For more than half of Nigel Pearson’s starting line-up this evening, Bristol City’s FA Cup fifth round tie against Manchester City will be the biggest game of their careers, certainly in terms of attention and gravitas of the opponent.
For each of Max O’Leary, George Tanner, Zak Vyner, Cam Pring, Alex Scott and Sam Bell there have potentially been more personal moments of significance, specifically individual to them and their own lives; high-pressure situations around their debuts or youth-team matches that have shaped their futures.
But a FA Cup tie at a sold out Ashton Gate against the Premier League champions in which many of their opposite numbers can justifiable be called “world class” or, at the very least, in the elite of their respective positions, is, to take an overused word in football - massive.
That can work both ways - either players are consumed by nerves and the occasion or, and here is where Nigel Pearson and the senior members of the squad will be smart about the preparation, and use their relative care-free attitude to their advantage.
If we’re being honest about it, unlike the intensity of a Championship fixture there is no great lasting consequence to this fixture should the Robins lose; it’s Manchester City, they have Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland etc and should have more than enough to beat a mid-table Championship side.
There is expectation and an obligation to deliver a performance, of course; individuals ultimately need to do their best and perform like professionals but this is an event to celebrate, enjoy and savour, because they don’t come around too often.
That mindset is an interesting one for players to adapt to, given the pressure they’re usually under, but it could help them play to their absolute maximum, with a lightening of the mental load. Here’s how we anticipate City will line up at Ashton Gate…
Goalkeeper and defence
O’Leary is a pretty serious guy but the goalkeeper must be bearing a big grin on his face having signed a new contract for the next three-and-a-half years on the eve of this fixture. Just six months after he nearly left the club the 26-year-old is firmly established as the Robins No1 having seen off the challenge of since departed Dan Bentley and also, at least for now, Stefan Bajic.
He’ll make his 24th start of the campaign in between the posts with Nikita Haikin as deputy and most likely Harvey Wiles-Richards serving as third-choice to warm up alongside the two senior goalkeepers.
Without the injured Rob Atkinson and Kal Naismith - who probably would have started in midfield, anyway - the defence picks itself with George Tanner developing nicely at right-back, to the point he’s very quickly become City’s Mr Reliable out on that flank.
The former Manchester United academy player will face a mighty challenge in whichever winger Pep Guardiola opts to select on the left but there will make for a nice subplot if it is Phil Foden, given their previous duel at Under-18 level.
There should be a place in the matchday 18 for Kane Wilson for the first time since October as the 22-year-old has played three U21 fixtures to help build his match fitness up after a bad knee injury.
Cam Pring will take the left-sided berth, as has become the norm, restricting Jay Dasilva to a place on the bench but the 24-year-old could be a strong option in the second half should City need to search for a goal and stay on the front foot.
With the visitors likely to completely dominate possession, concentration as well as organisation, work rate and collective responsibility is key and that, in itself, can be tiring. The Robins bench won’t be blessed with loads of senior talent but Dasilva makes for a nice alternative should the situation demand it.
In the middle Vyner and Tomas Kalas will maintain their partnership having impressed for the most part against Hull City on the weekend. The concern for Pearson is beyond that partnership he doesn’t have a recognised senior centre-back.
Hopefully both come through the game unscathed but if a change is required at any stage, the likelihood is it’ll be Pring or Tanner as his first-choice, then Andy King and potentially Duncan Idehen from the academy.
Midfield
As has become the case over this unbeaten run, and since Naismith’s calf injury more than three weeks ago, the midfield three largely selects itself, testament to their consistency and cohesion in the middle of the park.
Matty James will take the holding role and his importance in this contest cannot be overstated. He may lack the athleticism of his younger teammates but how he holds his position and directs those around him will be absolutely essential in squeezing the space in which Manchester City will try and operate in.
Added to that, when the Robins do get on the ball he’ll have to use it sensibly and efficiently. King will act as his back-up off the bench and should the game state dictate it, the veteran could earn some minutes late on to ease the load.
Joe Williams will then provide the energy and should be absolutely itching to thunder into some tackles and get City on the front foot. Some of those instincts and his natural ebullience may have to be curbed because the ball will be zipping in front and around of the midfield a lot, but the 26-year-old has the patience, necessary experience and the nous to pick his moments and then, hopefully, setting the hosts on their way.
Which leaves us with Scott whose profile adorns the cover of the matchday programme and will occupy a significant amount of the pre-match interest from a City perspective. It’s a big moment for him, given the growing hype swirling around him as his ceiling continues to be raised.
But what can’t be forgotten is his importance to the team and, like James but in more advanced areas, his need to pick the right moments of when to move the ball quickly or to retain it himself. His ability to win free-kicks could also prove important as while City are without Atkinson, Vyner and Kalas could prove useful from set-pieces should the delivery be right.
There are a lack of midfield alternatives on the bench with Omar Taylor-Clarke likely to be selected, meaning Scott could be required to play the full 90 minutes (and potentially more).
Attack
With Anis Mehmeti and Harry Cornick cup tied and Tommy Conway injured, it’s a simple but not straightforward four into three equation for Pearson with Mark Sykes, Andi Weimann, Nahki Wells and Sam Bell competing for the spots.
You get the feeling that a game of this magnitude means that Pearson would ideally like to select Weimann but, in truth, it’s hard to see how the Austrian fits into the starting XI, based on form and formation.
In a three-man forward line, as has now become the norm in 2023, the only obvious spot is on the right and Sykes is playing too well and has that canny knack of getting himself into goalscoring positions that it’ll be a big call for the manager to leave him out.
He’s already declared that penalty hero Wells is starting, so we’re pretty comfortable in assuming the Bermudian will be through the middle which leaves the spot on the left-hand side vacated by Mehmeti.
Could Weimann occupy that role? Potentially but it’s not something he nor the team, nor anyone, is particularly used to, so it makes sense to add the pace and guile of Bell who, with all the focus on Scott and the 20-year-old still somewhat of an unknown quantity, could prove City’s secret x-factor over the course of the tie.
That would leave Weimann as City's only attacking option off the bench which should then lead Pearson to select at least one member of the U21 side to take a place among the substitutes. This sentence could look horribly out of date but depending on who lines up for the Young Robins at Watford, Olly Thomas or Marlee Francois are the obvious candidates.
Bristol City (4-3-3): Max O’Leary; George Tanner, Zak Vyner, Tomas Kalas, Cam Pring; Matty James, Joe Williams, Alex Scott; Mark Sykes, Nahki Wells, Sam Bell
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