Spurs vs Liverpool - Premier League (18/19 - Game 5)

[RedReet]

Brazilian boys all passed fit to start according to Echo.

Well, Fabinho on the bench obviously.

So that means the only possible changes would be in midfield you'd imagine.

Alisson
Trent Gomez VVD Robbo
Milner Gini/Hendo Keita/Hendo
Mo Bobby Mane

I've always been optimistic about this season and genuinely believed this will be our year. I was worried about this game as Spurs are obviously a decent side and the International break will have impacted on preparation, but with the Alli and Lloris injuries, more things seem to be falling in place for us. A win here would be absolutely massive. 3 points here would allow us a draw against City or Chelsea and still be top after we play City, providing we win our other games. Considering the outrageous run of easy fixtures City have had, that would be a phenomenal position for us to be in. A draw here wouldn't be the worst result, but this is probably as a good a time as any to go for the throat and put a marker down for the season.



Not related to Spurs, but I love how Klopp has the balls to play two kids on the right hand side of defence. I imagine most managers would have had Virgil on Trent's side and Gomez beside Robbo, but Klopp have no problem playing two young kids, even though they are both still learning the positions.

[Rigadon]

Wouldn’t be surprised to see Milner, Henderson and Keita start.

[BobTheCharmer]

Wouldn’t be surprised to see Milner, Henderson and Keita start.

I agree but I don't think Milner and Henderson work well together. May be keita could make it work.

[Rigadon]

I agree but I don't think Milner and Henderson work well together. May be keita could make it work.

Hopefully

I expect Wijnaldum to start against PSG

[RedReet]

Bad planning on my behalf, but going to be the first sober match for me. PSG too.

That being said, if we lose, it's undoubtedly a sign that I'll have to drink my way through the rest of the season, starting with PSG.

Come on the Spurs.

[BobTheCharmer]

I hate these early games. I'm at sodding work.

[Fosterbloke]

9:30pm at night for me!

[dom9]

I hate these early games. I'm at sodding work.

I'll be at a picnic.

[BobTheCharmer]

I'll be at a picnic.

Providing it doesn't rain, there are scotch eggs and your lady is wearing a flowery dress, I'd say you're onto a winner.

[dom9]

Providing it doesn't rain, there are scotch eggs and your lady is wearing a flowery dress, I'd say you're onto a winner.

Weather is looking good. Flowery dress is de rigueur. Scotch eggs can do one though.

Let's hope we're all winners come 3pm.

[Saveloy]

Weather is looking good. Flowery dress is de rigueur. Scotch eggs can do one though.

Let's hope we're all winners come 3pm.

What's wrong with a scotch egg?

What goes in a dom9 picnic?

[dom9]

What's wrong with a scotch egg?

What goes in a dom9 picnic?

The egg mainly. A scotch (not the whisky) on its own would be OK I guess.

What goes? Baguettes / rolls / sandwiches (no mayo obvs), big sharing bags of crisps, slices of pizza, fruit, cake (muffins work) and lots and lots of booze.

[Rigadon]

9:30pm at night for me!

great time for us. I’m running the Sydney half on Sunday morning so no booze during the game.

[Yozza]

Jürgen: We'll have to make changes in the next few weeks

As Liverpool prepare to begin a run of seven games in just 23 days, Jürgen Klopp has acknowledged he'll be required to utilise the depth of his squad to navigate the upcoming period.

The Reds fielded the same line-up for the first three games of 2018-19 before making just one change last time out at Leicester City.

However, with a forthcoming streak of games that begins with a trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday and is followed by Champions League encounters with Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli, the start of the Carabao Cup and Premier League clashes with Southampton, Chelsea and Manchester City, Klopp admits he’ll need to carefully monitor the condition of his players and make alterations to his starting XI along the way.

Asked whether Liverpool are likely to rotate their line-ups over the coming weeks, the boss told his pre-match press conference: “Of course, we have to. We will see exactly how we can do it.

“It is a big misunderstanding that we will plan for the game tomorrow and [also] think about the game after and the game after. That’s too complicated; you have to go into the next game and see who you can choose. That’s it – you always try to have your best team.

“It is clear, with numbers [from] games and all that stuff – we get so much information after a game, which you [the media] don’t have – you see how players react in different situations. We have to do that, we have to rotate – [but] I don’t know if we’d call it ‘rotation’.

“The first three games were the same line-up and then we changed one position. It is to gain the points, have a good start, to create the basis and all that stuff, it is not about looking at how is he and how he is. We used the players who had the longest pre-season pretty much; apart from Bobby, who came pretty late, they all had at least three weeks. The two up front, plus Bobby, and then all the others had a normal break pretty much.

“That’s good, they had a normal break and then started pre-season with us, so they were the most stable players in the squad and that’s why we used them. After four weeks, when the fitness levels looked quite OK – it got better and better for one player or another – then we had to send them away [on international duty].

“Now they have come back – the last ones came back yesterday – and today we train, then we make a line-up for tomorrow. Mauricio Pochettino has the same issue to get ready for the game tomorrow, that’s how it is. We all have to make constantly the best of what we’ve got.”

One area that may be subject to changes over the coming week is Liverpool’s defence.

So far, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson have started all four games, but with Dejan Lovren on the comeback trail after injury and Nathaniel Clyne, Joel Matip and Alberto Moreno all vying to come into contention, Klopp may have some decisions to make.

Quizzed specifically about Lovren’s potential comeback, the manager replied: “It feels like we have 500 games in the next seven weeks, so I hope I can make decisions!

“I really hope I have them all fit and I don’t have to make a difficult decision. The most difficult decisions are when you have no players and you have to think, ‘OK, how can we deal with that?’ When you have a lot of players then you can make decisions, good decisions, and that’s rather a luxury problem than anything else.

“I really hope he [Lovren] is back as soon as possible and then when Adam [Lallana] is back as well – Ox takes a little bit longer, of course – then we will have the squad together for the first time and that’s, for us, very, very important for the next few weeks.”

[Yozza]

'He will make us better' - Klopp explains Fabinho plans

Jürgen Klopp explained why only circumstances have prevented Fabinho from making his Liverpool debut as he insisted the plan is for the Brazilian to make the team better.

The summer signing has yet to feature for the Reds since the season started as the manager kept faith with a settled side in winning four successive games before the international break.

But at his preview for Saturday’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur, Klopp opened up on the factors involved in the situation and stressed his belief in Fabinho’s potential.

“I don’t like to compare players but, to be honest, we had similar questions and similar things to talk about around Robbo and about Ox,” said the boss.

“The thing is, it’s absolutely no problem. I don’t like the situation; it’s not that I like to say to Fabinho, who is full of energy and desire and wants to be involved, ‘you are not involved this weekend’. That’s not nice, it’s only the job to do sometimes.

“We have players that worked together now for much longer; he comes from another league, a completely different system which Monaco played, to us. We have a good team together so that takes time.

“But the plan was, and is still, that he will make us better. That’s what we are working on. That sometimes needs more time, sometimes a bit less.

“From my point of view, it’s all fine. I know the situation is not like maybe a few people would have expected but sorry, I cannot change that.”