The last day of August and the Autumnal days start to draw in the night. Will Slot tighten it up, will Hugo boss it? Will Rio be Grand.
Will I do these silly puns again, who knows?
I think I’d start Robbo just to keep it fresh at the back, hopefully Gomez can start as the defence needs some additional defence on that side and he is the best option right now.
They used to be one of our favorite opponents for most of the Klopp years and even under Rodgers but recently they massively improved their record against us.
Without a win against them in the league since 2022 (that was away from home). Last league win at Anfield was in 2021.
Debate around Kerkez vs Robbo. Robbo’s form tailed off last season, but he has the nous for this sort of match. I’m concerned about Konate. There is a good call to play Gomez CB and Szoboszlai at RB? Bradley isn’t fit yet.
Gravenberch, MacAllister and Wirtz. Same starting front three. Jones, if MacAllister isn’t ready.
Same front three.
A win would be great but I would harp back to a comment I made in the Newcastle thread - basically a performance of substance that lasts the duration of the game would be ideal.
edit: performance of substance or a simply a more coherent one
Agree with starting Robbo. Kerkez can come on after 60/70 when he’s shagged. Wouldn’t want to throw Jo in at CB, I’d give Ibou one more chance first. As for midfield I think there are arguments for and against starting Wirtz. A midfield three of Grav, Alexis and Curtis would have the power and running to compete with Arsenal. Especially as it’s a shorter turnaround for us and it could be that Flo just needs a few more weeks of training in the legs to get up to PL speed. Could see him being devastating coming on after 60 mins. Equally of course he’s our star player so it would make sense to play him and accept he’s not yet at his best. The front three seem clear but I’d like to see Arne Sub Mo if he isn’t getting involved.
Keeping our their set pieces should be our focus all week. We need to be strong in the contest and go down very obviously when fouled. Can’t let LegoMan cheat his way to 3 points