Clearly a very good performance from Liverpool, and Mane rewarding all of those who have put him in their fantasy football team ;-) , but hopefully Pellegrini is given time at West Ham. Liverpool will railroad better teams than the Hammers at Anfield this season so they shouldn't be too disappointed. Glad to see Wilshere playing in the #10. Had no joy today but that is his best position. Keep him away from needlessly jumping into injury-causing tackles.
@Castle- I did the game in The Sun (though for the record, I do not read that POS rag) and Mane was valued at £6m with Salah joint most expensive along with Harry Kane at £8m (£50m team budget). I feel Mane is still underrated because he missed chances while at Southampton two seasons ago. Ah well, not that we care. ;-)
@Champion- Agree. Squad depth being the only issue. City have two full top-4 quality teams with the exception of DM whereas Liverpool have maybe 17 players to choose from. Best thing for Liverpool's title chances is to be dumped out of the CL in the group stage. Reds fans will hate me for saying it but they will be spread too thinly otherwise imo and the title should be priority after not winning it for almost two decades.
7.0 for Wijnaldum is too low. He did a great job in midfield. As Keita did by the way. If Alisson get 7.1 for doing basically nothing, Wijnaldum deserves 7.4.
@BeautifulLoser It's impossible with stats. Just ignore the overall rating system and look at advanced stats, it's impossible to get an algorithm for certain positions and roles.
@BeautifulLoser
I agree.
It happened a lot last season as well. Somehow not always the full picture is displayed by whoscored.com.
There is a reason why Klopp plays Wijnaldum almost always and the mediocre ratings he gets all of the time by this site is not justified.
@MEHJones Because they are the dumbest stats ever. The players have to have chemistry, understanding of the game etc to get the chances in the first place. Only nerds in Washinghton care about xG and xA. Hate to say it, but it's true. If you're outside Washington and care, then you need to move there.
@Champion First, there are plenty of people outside Washington using xA and xG. Even if there wasn't we can communicate via the internet without physically being in Washington. Second, sophisticated statistical models using xA and more so xG have made many predictions that went against the "expert" pundits and even the bookies but were correct, e.g. Chelsea would miss out on the top four last season. xA and xG simply takes account of chance quality rather than assuming all chances (shots) are of equal value.
@fcbayern it's still a bit too early to tell about the title but I do think that Liverpool are very likely to finish in the top 4 for the fourth time in 10 years.
@aymane.spur- Huh? Liverpool's first XI is gnarly. It's "loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool" that Spurs will win it but Liverpool will finish 2nd worst case scenario.
Great perfomance from Reds! Congratz! Event Fabianski had a lot of job and saved many clear chances too. Irrelevant for the final result and solid display throughout the match, but in my opinion the 2nd should be disallowed. Not Salah not Milner were offside, but Firmino and Mane were, and I think they helped to confuse or distracted Fabianski. I saw many times referees simply disallowed in similar occasions.
@neumi17 Agree, then Balbeuna would have seen a 2nd yellow for his foul on Mane.
In all seriousness the incorrect decisions didn't really affect who won the match, but VAR is needed just in case they do next time.
Some squad Liverpool is having now... Should be an interesting game with goals, as WH did some impressive transfer campaign, as well. Over 2.5 goals and Pool to win
I will like to see Salah and Mane hit the ground running. Very good players to watch when in form. As for Liverpool, no I'm not a Liverpool fan just a football fan. West Ham have an interesting team now, let's see what it's like
Liverpool Goalkeeper alissons distribution from the back will be crucial.He will act as like a sweeper and Goalkeeper.Expect him to have a great game better than calamity karius :)
@nexus747 It's not crucial since Liverpool already has van dijk who's also good in distribution. It will be a bonus though. At the end of the day his skills as a keeper will be crucual to Liverpool's title aspirations.
Fabinho can play as a box-to-box midfielder so I wouldn't be surprised to see Henderson in the middle of the CM trio with Fabinho and Keita flanking. West Ham have strengthened significantly and I hope Jack Wilshere can have an injury-free season, rediscovers his form and becomes an England regular but Liverpool have so much attacking ability, I expect the Hammers to be overwhelmed, even though they should score themselves. 3-1 Reds.
@SteveHyland Who on earth would you want Fabinho to play as a box to box player? He is a defensive midfielder and already has Keita as an outstanding box to box while Wijnaldum is also playing as a box to box. More importantly, when the fullbacks are attacking, the cb's play on a high line and spread themselves more towards the sidelines with Fabinho dropping between them.
