You generally know in advance who's really better, them your us. Either a general glance at the league table or past games should let you know what to expect from the game. My general practice is that if my team is better and is supposed to win the game, I make the other team adjust to us. We focus on our game, and try to win simply by having the better players or better organization.
If my team is not better, then we may make alterations to attack their weakness, or cover their strengths.
I always joke with my friends (who hate the fact that games can end as a draw in soccer) that in soccer, there are no real ties. One team is generally better than the other, thus, one team wins one point and the other team losses two points. That principle is in place here, where if the other team is admitatly better, we may settle for a draw (unless a win is needed to gain advancement or promotion).
Converselly, if we need to win by a few goals, and we know we're the better team, I still don't make adjustments until after the start of the game. For instance, if we must win by three goals, it may seem wise to start with a three pronged attack, but I'd wait to see if we can get a goal or two in the first half before I made a bold move, as conceding a goal could be check mate.
I hope others chime in... to me, this is a very interesting topic
