tough opening game v chelsea but at least we are at home the away side will have advantage of a fully fit side while i will have to rotate and my new signing
A_Wharton will make his debut for us and hopefully we can put on a good performance
Last edited by stocko74 on 28 Feb 2025, 11:32, edited 1 time in total.
Manchester city vs Aston Villa
We kick off the defence of our title away at the Etihad to take on Todd's team. Last time these two sides met a home defeat from them very nearly cost us the title so we won't be taking them lightly at all!
We have strengthened the title winning squad and made some big calls over personnel. For the first time since season 14 no Villa team will feature Zack Butterworth which is a sad occasion but we have to be ruthless to keep improving.
The players that will be playing though... Giovani Garofani returns from his loan spell at Brentford and is now ensconced as our number 1 after Christensen moved on meaning Robert Sanchez will continue as backup. Josko Gvardiol will be making a league debut to martial the defence alongside Marc Guehi and Luke Shaw who are also likely starters. In the midfield Bruno Guimaraes will be making his debut with Rodrigo Bentancur also in contention. Plus a success for the youth academy as Tim Iroegbunam will feature having signed a senior contract over the off season. finally Matheus Cunha will partner Anthony Gordon in attack with Julian Alvarez the backup off the bench. All in all that equates to eight potential league debuts for the club.
We feel we have definitely improved this squad from the title winning season and hopefully we can get off to a good start in this one. Last season was tough and a fantastic title race and Liuverpool, Man Utd, Bournemouth and Everton are not going away easily. Winning this league will need a side to be at their best week in week out without many slip ups.
The Man City rosetr is not one to be taken lightly. They have the best GK in FMFA and Pedro Porro will be key in their defence alongside Zinchenko. They pairing of McAllister and Diaz is dangerous in midfield as well. They showed us at Villa Park last year the threat they pose and we only just manager a 3-2 win at their place. This is not an easy start - no away game is in this league.
Hopefully we will get the setup right and come away with the points although a draw wouldn't be a disaster. In a much shorter season this time round though momentum is key. Hopefully we can get some going early
Interesting start this as I have the reverse fixture in the U23's where I am at home to Derby.
First game of a new season and you just don't know what is ahead or how teams will perform yet. There will have been lots of changes to teams in both players and movement between squads etc so to judge anything at this stage is hard.
We have the home advantage for this one but we still need to go out and deliver if we want to start with a win.
Team wise there is little to choose between the teams at the back or midfield. In the forward line though I think we edge the firepower but ultimately they need to deliver and score on the day and if Derby's do just that then we may not get the start we want.
Good Luck @Dazoctaron both with this game and the season.
Facing The Cherries away from home on opening day is a hard as it gets. It’s a massively improved home side we’re facing and Matt has done a great job this preseason. They’ve signed players like Daniel Muñoz, Riccardo Calafiori, Martin Ødegaard and Enzo Fernandez. All four rated among the best players at Bournemouth. Great piece of work from Matt in the transfer market. He has built a team capable of fighting for the title and we’re in for a very tough game.
Ourselves hasn’t been very active in the transfer market but that’s mainly because I’m very happy with the roster and to be honest, I let the players down last season. I feel, like every season, we got the best outfit out of every team competing in Division One. It’s all down to me as manager to bring the title to Merseyside. The only two changes we’ve done to our roster is making Jarell Quansah a world class defender thanks to McScrooge and getting Ryan Gravenberch signed from auction. Both wonderful footballers ready to play first team football.
Like I said from the start, this trip down to the South-Coast is going to be very hard but hopefully we got what it takes to come away with a result.
If the Qualifying round of the Club World Cup is any indicator, this could be a difficult season for us. No goals scored and 4 conceded.
Still this is a different competition and everyone starts the same.
A few new recruits for us to integrate into the team but we will be hoping to hit the ground running, especially with a home match.
Saved penalties for a living and reffed for a bit.
Currently run EFLO, CoE and OFMC
Of all the teams to have to face in the opening game of the season is Liverpool. We will most likely start with a loss despite the changes we have made im pretty confident we are still no match for Liverpool or Villa in this league so if we can get best of the rest i will be happy with our performance at this opening point.
