EPL Thread

[CrispyCrunch]

Only 3 months left in the current campaign. Can Arsenal hold off the Manchester clubs to secure their first title in almost 2 decades? Will Man city be adequately punished for cooking their books? Can Liverpool make a late charge to sneak into the top 4 again? Maybe with another stoppage time header from Alisson. When will Graham Potter finally be sacked?

Stay tuned to find out.

 

[jsanchez]

This EPL season seems like a write-off for Liverpool, they got lucky against a Newcastle team playing with 10 men,
but they can redeem themselves tomorrow against RM.

 

[CrispyCrunch]

I’m not convinced like some others that Liverpool are getting back to their best just in time for Madrid. Alisson was Liverpool’s man of the match against Newcastle’s 10 men, and made at least 4 key saves. He’s been doing this all season and we’d be nowhere near the top 4 without him.

Even when Liverpool were flying domestically and in Europe, the Madrid teams and Napoli seemed to have our number.

 

[princekwekua]

This EPL season seems like a write-off for Liverpool, they got lucky against a Newcastle team playing with 10 men,
but they can redeem themselves tomorrow against RM.

Liverpool scored the 2 goals before the keeper was sent off. That said, they dont look impressive. They lose against RM tomorrow

 

[princekwekua]

And the UK economy is going down the tubes

 

[jsanchez]

And the UK economy is going down the tubes

lol, you'll need to link to kooky youtube videos in order for these posts to carry some weight with us

 

[jsanchez]

I’m not convinced like some others that Liverpool are getting back to their best just in time for Madrid. Alisson was Liverpool’s man of the match against Newcastle’s 10 men, and made at least 4 key saves. He’s been doing this all season and we’d be nowhere near the top 4 without him...

I'm not sure anymore if this is due to their porous defense or their sputtering attack, or the loss of Mane or...
but one thing is for sure the scoreboard would've looked pretty bad in other games had it not been for Alisson.

MC is proving it's possible to be tired of winning, but they're still a formidable team and can win this season too
if Guardiola can get them motivated, unless they get punished and have points deducted.

 

[CrispyCrunch]

I'm not sure anymore if this is due to their porous defense or their sputtering attack, or the loss of Mane or...
but one thing is for sure the scoreboard would've looked pretty bad in other games had it not been for Alisson.

MC is proving it's possible to be tired of winning, but they're still a formidable team and can win this season too
if Guardiola can get them motivated, unless they get punished and have points deducted.

The loss of Mane and also the mental burnout from last year where if their last 2 matches had gone a different way, it would have been their best season ever. Man City are experiencing a similar burnout but they’re better able to cope with their half a billion pound bench.

City are still favourites to win the league sadly. Grealish is finally starting to put up the numbers to stop people from mocking his price tag. Haaland scores in bunches and is slowing them down in the league overall, but they won’t mind if he’s turns out to be their missing X factor in the key champions league matches.

Rashford is making Southgate look silly for dropping him as soon as England reached the knockout rounds. He was in this form already during the World Cup.

 

[jsanchez]

The loss of Mane and also the mental burnout from last year where if their last 2 matches had gone a different way, it would have been their best season ever. Man City are experiencing a similar burnout but they’re better able to cope with their half a billion pound bench.

City are still favourites to win the league sadly. Grealish is finally starting to put up the numbers to stop people from mocking his price tag. Haaland scores in bunches and is slowing them down in the league overall, but they won’t mind if he’s turns out to be their missing X factor in the key champions league matches.

Rashford is making Southgate look silly for dropping him as soon as England reached the knockout rounds. He was in this form already during the World Cup.

Agreed MC's bench can play in the epl as MC2 and still compete for top 5 alongside MC and others.

Rashford is a superb player but MU is still work in progress, they'll be the team to beat next season.

Arsenal has peaked I think, losing 3-1 at the Emirates was not a good sign,
and they'll have to play MC again and Liverpool in a few weeks, both away games.

 

[bver_hunter]

I'm not sure anymore if this is due to their porous defense or their sputtering attack, or the loss of Mane or...
but one thing is for sure the scoreboard would've looked pretty bad in other games had it not been for Alisson.

MC is proving it's possible to be tired of winning, but they're still a formidable team and can win this season too
if Guardiola can get them motivated, unless they get punished and have points deducted.

Man City were trying to look too pretty against Nottingham Forest. Instead of being concise with their final strike at close to open goals all they did was to either try to hit the Chinese Spy balloon in space or making that intricate pass rather than striking at close to an open goal. That must have really pissed off Guardiola, especially when conceding from a rare counter from Forest. I believe that they could still pick up the pieces before the end of this season.

 

[princekwekua]

Agreed MC's bench can play in the epl as MC2 and still compete for top 5 alongside MC and others.

Rashford is a superb player but MU is still work in progress, they'll be the team to beat next season.

