Manchester City 4 Home Games in 11 Days Coming Up

Time to Make The Etihad Stadium a Fortress

Manchester City fans have a rare treat in store over the next couple of weeks as the fixture gods have delivered an almost unprecedented 4 home games on the bounce. Of course its always expensive following football as a match going fan as you have to factor in the cost of tickets, transport to the ground and parking costs, plus those other costs which are easy to rack up such as food and drink.

So whilst having 4 games at home – on a playing surface which resembles a carpet – is good for the team, its often not an immediate good news story for the fans. Having to find the money to support your team 4 times in 11 days can be hard! Although its cheaper than 4 consecutive away fixtures in the same period!

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The first match in this run is this Thursday evening – 1st November – when City recommence their defence of the Carabao Cup trophy. Of course of all the games coming up this may be most likely to be the one where key players are rested, making the outcome unsure. Squeezing in this fixture on a Thursday evening also may be a squeeze on fans who may choose to prioritise some of the fixtures we have coming up. Another factor to consider is this game is against Fulham – a team we have entertained at the Etihad already this season, just a few weeks ago. City seem to specialise in drawing teams in Cup competition they have just played in the league!

The second match in the run follows just 3 days later on Sunday 4 November where a 3.00pm kick off sees Manchester City take on Southampton. Southampton have been on a poor run of form and City will be going all out to make the home advantage count. It strikes me that in recent seasons despite our comparative league positions we always seem to labour against Southampton. Last season victory at home was only ensured by a 97th minute Raheem Sterling winner.

The third match in the run sees Shaktar Donetsk play again at the Etihad on Wednesday 7 November in the Champions League. This feels like an annual fixture now. The victory away at Shaktar a couple of weeks ago has given Manchester City the chance to progress out of the group, but a victory against them at home is critical. Otherwise we are left to sweat on games between other teams in our group going the correct way.

The final match in this series takes place on Sunday 11 November away at the Etihad Stadium where Manchester city take on Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United. This is a delicious fixture and comes complete with layers of animosity and bad feeling between the two clubs. This game will be played against a backdrop where a City win may see them being prematurely crowned as League winners by the media and a United loss will see fans and pundits calling for the head of Mourinho. A City loss will seem like the end of the world and a draw will really only satisfy Liverpool and Chelsea.

Given the importance of this 4th game in the sequence, it will be interesting to see what kind of squad rotation is employed by Guardiola as he seeks to come away having masterminded 4 victories. If City did achieve 4 victories in these 11 days, I think we will have found sufficient momentum to power us towards another impressive season of success.