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Hmmm. Liverpool aren't looking as good as they think they are.
Rumours suggest it’ll be Varane and Martinez at centre half - Maguire dropped possibly?
Well with Big Virge coming up for set-pieces it makes perfect sense to play our new 5'2" centre half who was hooked off at half time after being bullied out of the game by Brentford last weekend
Is that any worse than Maguire passing the ball out to the Liverpool attack?
Newcastle were excellent yesterday, but were 2nd best against Brighton even though they got a draw last week. Maybe that will be the narrative of their season, Howe needs to get them to play like that every week, not just when a current top 6 team comes to town.
Is that any worse than Maguire passing the ball out to the Liverpool attack?
There are no good options available. Such is the inexplicable nature of our totally disjointed and incoherent squad. More players get bought, apparently at random, with no indication of any sort of formation or tactical set up in mind. Absolutely scatter-gun
TH wants us to play it out from the back. We just don't have players remotely good enough to do that. I remember the hilarity that ensued when Arteta first started doing it at Arsenal. Tonight United could make that shambles look like Barca under Pep
Always the way though isn't it? Most teams can and do up their performance for a visit from a so called big team or a local derby. The big teams will always have a few games each season where professionalism, attitude and preparedness don't get them through. Add in the early season oddness as teams aren't settled and I'm not seeing a big 'closing of the gap'. I agree that Newcastle are on the up but it's far too early to say Chelsea aren't as strong this season or Liverpool, and has anyone closed on city? I guess a few key city players of previous seasons are getting older and could fail to be the players they've been... But on paper they have strengthened filling the supposed lack of a striker they had (of sterling reads this, that isn't meant to be offensive, as I think you're good).
So far I'd say arsenal looking impressive, shame. Spurs not exactly impressing but picking up 7 points they missed out on last season so reason to be very hopeful. Chelsea still to settle. Liverpool too.
I'm still thinking city's title, Liverpool 2nd probably but tighter for 2-5 or 6 than its been for a while. January-march are going too be odd and we won't really have a good idea of what is going on until April. So.... One match at a time.... Forest next, at theirs.
Looking forward to binners' match assessment later.
Tonight's game will be interesting, Liverpool have some big misses, they will need to stick someone next to Van Dijk as Matip and Konate are injured, it'll probably be Gomez, but could be an area of weakness.
Midfield for Liverpool is looking very ordinary these days, Thiago pulls the strings, so his loss is massive, and up front without Jota or Nunez, they'll have to bring back Firminho to the starting line up, tonight's game for me will tell if Liverpool have the squad to cope, still think if they were really wanting to push the boat out, someone like Bellingham would be a great signing.
They should have better cover for Thiago - he never usually manages more than 60% of a season. Regularly injured. Klopp’s shown a lot of faith in Elliot and Jones, I wonder if they will step up. Carvalho too, but he’s more of a forward I think. Keita flatters to deceive - like Thiago misses loads of games and is inconsistent when he plays.
I think it will be closer than Binners et al think tonight. United to go direct with pace out wide.
It’s the hope that kills you 😂
Yeah, but Liverpool are stuttering in defence and midfield, Milner would be lucky to get a game in the Championship these days, and TAA is a complete liability in defence!
Eerm.... Klopp out?!
Milner would be lucky to get a game in the Championship these days
He has also kicked out a few times already this half, reminds me of the game against city last year when he should have received 5 yellow cards, I think refs are refereeing him by reputation rather than his actions.
Trent believes his hype maybe? Drifting everywhere thinking he’s as good as Cancelo? Goals on the break for United if they can keep Liverpool out.
I stuck my usual bet on Milner to get carded. Amazingly it was 4/1. God only knows how it’s not paid out already
I’m finding it difficult to acclimatise to United players actually putting challenges in, pressing and playing great through balls.
Don’t think we’ll have it as easy second half
Crazy crazy football eh!
And game on again! Fun last ten minutes hopefully
Bit of a dodgy ending, but ManU were good enough for the 3 points, probably lucky to get Liverpool in this run of form.
Have to say the one thing that makes a neutral like me annoyed is watching Fernandes diving about and feigning injury, he was around the ref all the time trying to get bookings and so on, hate watching that, and he really is one of the worst in the EPL at it.
He won't be the biggest diver for long, Casemiro is on his way.
Liverpool really poor but what a difference Fabinho makes. You could play a wheelie bin next to him - why’s he a sub if he’s not fit to start?
Malaria and Martinez were good for United. Rashford too. Shades of the better parts of Ole’s reign, sitting deep and hitting on the break.
Loving sweary Ten Hag 😂
And Roy Keane being nice
As above, why wouldn't you have Fabinho from the start?
