[ad_1]
In the week that Liverpool fans started a GoFundMe page to finance the signing of PSG’s Kylian Mbappe, you wonder whether the French World Cup winner would fancy signing for a team playing in the new Europa Conference League.
King Klopp (and he will be called that until he is asked to abdicate) made seven changes to his team in a vague hope of avoiding six consecutive home defeats. After all, they were playing the mighty Fulham – as tough a match as you can get at Anfield at the moment.
Last time out, there was controversy over Mohamed Salah’s reaction to being substituted early and how his agent cryptically used social media to make a point.
This time, it was impossible to decide whether Salah was picked as Klopp didn’t want the aggro or whether Salah was picked to make a point in itself.
If it was the latter, it was the only point Salah was getting on Sunday as it was his feeble defending that allowed Mario Lemina to pinch the ball and score the winner.
Liverpool fans’ Mbappe GoFundMe appears doomedIt was also a goal that probably didn’t lead to Klopp spoofing his way to counting to six on the team coach.
That said, getting those ‘six baby’ trademarks seem like the kind of forward-thinking the club could have put into its transfer dealings.
It was also a goal that might have had the Liverpool fans that spent money on yet another plane flyby wondering whether they had wasted their money.
Unity is strength, but a couple of goals from open play is probably more in need right now.
Elsewhere, ’21 wins in a row’ played ’21 matches unbeaten away from home’ at the Etihad in the Manchester Derby.
Pep Guardiola’s Man City had not been behind for 19 of those matches and that lasted all of 90 seconds as United went ahead, unsurprisingly, via the penalty spot.
Brunaldo will hardly get Roy Keane and Graeme Souness to pipe down by hitting the net from 18 yards, but it was better than him missing.
Kyle Walker gave us a sneak preview of what he will be doing when he retires – commentary on one of the various world feeds covering the Premier League. His ‘he’s saved it!’ was very convincing as Fernandes stepped up – if not factually incorrect.
Luke Shaw conjured up a fine goal to make it 2-0. And it was nice of Anthony Taylor to get involved in a bit of time wasting to help United in injury time.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer becomes the first-ever United manager to win his first three away Manchester derbies – for those of you that love an absolutely pointless stat.
It was also the first time that both City and Liverpool have lost in the same Premier League weekend in four seasons. OK, I’ll stop now.
Is Jose Mourinho repeating last season’s trick?
The trick I refer to is being absolutely abject to the point where fans think any kind of Champions League qualification is utterly out of the question before suddenly finding a spark and making a late charge for a top-four spot.
Four was the number against Palace and that Gareth Bale lad looks like a bit of a player. I think he is comfortably past the amount of goals I suggested he might score this season, though many of us critics would still like him to do something against teams slightly better than Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace.
VAR proved to be more use to Arsenal at Turf Moor than Granit Xhaka.
Their clash with Burnley had a bit of everything – Arsenal being peak Arsenal, Sean Dyche being peak Sean Dyche and Xhaka, of course, being peak Xhaka.
Arsenal led before Bernd Leno sold Xhaka up a bit of a river and the Swiss swung his standing foot only at the ball – sending said ball into Chris Wood’s hip and into the net for Burnley’s equaliser.
Nicolas Pepe missed the kind of chance you’d probably expect a club-record signing to take and Dyche was seen congratulating Arsenal players on some ‘real good screaming’ post-match.
Can Southampton and Ralph Hassenhuttl start to sleep a little easier?
Chris Wilder says he would like to get rid of some players tomorrow if he could – something that’s not exactly going to make their funeral march any more enjoyable.
Che Adams doesn’t score many, but when he does they are screamers – with Danny Ings going off injured again, he might need to get a couple more like that to make sure.
Credit to Conor Coady, the Wolves skipper. He’s one to take personal responsibility at least 72 times in post-match interviews.
Yes, he should have scored both chances that came this way but you have to wonder whether Romain Saiss is grateful to his captain for taking the hit in public.
Saiss’ effort took this weekend’s ‘defied the laws of physics award’ when managing to get the ball up and over the bar from about six inches out, while Ollie Watkins nearly broke the bar for the Villa.
I’d written Leicester off last weekend and when Brighton scored a rare goal it looked like it was going to be another nail in Brendan Rodgers’ Champions League coffin.
But, it is easy to forget that Brighton are this season’s masters at walking off a pitch wondering how they’ve lost and once again they managed to find a new way to sink to a late defeat.
Keeper Robert Sanchez had been safe as houses all afternoon and just needed to see the last five minutes out before missing a cross completely – leaving Daniel Amartey to score his first goal in about 1500 years and steal three points for the Foxes.
Steve Bruce’s week was far more entertaining than Newcastle’s clash with West Brom.
Reports of training ground bust-up with Matt Ritchie, having thrown him under a bus last weekend were abound, but Bruce refuses to walk away and the single, goalless point was worth more to him than Big Sham at the end.
[ad_2]
Source link
Comments are closed.