Nah, well he was in the training photos.
Don’t think we are missing anyone bar Robbo, Thiago and Bajectic.
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Can’t wait for his one. Hopefully we start brightly, as we have form for sleepwalking into an early kick off, and we don’t need to go a goal or worse behind, before we wake up and start playing.
Fast start. Intense, but fair. No early yellows. Into them reds.
To my mind Nunez should be starting. I think he is excellent, and causes defences all sorts of problems, whether he is sticking it in the net himself, or roughing them up and occupying a couple so the others have a bit more space. Fast, strong. Nunez should start. Diaz and Mo too, I think we have a clear best front three that has emerged, although Jota and Gakpo are good players and will see plenty of action and help the team.
The midfield is the hardest part to predict. Szobo is the only one I can say definitely starts, but apart from that, who knows for this one?
I would probably play Gomez at left back instead of Tsimikas, although after some iffy form, the Greek Scouser did better in his last game to be fair.
I’m hoping Konate is fit and raring to go. His pace and power will be very useful against Haaland.
Like others have said, I’m not sure about moaning about the refs. We are in danger of coming across a bit like Everton fans. We should reserve ref criticism for the main stuff, not preemptive strikes on someone, because at that point there’s no end to it. Kavanagh gets the nod. I hope he has a good game, and that means he refs the game in front of him, fairly, and tries to let the players shine by not making a spectacle of himself.
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Good post ROTW, don’t agree about LB though. Tsimikas will surely start. He’s one of the most rested, was good in his last game, and frankly, if he’s not starting games like this, why did we just extend his contract?
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I won’t mind if Tsimikas starts especially as he played well in his last game. He offers a better natural outlet on the left than Gomez, whereas I think Gomez offers better strength and pace, and that might be more useful defensively. I’m chilled either way.
Midfield is the real head-scratcher for me. Szobo and which other two? I could make a case for just about any two of Jones, Gravenberch, MacAllister or Endo, for different reasons.
If I could will it into existence I would, but I will try to type it into existence on a football forum: I would love to see a huge contribution from Darwin Nunez, something like the world class finishes we saw at Newcastle, to win the game and eclipse Haaland and Man City.
He is his own man and we shouldn’t compare, as Haaland is a robot who will see loads of goalscoring opportunities (hopefully not tomorrow, oops Saturday) but I really want Darwin Nunez to explode to life and have a huge game, showing his pace, power, and yes, the top drawer finishing that he also has in his locker.
Come on Darwin lad! Come on Liverpool!
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My pick for this game
Alisson
Trent Konate Virgil Tsimikas
Endo MacAllister
Dom
Salah Nunez Jota
Subs : Gomez, Matip, Kelleher, Jones, Elliott, Gravenberch, Diaz, Gakpo
Endo and Mac at double 6. Trent will have his hands full dealing with Doku.
Bring on Diaz for Jota in 2nd half.
Do any of our in-house stattos have pie charts, pinwheels or xG dartboards to prove whether Diaz or Jota are better coming off the bench?
My suspicion is that Jota is better as a sub than a starter, but it would be good to see the evidence.
Pep will do what he normally does versus us and target Trent. Whoever plays DM better be playing RB as well. Otherwise Doku is going to eat Trent alive.
Even if City have a full strength squad, LFC are one of a few teams that will give them a proper challenge. Whether Haaland plays or not is the least of our concerns.
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I’d go unpredictable, and field Gomez at right back, for a back four of Tsimi-VVD-Konate-Gomez, and put Trent in Midfield with Szobo and Mac, with Grav subbed in later on if fit), and a front three of Diaz, Nunez, Salah.
With this, I’d be confident to at least challenge them, if Everton drew there we can win if we play our best!
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Haaland was training yesterday
Well well well…the miracle has happened…
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Wouldn’t surprise me to see many more of their players make miraculous recoveries
Their injury list was: Ederson, Ake, Sergio Gomez, Kovacic, Nunes, KDB, Haaland
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Wow, this thoroughly new idea of City’s to get players rested due to ethereal injuries during international breaks. What a fabulous idea, so modern. Almost makes me Giggle……
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I wish we did it more often, especially for meaningless friendlies or when their countries have already qualified
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We could say the same with the likes of Gomez, Konate, Gravenberch and Jones back.
We had those players missing for Brentford and Toulouse though, Haaland Rodri Kovacic played in City’s last game so it’s hard to ignore the strong likelihood they pulled those players from internationals in order to get them ready for tomorrow.
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Add Ederson too