Easter Weekend Fixtures & Midweek (30/31 Mar & 02/03/04 April)

[Marc Overmars]

Yes. Winning at OT will not only see Liverpool deal with what looks like their trickiest remaining fixture (they always win at home) but will be a significant phsycholgical boost to a team that looks capable of vibing their way to the title. It's been impressive how they have dealt with their injuries this season. I'm hoping those Sp*rs twats take points from City when they eventually play them at home but of course they won't. It's difficult to see a title for us without winning all our remaining games Those Xmas results against Fulham and West Ham may come back to bite us...

Yeah those results were real stinkers, especially that woeful performance at Fulham. The margins are so fine that despite being almost flawless since then and beating Liverpool in the process, we still find ourselves needing favours and unable to drop points anywhere without it being disastrous.

[Letters]

We're the only one in the top 3 who has lost any games at home
In any season though you can point to poor results which could and should have gone better.
We can't control that now. It's not in our hands but I don't think the other two will win every game so I expect there will be a few twists left yet.
Come on, ManYou, you berks, stop being rubbish for one weekend.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Yes. Winning at OT will not only see Liverpool deal with what looks like their trickiest remaining fixture (they always win at home) but will be a significant phsycholgical boost to a team that looks capable of vibing their way to the title. It's been impressive how they have dealt with their injuries this season. I'm hoping those Sp*rs twats take points from City when they eventually play them at home but of course they won't. It's difficult to see a title for us without winning all our remaining games Those Xmas results against Fulham and West Ham may come back to bite us...

Equally it can be said that Liverpool have drawn games early on in the season that they should have won

Also not only have they failed to overcome us, they haven’t beaten city. They haven’t beaten spurs and they haven’t beaten United.

So yes if they do win at Old Trafford it gives them an edge, but I don’t expect them to.

[IBK]

Equally it can be said that Liverpool have drawn games early on in the season that they should have won

Also not only have they failed to overcome us, they haven’t beaten city. They haven’t beaten spurs and they haven’t beaten United.

So yes if they do win at Old Trafford it gives them an edge, but I don’t expect them to.

True enough - and I hope you're right. I have to say that it could be a cruel irony if we fall short having taken 4 points off both our title rivals...

[HCZ_Reborn]

True enough - and I hope you're right. I have to say that it could be a cruel irony if we fall short having taken 4 points off both our title rivals...

That’s part and parcel of the title race. We fell short in 98/99 despite taking four points off United

Liverpool did the double over United ten years later and fell short (partly because of the 4-4 draw with us)

On one hand, it would have been preferable if our hardest away fixtures were a bit more spaced out, but the table doesn’t lie as to where you are after 38 games.

[Niall_Quinn]

We're not Utd, I'll give us that much. They deserve it too. They were the club that crossed the Rubicon when they ruined the FA Cup for their own financial gain. That level of disrespect soon became the norm in every aspect of the game.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

They've been involved in five 4-3 games this season.

That's absolutely mental.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

So I have to say, I don’t buy into the assertion that Liverpool are favourites for the title

And it shows you that these modelling algorithms lack human instinct.

Liverpool are quite a wasteful side when you consider the absolute territorial domination they enjoy in most of their home games. I think this is characterised by players like Darwin Nunez, who looks like a decent goalscorer if and only if you don’t factor in the amount of chances he misses.

I called him the Uruguayan Giroud the other day, and I absolutely stick with this. Giroud had a good goal scoring record but the reason he frustrated so many Arsenal fans is because the myriad chances he missed.

Ultimately at Anfield and at the Emirates the two players that I regarded as giving us problems were Salah and Diaz. I highly rate both of these players, Salah for obvious reasons and Diaz is an exceptional player who would have fit right in with the Liverpool team of four years ago, his pace, his technique are very impressive.

Gakpo, Nunez, Jota (ok I like Jota but he can’t stay fit) not so good


I don’t think there’s a great deal of difference between their midfield then and now, but their great strength never was central midfield it was the domination of their wingbacks and their interchangeable front three.


Players like Fabinho and to a lesser degree Henderson were good at protecting the back four (and bolstered by a top centre back in Virgil Van Dijk)

They don’t have that now….Gravenberch is decent but no more, same with Endo. And Van Dijk like any player who is now into his thirties no longer has the mobility to turn that he once did, he doesn’t you notice push up as much as he did (the way Saliba and Gabriel do)


Now that said they are still two points ahead of us, after 30 games. I think this is a huge testament to Klopp and his ability to get the best out of players. They still edge us in terms of goalscoring outlets but overall? Both our squad and city’s is far superior. And an incoming coach is going to have all kinds of problems trying to emulate what Klopp has achieved.

I don't think we're title favourites, I still think that's City, regardless of what a "supercomputer" says.

We're obviously not the same team we were at our best, that's demonstrably true. At our best, our midfield was there to structure the rest of the team. It wasn't there to score, or necessarily even assist, it was to allow the forwards to sort that, to provide protection to the centre backs, to get the ball back, and to cover the full backs. Now I've written that, that's actually quite a lot, but it's not the headline-grabbing part of the game. Fabinho got the most plaudits, Henderson as he was captain, but most especially Wijnaldum went under the radar because they weren't seen to be directly doing anything. It took us a while to get over that. That's been adapted somewhat now in that the midfield actively contributes more, and as was seen in the transition that naturally exposed the full backs and defence more too. Endo is brilliant (and I was quietly confident he would be) at being able to run, harry and harrass 120 minutes in. I don't think it's unfair to say you don't rate Ramsey, but he's been crucial, especially the last few months.

I always say Nunez and Jota are direct opposites in that Jota can do nothing and pop up with a goal, Nunez will unveil unbelievable ability and skill, then miss a two yarder. I don't understand either of them. However, to Nunez' credit he is involved in so much of our play, but I can't bring myself to rate him too highly for the reasons you say.
Diaz could be one of our best players, but his decision making is utterly abysmal. If he gets that right then he'd be genuinely terrifying.

It is absolutely right to say though that we will naturally struggle when Klopp leaves. Whether it's the natural cycle of teams, it's hard to think how anyone can follow.

I don't necessarily agree with you that your squad is stronger, but that's down to opinion. It still makes me laugh when people talk of City having a few injuries, and they have three £50m centre backs, Foden, Doku and Grealish on the bench.