Last week I noted that West Ham could move ahead of LFC in the table with a win. This week the same is true for Arsenal. This makes this game feel more important to me than it actually is. Regardless of tomorrow’s outcome, LFC will still remain in title contention. But, lose tomorrow, and the Reds will face a tremendous …
If West Ham win tomorrow, they will pass LFC in the Premier League table. So far, West Ham have had a very nice season. They sit fourth in the table, with their only defeats coming to Man United and Brentford. They had a nice 4-1 win in the second match of the season against Leicester City (which had a red …
Have I mentioned that I hate them? Narratives always abound when these two meet, and this time is no different. Some of those narratives are complete bullshit, but they are still narratives being told and discussed. Among them: Cristiano Ronaldo v. Mohamed Salah Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under pressure. Naby Keïta’s time at LFC is (almost) up. LFC have had the …
I believe tomorrow is a huge match for LFC. The games on the horizon – Champions League against Atletico Madrid and then a visit to Old Trafford – are obviously the blockbusters. Most of the media and fan attention will be focused on those future matches. But for our title hopes, I think tomorrow’s match is bigger. Thirty-eight league games …
Early season battles against top rivals always feel bigger than they are. The reality is that only three points are at stake, as in every league match. The reality is that win, lose, or draw, the title race will still very much be on. The reality is that it’s too early in the season to know whether these particular points will be meaningful …
The most interesting PL fixture this week, even for me, is the Chelsea showdown with Man City at Stamford Bridge. Don’t get me wrong, I CARE a lot more about the LFC match. It’s just not the most intellectually stimulating fixture of the weekend. Nonetheless, the Reds have good reason to take Brentford quite seriously. Brentford is making its first appearance in the …
A few words about Chelsea v. City. Pundits and fanbases are so fickle. What have you done for me lately is everything, and we all tend to overreact to what we have just seen. Recency bias is strong among football watchers. Thus, we should be unsurprised that Chelsea is currently the fashionable choice to win the Premier League. And, to be fair, …
Crystal Palace are under new management — long-time Arsenal great Patrick Vieira. Thus far, Crystal Palace have lost once (Chelsea), drawn twice (West Ham and Brentford), and won once — last week’s 3-0 over Spurs. I actually watched that game today, to get a sense of how this new version of CP plays. I figure they are likely to …
LFC travel to Leeds on Sunday for a Premier League football match. Leeds is managed by the legendary Argentinian Marcelo Bielsa. They are, in my opinion, the most fun team in the Premier League to watch, outside of the so-called “Top Six.” They press intensely, using unusual “man-marking” principles (i.e., man-to-man defense), and their off-the-ball movement offensively is both unusual and …
The European Champs are comin’ to town. They come into Anfield having won their first two matches by scores of 3-0 and 2-0 (over Crystal Palace and Arsenal, respectively) — exactly the same as the Reds. Chelsea’s xG difference is better — they are at 3.88 xG differential; we’re currently sitting on a 2.41 xG differential. Currently, Chelsea is ranked …