Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz. The Reds drew with Newcastle away 3-3 a week ago, had the Merseyside Derby postponed, and beat Girona 1-0 on Tuesday in the Champions league. Net result is we are 3 points clear at the top of the Champions League table and still the top of the Premier League with a game in hand - 8 points clear of City, 6 from Arsenal and 4 ahead of Chelsea. We’ll review those games and then talk about Fulham in the Premier League and maybe Southampton in the Carabao Cup.
Part One - Reds drew at Newcastle. Not a great first half performance, but a lot of positives in the second half. xG 2.09 to 1.98 (first half 0.89 v 0.25). Second half 10 shots to 4 from inside the box.
- First half seemed a tired performance, but having Quansah at right back took away outlets and a lot of attacking threat. Mac Allister did have a couple of good efforts. Not Joe Gomez’s best performance.
- Newcastle had a lot in their favor here. They get up for big games at home. They had an extra day of preparation. They were facing a team that had just come through 2 of their biggest games of the season and without a lot of scope for rotation, especially with the defensive injuries.
- Refereeing, Slot mentions how difficult it was to be aggressive when every tackle drew a yellow card. Maddley is shite for us - waiting for the video where he tells us he or his mate hates Scousers. 5 cards to 1, 17 fouls to 9. Salah fouls.
- Goal - saved by Ali? VVD only left him part of the goal to aim at. Third goal for them - Caoimhin to blame? (I think that chance has a 0.4 xG)
- Second half - more energy, Looked a different team with Trent. Great finish from Curtis and Salah is just Salah - takes him to 13 goals for the season (5 behind Thierry Henry)
Part Two: Girona away. Felt like we started rusty and eventually controlled the game. xG 1.84 to 1.21 for us (0.8 vs 0.73 in the first half):
- Joe could have scored in the first 5 minutes.
- Frustrating 10 minutes or so - Ali was great, press and marking was a little off
- Neil talked about the strange formation where they vacated the middle of the field when they had the ball
- Nunez performance, Diaz- what did he do to piss the French referee off?
- Salah was OK but that penalty makes it even more clear that the Real Madrid factor was real for him when he missed 2 weeks ago. He has 227 Liverpool goals, one behind Billy Liddell now. 50 UCL goal - 10th on the list, 1 behind Thierry Henry
Part Three: Fulham at home; Southampton away in the Carabao
- Fulham - challenges? (Bassey, Andersen) Team selection, predictions
- Southampton - approach? Challenges? Most of these teams are not used to playing 2 games a week. Team selection
- Over the holidays - Sunday, Thursday, Sunday - let’s drain the optimism
We will be back next week with a review of the Fulham and Southampton games, and maybe some previews. Thanks to Daz for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.
