by Colin the King » Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:00 pm
It's impossible to predict with City, but I'd certainly be hoping for a minimum of 11 points from these games- Sunderland are a decent side but nothing special and susceptible to losing the plot when teams charge at them- in that regard I'd see Bellamy as the key. Their lot will wind up him all day thanks to the Newcastle days and he'll hopefully thrive on it. Our defence is going through a bit of a crisis, granted, but they can only capitalise on that if we give them the opportunity. So if we attack and pass the ball well, we can win quite comfortably.
Stoke are a difficult side to play against but generally they're not as threatening away from home. Their little tricks like long throws are nowhere near as effective on a big pitch like ours, which definitely suits the purer elements of the game. They'll hope to score early on and park the proverbial bus but like we saw last season, if that doesn't happen we can put them to the sword. Regardless of how tricky they are to play against, we need to be winning.
Wolves is harder to call- on paper we should be battering them but they have strengths that, like we saw last weekend, sometimes work in their favour. Needless to say McCarthy will send them out to rile our big names and I worry that might be effective. It's a fairly hostile and tight ground so I wouldn't be devastated with a point here, IF we'd won the two previous games.
That leaves Blackburn and Everton, two tricky teams who are well drilled on set pieces and defensive organisation. We struggled with Blakburn but in the last year or so that's improved with two wins and a draw, and I think we'll be able to carry on with that improved record. Much like Stoke, the longer it's 0-0 the better for us because with our extra pace and attacking options, they'll tire if we pass them to death and eventually could win quite comfortably. The risk is that they'll nick one on the break and shut up shop. We'll have to be well disciplined. Everton is a tough one to call- if Lescott's back I can envisage him scoring the winner to really wind up the scousers. They've had a rough start to the season but are picking up as of late and will have players fit and available come the 16th. Saha is in great form and will have to be watched closely and they have good, disciplined defenders. Maybe the key in this game is Distin who seems to have an absolute shocker whenever he's played us since leaving. Nonetheless I'd take a draw in this one too, not that we can't win.