure looked like it knocked the stuffing out of the close knit group. They should have got used to the idea by now though and will have a point to prove I feel tonight, particularly as we know we can beat them and come back from 2 goals down too boot.
I need to protect my position as bottom of the prediction league (I believe) at the end of last season. I never thought I`d be happy being bottom of anything but I`m happy to be on par with our newly promoted west midlands rivals who are already holding up the rest of he premiership – long may they stay there too.
City for me will be undercooked and are there for the taking. So I fully expect a good result tonight, and a performance to match. We are the new wolves, so for me a 3-1 win would be nice for a home side to get a result for a change.
A blinder by Rui…clean sheet and a league debut goal from Fabio!
You have to play this prediction lark with your head not your heart, lads.
Mancs to sneak it by the one goal.
Can’t see where our goals are coming from … about two shots on target in the last 182 minutes, after grabbing those two against SheffU.
… And Stoke got stuffed by the other day by BristolC!!
Close one to predict, yes we beat them twice last season but can we keep it up? Heart says yes head says probably not. I don’t think that Jota will be missed that much given that we have Podence & Neto to step in. Just hope that Traore does not play RWB or I forsee Sterling creating havoc.
He played rwb away last season before moving forward late on. Managed to control the diver then but this is another game of course.
I am going to predict a very good performance.
Like Nuno, that is what counts and everything will even out in the end.
Deflections or bad VAR decisions are hard to see in advance but we will do ourselves proud.
A bot last minute (well, there’s a meal to prepare and eat before kick off) so only had time to read the blog not the comments.
Some high-scoring games over the weekend but I think this will be tighter, unless everything suddenly clicks for us. In which case I won’t care if my prediction is wrong!
I think we’ll shade it.
Bit!
I am not a bot!
We got the Indian sign on Man Shitey.
We certainly know how to cancel their threat…… as last season , including the Asia cup, proved to be the case.
A few have gone but some new recruits have arrived…
Won’t lose tonight but hedging towards a draw.
Not expecting great things tonight.
First half city absolutely dominant. Second half we came back in to it. Never mind. There is still a big gap to fill in my humble opinion. We move on. West Ham next Sunday night.
Saisse goes from hero one week to goat the next. And I don’t mean Greatest Of All Time.
Game was ruined by that penalty.
My first impression of Fabio Silva is that he seems to be light on his feet. Fell down or slipped a couple of times. Out-muscled.
Has to learn to be more physical. It’s going to take a while for him to develop that, I would think.
Very disappointed with Saiss who has been solid and sensible in that position, that was a Sunday league decision to slide tackle a player who was running out of space.
Why wasn’t Sterling cautioned for simulation?
City were very slick but we gave the ball away cheaply, it proves that Traore has to be further forward, he is the escape ball target which can bypass the opposition , get the team forward and ease the pressure.
We caused them problems in the second half by attacking the space behind their defence and needed to score with our chances but that’s life in the Premier League.