By Bulldog Drummond
PS – leave the video running onto the next match….
But back to now. OK it is gods against upstarts – but as the video above shows, sometimes the upstarts win.
But if you read the papers in England, Liverpool are gods. Although in the real world it is fourth against fifth, with two points between us, but then what does the real world ever have to do with a) football and b) journalism.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 4 | 23 | 26 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 6 | 16 | 23 |
| 3 | West Ham United | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 23 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 31 | 11 | 20 | 22 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 20 |
Except of course, they are the massively scoring side, and we are mid-table in a table based on goals scored. Even if we measure defence they are better than we are and defence last season was where we shone.
The reason we took a while to settle at the start of the season of course is that the boss went out and bought a new defence, despite having the third best defence in the league last season, and it has taken them a while to get the hang of things. But now they are part of the machine, and they’ll know what to expect from Liverpool.
Sadly even our regular home away analysis doesn’t help us much…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Liverpool home | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| 11 | Arsenal away | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 7 |
So it is all looking pretty hopeless for us. We’ve been on a great run, but now we are being tested by one of the big boys (in terms of recent years) and we can come unstuck. Except for one little thing…
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Ham United | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 15 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 13 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 13 |
| 5 | Wolverhampton Wands | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 13 |
| 6 | Crystal Palace | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 7 | Southampton | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
… the form guide. The table above is for the last six games.
Of course I don’t want to overplay this (as if I ever would) but we sure have been doing well of late. Here are Liverpool’s recent league matches
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Sep 2021 | Brentford v Liverpool | D | 3-3 | Premier League |
| 3 Oct 2021 | Liverpool v Manchester City | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 16 Oct 2021 | Watford v Liverpool | W | 0-5 | Premier League |
| 24 Oct 2021 | Manchester United v Liverpool | W | 0-5 | Premier League |
| 30 Oct 2021 | Liverpool v Brighton and Hove Albion | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 7 Nov 2021 | West Ham United v Liverpool | L | 3-2 | Premier League |
Those two 5-0 away wins are pretty emphatic, but a) Watford had their defence breached and so tried to attack (they were at home) rather than having 12 men (11 players and the ref) behind the ball. As for the Manchester United game, I watched that on TV and Man U were really awful. I mean, really awfully awful. Incredibly awfully awful, if you get my drift.
But I am not trying to overplay this – Liverpool are a good team when it comes to scoring, and our young defence are going to have to be on top of their game to hold Liverpool up.
And sadly even history doesn’t help us out here. We have beaten them 81 times in history, but lost 91 – and there are very few clubs that have outdone us in that way.
The historic problem began in 1981 when starting with a 2-0 away defeat we won just three out of the next 22 league, league cup and charity shield games throughout the 80s.
There was another awful run through the 90s when starting with the opening of the 1994/5 season we went 14 games against them without a win, before managing a 2-0 victory in August 2000.
We’ve had ups and down ever since and in the last five meetings things have been a little better
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Jul 2020 | Arsenal v Liverpool | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 29 Aug 2020 | Arsenal v Liverpool | W (pens) | 1-1 | FA Community Shield |
| 28 Sep 2020 | Liverpool v Arsenal | L | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 01 Oct 2020 | Liverpool v Arsenal | W (pens) | 0-0 | League Cup |
| 03 Apr 2021 | Arsenal v Liverpool | L | 0-3 | Premier League |
Yep this is going to be hard going.
More anon….
As you show Tony, for some reason Liverpool have had the better of us for quite a while now, baring the odd result.
Sometimes it’s simply because they have been better than us, I don’t mean just on the day, but as a team generally.
But not that much, and not for as long as this poor sequence has played out, so something else is at play here.
Maybe it’s just psychological ? Maybe some bad luck ? Maybe a bit of that notoriously slopping pitch syndrome we often face ?
Either way they have the sign over us, which could make tomorrow doubly difficult, but as I said elsewhere, as long as we put in a good show, I’ll take the positives. No, as I said I wont be ‘happy’ but I’ll keep it in perspective, which as I keep saying is crucial if you want to make reasoned and balanced judgement, which is not usually the case when it comes to Arsenal
COYG
if there ever was a “nothing to lose” game, well that’s the one
(whisper it but) i think klopp is a great coach and a great guy too
the thing is with salah, he’s also found THE player who makes a huge (all the??) difference, just as arsène (henry), guardiola (messi) did in their time
the egyptian is at the peak of his game, and (whisper it again) but he’s the reason why i watch ‘pool games whenever i can – if there is such a thing as justice in the football world he should be the next “ballon d’or” imo
i know it won’t happen, but i still hope we won’t sit back; i’d like MA to pack our midfield with … attack-minded lads!! i think it’s the only way to surprise – and disturb JK, wreak havoc in his well-known setup
the XI i’d like picked:
ramsdale
tomiyasu-white-gabriel-tierney
pépé-saka-odegaard-smithrowe-aubameyang
lacazette
pépé/auba would have to stick to their touchline, and spend the game pushing a-arnold and robertson back, make them defend, while our 3 youngsters would wear fabinho-henderson out
and if we don’t win, well at least there’s a fair chance thsi game will be one more packed-with-goals-‘pool-arsenal to remember
anyway, only wishful thinking, i know, two defensive midfielders at least it will be
COYG anyway, great to have you back
Let’s face it, nobody outside of N5 expects us to win…especially not the media. In fact, very few give us a chance to even get a draw. I’m fine with this. This is, as ‘Le Gall’ puts it a “nothing to lose” match. Anything short of being blown out will be seen as progress. And, in truth, until we have beaten the clubs above us, we can’t really say we are better than them. So, I relish these opportunities and look forward to seeing how far our team has progressed!
Up the Guns!