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After a disappointing result and performance against napoli we now have the pleasure of hosting our title rivals. Will this game decide where the title goes, of course not, will it give the winners a massive confidence boost, yes it will but going on current form the winner won't be us, anyway, onto the team.
Think we pretty much know who the back 5 will be so it's just the midfield and up front that's up for debate. We all know that Salah, Mane and Firmino are not on their game right now, especially Salah, i would start him but if there's no change in form from him up to 60 minutes hook him then and get Sturridge on and i mean 1 hour if not even sooner, none of this BS making subs with 3-4 minutes left of the game. Either one of Hendo, Milner and Wijaldum needs to be benched and i'm hedging towards Milner simply because of his legs, he's the oldest in the team and must be feeling more tired than the rest, let him sit this one out and bring in Shaqiri who's been one of our best players when he plays. The important thing is for Klopp to make his changes a lot sooner than he does, it's a big talking point amoung the supporters and rightly so, he leaves his changes way too late, it's the only gripe i have of him, rant over. My team would be,
Allison
Arnold Gomez VVD Robertson
Keita Hendo Wijaldum
Salah Firmino Mane
I would personally drop Hendo as well but who do you bring in, Fabinho, no chance so Hendo it is. Like i said, Klopp has to make his changes much earlier in the game if it's not going our way, hopefully we can get at least a draw here and then rest a lot of our first 11 for the Huddersfield game, i've already banked those 3 points. Best of luck RedMen.
Comments
With regards to the City game it was a good point in the end considering that we are at the end of an intense run of games against top opposition. We may see more rotation after the break as the fixtures are not as difficult on paper and the likes of Fabinho, Keita and Shaqiri could get game time.
Really don't think we need Ramsey but if for a small enough fee and wages then i suppose he would be another option but we're sorted really in midfield to be honest.
I would taken a point before the game with city for sure, especially seen that we really should have lost had they scored that pen, we've got a nice run of games after the inter break so hopefully we see a lot more of the players you mentioned.
On the few occasions Salah did get the ball he only managed a couple of tame attempts. He keeps trying his trademark shot from the right side of the box where he curls the ball around the keeper but because there's no zip to the shot they're quite easily saved. Salah is getting into good positions, which is positive, but he seems to be more focused on accuracy than power and it's just not working at the moment.
On the whole, we defended well, even if we did give away a penalty (and it could've been two). From what I can gather the decision to drop TAA was a tactical one but moving Gomez to fullback did diminish our attacking options a bit. Lovren is still an enigma - one minute he's making a clumsy challenge in the box that could've led to a penalty and the next minute he's making a superbly timed challenge to prevent a one-on-one with the keeper. With Lovren coming back it looks like TAA will be rested more but to me our back line looks more balanced with TAA, Gomez, VVD and Robertson.
Overall, we didn't move the ball or keep possession as well as City and that's an area within our own control that we can improve. In the circumstances a point was a good result and to be equal top with 20 points at this stage is not to be sniffed at.
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