Arsenal has peaked I think, losing 3-1 at the Emirates was not a good sign,
and they'll have to play MC again and Liverpool in a few weeks, both away games.

In Casemiro, MU finally has a Roy Keane replacement. Someone to kick butt. They will be unbeatable if they add a bona fide striker like Napoli's Osimhen.

So what's your team, if you have one?

 

[princekwekua]

Chelsea have spent £583m on new players in the past two transfer windows under owner Todd Boehly, with eight new signings arriving in January. When you spend that much money, you would think a striker in the mold of their former Ivorian Didier Drogba would be top most priority. Nope, they rather overpaid for Enzo Fernandez. What were they thinking?? Now they have all these expensive signings and a toothless tiger for a team. Sucks.

 

[CrispyCrunch]

That was brutal, can’t ever remember Liverpool getting Oled at Anfield, at 5-2 down. If FSG aren’t interested in selling they need to give Klopp the funds he needs to rebuild or else they’re just wasting his time.

 

[CrispyCrunch]

Chelsea have spent £583m on new players in the past two transfer windows under owner Todd Boehly, with eight new signings arriving in January. When you spend that much money, you would think a striker in the mold of their former Ivorian Didier Drogba would be top most priority. Nope, they rather overpaid for Enzo Fernandez. What were they thinking?? Now they have all these expensive signings and a toothless tiger for a team. Sucks.

That kind of spending isn’t sustainable by Todd Lasso. If it backfires he’ll have a lot of unhappy players on 8 year contracts and have a hard time transferring them to other clubs. Chelsea has been a graveyard for high profile strikers as well, the only ones that have worked for them are Drogba and Diego Costa.

 

[jsanchez]

In Casemiro, MU finally has a Roy Keane replacement. Someone to kick butt. They will be unbeatable if they add a bona fide striker like Napoli's Osimhen.

So what's your team, if you have one?

Not attached to one team in particular but still follow Liverpool, have always liked their fighting spirit
and loved to watch that high-powered attacking trio (Firmino/Mane/Salah) when everything just clicked
and Klopp would celebrate goals with fist pumps while running like a crazy man down the sideline

Also Toronto FC for obvious reasons but they've been painful to watch LOL

 

[jsanchez]

That was brutal, can’t ever remember Liverpool getting Oled at Anfield, at 5-2 down. If FSG aren’t interested in selling they need to give Klopp the funds he needs to rebuild or else they’re just wasting his time.

Not gonna blame Alisson, he rarely blunders but it was bad timing for that howler,
Liverpool's defense/mid field needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, I knew their defense was porous
but didn't see this coming especially after leading 2-0.

Militao must have scored one of the easiest headers ever on a free kick, no need to jump at all,
just stand there unchallenged, wait for the cross, head the ball in, celebrate.

 

[princekwekua]

I'm not sure anymore if this is due to their porous defense or their sputtering attack, or the loss of Mane or...
but one thing is for sure the scoreboard would've looked pretty bad in other games had it not been for Alisson.

Liverpool took a 2-0 lead against RM, so the attack did not sputter. Then Vini Jr. scored a wonder goal and Alisson gifted him another.

Overall, Klopp does not have the personnel anymore to match his strategy. Fabinho and Henderson are not capable of providing cover for the defense when he sends Alexander-Arnold and Robertson forward. This is what is leaving gaps at the back for teams to launch counter attacks to devastating effect. RM fifth goal was emblematic of this deficiency when Vini Jr tore away and laid the ball to Benzema to calmly slot in. The coat has to be cut according to the cloth. Klopp is not doing that.

As a Man Utd fan, though, I have no sympathy for those obnoxious reds.

 

[CrispyCrunch]

Klopp is very stubborn with his tactics because this is the style he used to win the league. With these ageing midfielders and forwards unable to press like they used to, it’s almost suicidal to stick with the high defensive line.

 

[CrispyCrunch]

Manchester United fans will be happy to hear that Loris Karius is set to start for Newcastle in this Sunday’s Carabao Cup final. He hasn’t played a competitive match in almost 2 years and is Newcastle’s third choice keeper but Nick Pope received a red card last weekend and Martin Dubravka is cup tied.

People will remember him for his 2 high profile errors in his last cup final, when Liverpool faced Real Madrid in the 2018 champions league. His career has nosedived since then, but now he has a chance to partially redeem himself.


https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64735717

 

[princekwekua]

Manchester United fans will be happy to hear that Loris Karius is set to start for Newcastle in this Sunday’s Carabao Cup final. He hasn’t played a competitive match in almost 2 years and is Newcastle’s third choice keeper but Nick Pope received a red card last weekend and Martin Dubravka is cup tied.

People will remember him for his 2 high profile errors in his last cup final, when Liverpool faced Real Madrid in the 2018 champions league. His career has nosedived since then, but now he has a chance to partially redeem himself.


https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64735717

Newcastle will be no push over regardless of who keeps goal. They have conceded just 15 goals in 23 matches and have lost just 2.