We failed the test against Nottingham Forrest at Anfield, and will need to correct it against Bournemouth. I think Slot has looked at the fixture list and figured he could get through the Forrest, Milan, and Bournemouth games without making many changes. We will then see major changes for the League Cup game on Wednesday against West Ham. Alisson Trent Konate Virgil Robertson Gravenberch MacAllister Salah Sozboszlai Diaz Jota I would like to see Gakpo keep his place, but I also want to see Diaz back in. Maybe there is a way to get them both in the team. We should probably be careful not to push Jota for too many games giving his tendency to get injured.
Cody and Diaz tag-teaming the LW job is the way to go right now. neither deserves to sit full games, at all.
Have we learnt from the perils of not converting possession into good chances? We shall see. This team is capable is so much to pull apart a defence out of shape. It just isn’t doing it often or with sufficient conviction, yet. There was a passage of play last night, around the 16th minute, where Liverpool moved the ball so quickly that AC had no chance to regroup and it resulted in Salah’s hitting the frame of the goal. More of that against Bournemouth, please.
Other than the Forest game our starters have done a great job but the reality is these guys cannot play every game . We saw two changes for Milan so will Slot rotate more players for Bournemouth? Most interesting for me is who plays 10 if Dom gets a rest with Elliott out. Gakpo , Chiesa, Mac?
I think Nunez must start - Jota has been indifferent. Give Gakpo another start - he was subbed at 70 mins (?). I don't know what you do in the midfield - start Jones for someone? Robertson back in.
I think he picks his best eleven for this one. We have the league cup up next and that’s when Nunez, Quansah, Jones, Bradley, etc will get their game. Tuesday to Saturday is not a bad time gap. For this one, Robertson comes back in. Only question for me is if Gakpo keeps his place.
Might as well put this here, move if you wish. BTW, two 3PM kick offs in a row? This is why I love this club! Respect to Nivea and LFC. A lovely awesome touch of class!! Harry you are an inspiration.. pic.twitter.com/DvBUwTBK5n— Nino LFC (@lfc_nino) September 19, 2024
Alisson a serious doubt with a hamstring ouch. Was that what caused him to miss so many games last spring?
forgot to mention - need to see Fedo get 60 mins or so - Mo to come on late. (or vice versa I guess, then start Fedo on Weds)
Co-sign. If things are looking stale, maybe a mix-up with a significant amount of time left in the 2nd half. This is a perfect game to come back to after that CL win... at Anfield, not a horribly tough opponent, and then as you say the league cup coming next. Go out get a lead, then worry about resting "first 11" once it's 2-0 in 2nd half with an eye toward rotating v West Ham. IMO that's a great plan.
No idea what Slot thinks, but feel like Chiesa and Elliott have the legs to do some of that job. Jones to me seems more like a Mac replacement.
I agree about Nunez, leave him out too much longer and he's going to lose confidence, but he has to produce. Jota has cooled off so it would make sense to sub him, but I just don't think Nunez is best suited to a central position. He's best off the left flank, that's when he's always been most disruptive and dangerous. But I also think Gakpo and Diaz are tearing up the field there right now... So maybe put Gakpo in center for 60 min with Nunez out wide, and then swap in Diaz and Jota for the last 30 min or so? As much as Jones has occasionally shown quality before, I think he sits again, maybe coming in sometime in the second half unless he's practiced extremely well. He was crap against NF when he came in, and you just can't reward that with a start. Keep him in on the bench and give him a go later in the game, but I just don't see him starting this game.
I agree, Elliott in for Szoboszlai would be a great swap for this game. I haven't seen enough of Chiesa at Liverpool to have any opinion on him...
The challenge for this side is to use the possession to create good chances. And once those chances are created, to convert a goodly bunch of them. Avoid the creeping back of the bad habits that we saw against Forest. Go redmen.