@Big_Boss- Want? I didn't say I wanted him to play there, I don't at all- he should be a DM in the middle of a 3, just that he has played as a genuine all-round CM for Monaco in the past (11 league games last season). Klopp likes Henderson and there's no point spending big on Fabinho if he is to be on the bench, so he will start when fit, ditto with Jordan. Fabinho also played as a RB in the infancy of his Monaco career, so when Alexander-Arnold is far up the pitch, the vacated space can be covered by somebody who has positional sense. Wijnaldum's defensive positioning is poor, he cannot tackle and he often switches off at important moments so they badly needed an upgrade. He is box to box in dynamism, yes, but in skill? Not so much. In lieu of having a 2nd Naby Keita (or Oxlade-Chamberlain being fit), I think Fabinho makes the most sense.
@SteveHyland It makes no sense to play Fabinho as box to box because you already have multiple players who can play there. Henderson is a controlling midfielder. Fabinho was bought to balance the midfield since a strong midfielder with excellent aerial ability was lacking. Why would you put that asset as a box to box? It really makes zero sense when you already have Keita, Wijnaldum and to an extend Shaqiri. It doesn't matter how he played for Monaco. For Klopp he will play close to the defenders when Liverpool is attacking so normally he will not join the attack.
When Liverpool pushes forward with the backs Alexander Arnold and Robertson, the cb's go closer to the flanks and Fabinho stays in the middle, making a three-way defense: VVD-Fabinho-Gomez. We all know wijnaldum is more of an attacking player, but you forget that Klopp has changed his position to match his tactics. This is why Fabinho plays defensive midfielder, his skills are needed to bolster that position, n
@Big_Boss- I think you misunderstand. I would NOT play Fabinho as a box-to-box midfielder, I'm simply pointing out that we know that Fabinho, Henderson and Keita will be Klopp's first choice midfield trio in a 4-3-3 for this season, so it just depends on where you play them. Of course Fabinho's best position by far is DM, but that means Henderson will have to play as a box-to-box CM to keep the balance. He cannot play that role due to a lack of mobility, even less so than Fabinho, so we have a problem. Do you play Fabinho DM/Henderson CM or Henderson DM/Fabinho CM because it has to be one of those two options. Probability says the latter because Fabinho has at least played as a box to box CM at a high level.
@nekt- Henderson would ideally have another week or two before being thrown in as well. With the world cup, the FA should have delayed the premier league by a fortnight to ensure the best players are fully ready. Many teams will be missing top players for the first 1 or 2 games. Liverpool probably need to play their full XI to hit the ground running though. Can't afford to drop home points and West Ham are no mugs now.
West ham have had a habit in the past for turning up and getting something against Liverpool, but I do fancy us to beat them fairly comfortably this time. Personally think this is the strongest Liverpool side since the 2009 squad.
Clearly a very good performance from Liverpool, and Mane rewarding all of those who have put him in their fantasy football team ;-) , but hopefully Pellegrini is given time at West Ham. Liverpool will railroad better teams than the Hammers at Anfield this season so they shouldn't be too disappointed. Glad to see Wilshere playing in the #10. Had no joy today but that is his best position. Keep him away from needlessly jumping into injury-causing tackles.
@SteveHyland Did you choose Mane over Salah in FPL? I surely did :D
@Castle- I did the game in The Sun (though for the record, I do not read that POS rag) and Mane was valued at £6m with Salah joint most expensive along with Harry Kane at £8m (£50m team budget). I feel Mane is still underrated because he missed chances while at Southampton two seasons ago. Ah well, not that we care. ;-)
Liverpool are title contenders. This is their best chance yet. Really good team.
@Champion- Agree. Squad depth being the only issue. City have two full top-4 quality teams with the exception of DM whereas Liverpool have maybe 17 players to choose from. Best thing for Liverpool's title chances is to be dumped out of the CL in the group stage. Reds fans will hate me for saying it but they will be spread too thinly otherwise imo and the title should be priority after not winning it for almost two decades.
@SteveHyland 3 decades
Nice one their Liverpool, I expected Salah to score and he delivered. I hope to see more of him and Mane.
7.0 for Wijnaldum is too low. He did a great job in midfield. As Keita did by the way. If Alisson get 7.1 for doing basically nothing, Wijnaldum deserves 7.4.