Eliot might become the player Thiago is, he was certainly as good as it got tonight, but he isn't that now. Henderson is already the player he is, but he still doesn't quite know what that is - is he Gerrard or Didi?
Fabinho lets you be what you want to be, and find out who you are. Fabinho is a presence, an enabler.
Milner is a wild card to throw from the pack when it's gone cray-zee but not a player for the starting 11.
Liverpool have not started this season well, and do not look like they have obvious fixes to change that.
I bet binners is smiling this morning!
I thought it was a good game. Utd didn't exactly play brilliantly, but they did the basics really well. They hassled Liverpool and because they are off form they were fairly easy pickings. Luiz is a class player, he stood out for me for Liverpool. I know Rashford scored and contributed, but he still plays with his head down. His mind definitely seems elsewhere.
I bet binners is smiling this morning!
I am indeed. I watched the match with 3 scousers who were getting increasingly shouty and sweary as the game went on.
I thought it was like role reversal.
Liverpool were guilty of all the things that United are rightly criticised for week after week. Sloppy passing, asleep at the back, no pressing, dithering on the ball, no creativity or pace going forward. It was interesting to see Virgil and Milner having a barny after the first goal. We're used to seeing players arguing with each other or throwing there arms up at each other in exasperation. Thats the first time I've seen it with Liverpool
We decided to belatedly rediscover some of the things Liverpool are normally praised for, but was inexplicably absent from them last night... constantly pressing, doubling up on players in the midfield, being really physical, compact and organised at the back with fast and incisive passing on the break
Thats the best United performance I've watched for a very long time, but Liverpool were really poor. The positives were: No Maguire to worry the rest of the defence with his flailing ineptitude and appalling decision-making. Martinez was absolutely superb. Really physical. I loved when he just went through Milner and then just bullied Salah. Malacia had a great game, as did Dalot. Rashford and Sancho were sharp up front and both got the goals there performance deserved
I'm not getting too excited just yet. I could just as easily see us follow this up by losing to Southampton on Saturday.
I'm just pleased to see us getting the basics right for once
If anyone had any doubt whether Maguire was on his way out, that result pretty much confirms it. The only question is whether they can offload him before the window closes.
I wouldn’t make wholesale changes based on that result, Liverpool had an absolute nightmare as much as ManU improved, Van Dijk just looks miserable, Trent Alexander is horrific in defence, has been for years but with the rest falling away, and no real defensive midfielder starting it showed huge gaps
Also, that midfield, Elliot, Henderson and Milner, imagine that was up against Man City!
Manyoo did some nice things but Liverpool being hilariously awful certainly played a huge part. Central midfield of Henderson and Milner with a combined age of 97 or something offered nothing and I've been saying it for aaaaaages, A-A must be the most over-hyped player of a generation. Defensively awful (could have been responsible for another 3 or 4 goals last night due to his sloppy play) and going forward, the pundits will say "he's a great crosser of the ball". Is he heckers - Liverpool generally have had 3 of Salah, Firmino, Mane, Diaz, Jota, Nunez etc in the box in the last season so any cross has a pretty good chance of hitting one of them. He's just a hit and hope player. Staggering that Klopp left him on when it was blatant he was being pinpointed as a weak point.
Anyway, not too bothered about all these bottom half teams anyway.
MOT
I don't think Klopp has an alternative at right back unless TAA is injured, for the second game running he also subbed Robertson for Tsimikas, which is a real head scratcher.
But again, TAA is just too casual in defence, when Elanga hit the post TAA is 40 yards further up than Robertson or the defenders, Elanga can just walk up to the box and hit his shot, for the first goal he gets 1-2'd and then jogs, yes VVD didn't run out to block, but if TAA had actually ran after the ball Sancho wouldn't have had that option of selling the dummy to Milner, for the second goal he's 20 yards inside the ManU half whilst Rashford is tearing down on goal with the ball!
I was amazed folk were going on about ManU being in trouble for this one, it's a huge derby, Liverpool had a weak squad for the match and they've had a horrible start, the players are doing bad enough, but Klopp has to take some of the blame as well, if you've got a full back who's that woeful in defence and a centre back with no form (Gomez) you'd think maybe a back 5 away from home to your biggest rival would be worth a shot, especially with no defensive midfielder in the lineup!
I was amazed folk were going on about ManU being in trouble for this one
Maybe those folk had seen them against Brentford and the absolute shambles that they were in that game?
Impartial observations:
Liverpool were poor in general and scandalously bad at the back, especially for the first goal. For Fernandes to be able to literally point out to Sancho where to put the ball showed just how much time they were allowed. Van Dijk only had to take two steps forward to close off the angle. shocking really.
Man Utd weren't showing any massive quality other than application and a willingness to adhere to percentage football. Solid but stodgy, mid table stuff.
