ARSENAL 3-2 LIVERPOOL : REVIEW

Another day as a LFC fan

Throughout Saturday and till 9 pm Sunday, I had a funny feeling inside my stomach about the game. I couldn't quite place what exactly it was. I was excited for Klopp to deploy the new and exciting 4-2-3-1 formation with Nunez up front but was worried about Arsenal's quick playing style completely disrupting the plans. And that's what exactly happened.

Liverpool's defence was very sloppy and open. Poor Trent struggled with Martinelli while Tsimikas constantly battled rather clumsily with Saka. Van Dijk seems uncertain at times and Matip was always caught in possession. The midfield seemed to have run out of ideas after one point. It wasn't a fun game to watch being a Liverpudlian.

But I'm not gonna let this ruin my Monday so let me try to find the pluses. Firstly, Darwin Nunez finally found the back of the net with a very cute finish. I was rooting for him ever since I saw him against Rangers and this was a very wholesome moment. If the midfield and defence somehow find the right passes to him, he will have a great season. Secondly, Liverpool managed to comeback 2 times which still shows that they still have the fight in them. Thirdly, Gomez was excellent as a right back and held the defence together brilliantly against the counters. But what exactly is going wrong at LFC and how can that be fixed?

I believe that Klopp should try to accommodate Trent in the mid-field and allow Gomez/Konate to run the right full-back position. He has been creating excellent chances but his defensive game is questionable at times. Asking Salah to cover for Trent in this game was a wrong move and ultimately Salah neither defended nor created chances throughout the game. Midfield options can be bolstered in January but that is still 2 months away. It's a pity that Henderson is slow and Arthur is out for the next 3 months. The creativity also seem to run out after Diaz came off injured.

PayTM ref

We can talk about the poor referring and the oscar worthy acting of Jesus and others, but after seeing the referring during the ISL game between BFC and NEU on Saturday, I am glad that EPL at least has VAR. It should be put to better use as there was a definite penalty in the first half.

But I am still glad that Martinelli fetched me 10 points for FPL this week. I wish it was a Liverpool player doing that for me but that's what the Liverpool team has become this season....unreliable. A fresh outlook and motivation needs to be given out by Klopp for them to improve. They picked themselves up last season and the season before that, so I have complete faith in them on doing it again.

I am not expecting much from next week's game against Man City and the robot 🤖 Haaland, but if any kind of improvement is visible, I will take that happily.

Lastly, a lot of experts have been spelling doom on Twitter and Reddit, some shameless enough to call for Klopp's sacking. As I have said before, this season is a season of transition. I am not expecting any major trophy to come through and would be happy with a top 4 finish at the end of the season. There is still a long way to go and I am looking forward to what Klopp has in store next.

Until next time,

YNWA