Plenty of time for both to improve.
Yeah, i don't think either of these teams will be collecting many trophies or awards this season, i think we're seeing the end of an era for Liverpool, they've got an ageing and injury prone team, funnily enough a bit like ManU a few years back, Ferguson knew it was all coming to an end and i think Klopp's seeing the same.
Newcastle are going big. £60 million for a 22 year old inconsistent striker.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62659383
Is it this fella?
Newcastle are going big. £60 million for a 22 year old inconsistent striker.
> https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62659383
Whilst Everton look to scare the rest of the prem to death with the signing of prolific striker Neil Maupay.
As a Brighton supporter I have a lot of time for Maupay. He works really hard for the team and is pretty good at holding up and linking the play and is one of the biggest shithouses in the league. He’s also been our top scorer for the last 2/3 seasons and scored some great goals for us.
The downsides though, he can miss some absolute sitters and gets a bit sulky if he’s not getting enough minutes.
I would have liked him to stay because I doubt we’ll replace him and the squad will be weaker without him but with a year left on his contract and him being probably 3rd choice behind Welbeck and Undav then it makes sense to let him go pretty much for what we bought him for.
Strange that in this window we’ve sold our best player in Bissouma (which we all knew would happen), last seasons player of the year in Cucurella and now our top scorer, that should be a disaster yet it feels like we’re in a really good place right now.
Newcastle are going big. £60 million for a 22 year old inconsistent striker.
The money's daft isn't it! Is he worth £60M - who knows, will he be worth £60M once he's been coached by Eddie Howe and his team is a different question again.
Top of the league for 4 wonderful minutes.
I’m just glad that Liverpools 9 goal rampage happened today and not on Monday night, as I had psychologically prepared myself for
I don’t know how Arsenal aren’t about 3 up already? Jesus is absolutely everywhere. Nobody appears to have their shooting boots on though
Oh dear. That’s the return of the kind of defending we were more usually used to with Arsenal
If you’re going to insist on playing it out from the back then you need to stay awake with players like Mitrovic lurking on your shoulder
As an aside: the huge VISIT RWANDA hoardings do look quite satirical given its present destination as the dumping ground for failed asylum seekers.
🤫 top of the league
top of the league
Yep we are for the moment but Sheffield Utd are breathing down our necks.
Love beating Millwall. Their visiting supporters were the original Orcs.
Can’t be much dafter money than the rumoured £60m plus Chelsea seem willing to pay for Anthony Gordon!
Haaland is going to take time to settle in the prem.
I wonder how he’ll get on once he’s up to speed?
Isak is going to take time to settle in the prem...
Liverpool looking very ordinary. Seem to struggle if a few players are out.
City have bundles of cash but they really buy the right players all the time.
they said on the radio, if Haaland works on his finishing he'll really be dangerous.
[edit] thanks Caher, kiss of death for my other team.
Alverez looks great as well, maybe a little unlucky also not to get a hattrick.
Even as a city fan, I am hoping that liverpool pull something off tomorrow before the transfer window ends to keep up the competition.
Liverpool are off it. Kneejerk reaction from me but is this the beginning of the end for this side? Salah too has been pretty average this season - I wonder if that big contract will prove an error?
And to prove I know f all they’ve just won it with the last kick.
Here goes...Bloody Hell Liverpool.
It's a bloody harsh game at times. Proper unlucky for Newcastle
A bit too obvious on the timewasting shitehousery means that it's relatively easy to justify playing 3 minutes beyond the 5 there were supposed to be. But going to Anfield with three big players missing you aren't going to outplay them so difficult to moan too much at them trying to run clocks down.
Bit naive at the end though; of course if they'd scored themselves on that break I'd be yelling myself hoarse but it should have gone in the corner and taken the point.
Yeah, Liverpool got lucky, that midfield they have just now and the lack of options off the bench isn't good for them, they're an ageing team that have several injury prone players, and they thinned the squad as well in the summer with the likes of Origi, Minamino and Williams all leaving, which has meant their bench is looking lightweight now, and this is the start of the season!
Man City on the other hand are just starting to click, and signed another defender today to cover their own injuries at the back, if they getting a head of steam this could be a pretty disappointing season for any real excitement at the top.
Still, see what tomorrow brings, last day of the window, can see some movement in the market with the big teams, can Chelsea break the £250 million mark 😂
I'd say the lack of options is mostly injuries right now, Jota, Matip, Konate, Thiago and Nunez would all be starting ahead of someone who started tonight. Once everyone is fit then the bench will be strong
^this - Liverpool have options, just not yet.
Matip and Curtis Jones were on the bench tonight, Nunez is available for the next game, Jota is back in training, Thiago might be 'just' a few weeks away. The transfer window is not the issue - Klopp was saying earlier in the week that buying players for the sake of it was pointless.
Trouble is, the season might have already left them behind by the time the rest of the squad is fit. Also, Nunez should be doing what Haaland is now, but he is three games behind already - that is a self-inflicted wound that he might find hard to heal.
The key will be the 'WC hump' of the title - the weird compression of fixtures at random times, the teams with International players injured/fatigued because of it, the disruption to the 'flow' of momentum, and all of the other things attendant on it, will add a frisson that cannot be judged this far out.
Having said that, City will win the league, Haaland will be Golden Boot, but everything else is up for grabs!
I’d say the lack of options is mostly injuries right now, Jota, Matip, Konate, Thiago and Nunez would all be starting ahead of someone who started tonight. Once everyone is fit then the bench will be strong
It's midfield they are suffering, Konate and Matip are fighting with Gomez for that other centre back position, Jota and Nunez are battling for the front 3, Thiago is the main man for them in the midfield, but is injury prone, same with Fabinho, i can't see them at least trying to get someone in this window, you look at the other teams and they have so many options in the middle, Liverpool have the option of Milner 😂
It's been a long time since I've watched Forest play in the Prem live, and after watching the Haaland show this evening, I've still yet to see them play.
City were scary, Forest struggled, but we'll be alright I think. Support was brilliant.
Great game though as I was sat next to my lad who got to enjoy his team score a shed load of goals against his dad's team. Spurs should have done us a favour against West Ham however...
I think Liverpool will go hard for a big name midfielder next year, Milner may well leave and Henderson isn't getting any younger. I think they will go for Bellingham. Liverpool have never had a great midfield under Klopp but that hasn't held them back.
For me the key is to beat City, we've run them close in the league a few times but the difference would have been beating them when we ended up dropping points. Head to heads count when you play a team who drop as few points as City do.
7 minutes? Fergie wants his watch back 😂
I wonder how many hat tricks Haaland is going to get this season then?
City look terrifying on that form
I think i saw Joelinton on his arse for at least half of the last half - even Howe had the good grace to not complain about any extra time.
Haaland will be the signing of the season - how many hat tricks in a season being a domino to fall surely?
On injuries: I'm a little perplexed as to how as we're only 5 games into the season, the injury list in some clubs is huge. Who's training the players, worldclassaccident?
Just imagine what the injury list will look like come the new year after the stupid winter world cup
I reckon most teams will be putting their reserves out or possibly even their under 18’s by January
Kalvin Philips will be praying for a shit-load of injuries before and after the WC so he stands half a chance of getting into the England starting 11 and maybe even bag a few minutes as a sub for Man City in the Carabao Cup.
Phillips is currently injured himself, as is Grealish, you just don’t notice it with City!
Ohh is he? I didn't realise - I thought he played a few minutes as a sub a couple of games ago?
Edit - he was an unused sub against Newcastle so apparently fit again after being injured in the friendly.
I reckon most teams will be putting their reserves out or possibly even their under 18’s by January
Excellent, even with my arthritic knee I might get a game.
Apparently, Harry Rednapp once called out a heckling supporter, gave him some boots and the lumbering ox scored. Was a friendly though.
Liverpool losing more ground again, at least they've moved above ManU on goal difference, at least until they play tomorrow 😂
Looks like we’re going to have a fight on our hands for that Europa Conference League place 😂
On R5 at lunchtime - Liverpool need to win all but four of their remaining games to match their 21/22 points total. Making note of course that they didn't win the league with that total last year. And City didn't have Haaland.
Bookies might as well pay out already.
I think a better bet might be Liverpool to finish out the top four.
Good to see VAR not causing any controversy as well 😂
Another win for spurs, although judging by the score line and stats, another game where they are yet to fire on all cylinders. If they don't start soon then they'll start dropping more points, Inn fact the draw at wet spam felt like 2 dropped.
Etihad and Emirates trips in the next 2 games, Leicester at home in between. We need to be firing on all cylinders to get more then 3 points from those three.
Yep, Arsenal not played anyone yet either but tough run coming up. City profligate tonight! Hope for the rest?
Was also good to see Celtic humping Rangers today, do miss not being up there with the season ticket for games like that 😁
Celtic humping Rangers
Oh yes! However hopefully not humped by Franco's team next week.
Oh yes! However hopefully not humped by Franco’s team next week.
There's a good chance we could be, hopefully we do a bit better than recent years in Europe, when i had the season ticket i got to see us beat Barca, draw with ManU and so on, but that was in the days before the likes of Stoke had the same spending power as us 😂
I always argue with my English mates that if Celtic were in the Premier League they'd have massive spending power.
Watching MOTD there has been some absolutely outstanding goalkeeping on display today.