@BeautifulLoser It's impossible with stats. Just ignore the overall rating system and look at advanced stats, it's impossible to get an algorithm for certain positions and roles.
@BeautifulLoser I agree. It happened a lot last season as well. Somehow not always the full picture is displayed by whoscored.com. There is a reason why Klopp plays Wijnaldum almost always and the mediocre ratings he gets all of the time by this site is not justified.
@JohnBenjamin Whoscored.com doesn't even take into account xG and xA.
@MEHJones Because they are the dumbest stats ever. The players have to have chemistry, understanding of the game etc to get the chances in the first place. Only nerds in Washinghton care about xG and xA. Hate to say it, but it's true. If you're outside Washington and care, then you need to move there.
@Champion First, there are plenty of people outside Washington using xA and xG. Even if there wasn't we can communicate via the internet without physically being in Washington. Second, sophisticated statistical models using xA and more so xG have made many predictions that went against the "expert" pundits and even the bookies but were correct, e.g. Chelsea would miss out on the top four last season. xA and xG simply takes account of chance quality rather than assuming all chances (shots) are of equal value.
Liverpool win the premiere league this year
@fcbayern it's still a bit too early to tell about the title but I do think that Liverpool are very likely to finish in the top 4 for the fourth time in 10 years.
@fcbayern loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
@aymane.spur- Huh? Liverpool's first XI is gnarly. It's "loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool" that Spurs will win it but Liverpool will finish 2nd worst case scenario.
Great perfomance from Reds! Congratz! Event Fabianski had a lot of job and saved many clear chances too. Irrelevant for the final result and solid display throughout the match, but in my opinion the 2nd should be disallowed. Not Salah not Milner were offside, but Firmino and Mane were, and I think they helped to confuse or distracted Fabianski. I saw many times referees simply disallowed in similar occasions.
@dib The ball flew over them. No way it could distract the goalie.
@dib The ball was in front of Mane and Firmino when Milner played it for the second goal. Tough camera angle, but I don't think either were offside.
wham awful opponent , wait for bigger rival to come
@stefanm lol , wish we could win all the time, the title is coming
Top of the table for a week!
Lfc have great fullbacks
Time to install Video technology in PL. Clear off side goal by Mane ...
@neumi17 Agree, then Balbeuna would have seen a 2nd yellow for his foul on Mane. In all seriousness the incorrect decisions didn't really affect who won the match, but VAR is needed just in case they do next time.
@neumi17 agreed, Keita should have had a penalty too
@TheManInRed penatly? I think it's outside of the box.
@zjhangia Really? My mistake, I only saw the one replay and it looked inside.
2 goals, one assist Salah
2-1. Hammers must show claws.
Liverpool don't have a single CB on the bench!
Some squad Liverpool is having now... Should be an interesting game with goals, as WH did some impressive transfer campaign, as well. Over 2.5 goals and Pool to win
I will like to see Salah and Mane hit the ground running. Very good players to watch when in form. As for Liverpool, no I'm not a Liverpool fan just a football fan. West Ham have an interesting team now, let's see what it's like
Why Shaqiri is not playing?
@Book shaqiri is mainly a backup for salah & mane but I think klopp can convert him like lalana & ox to play CM if required u know like N.Fekir lite!
Could Liverpool do a Fulham, spend 100mil+ and lose their first game at home ?
@nekt No.
@nekt I don't think so, Liverpool didn't buy garbage.
Liverpool Goalkeeper alissons distribution from the back will be crucial.He will act as like a sweeper and Goalkeeper.Expect him to have a great game better than calamity karius :)
@nexus747 It's not crucial since Liverpool already has van dijk who's also good in distribution. It will be a bonus though. At the end of the day his skills as a keeper will be crucual to Liverpool's title aspirations.
Liverpool 4-1.
Fabinho can play as a box-to-box midfielder so I wouldn't be surprised to see Henderson in the middle of the CM trio with Fabinho and Keita flanking. West Ham have strengthened significantly and I hope Jack Wilshere can have an injury-free season, rediscovers his form and becomes an England regular but Liverpool have so much attacking ability, I expect the Hammers to be overwhelmed, even though they should score themselves. 3-1 Reds.
@SteveHyland Who on earth would you want Fabinho to play as a box to box player? He is a defensive midfielder and already has Keita as an outstanding box to box while Wijnaldum is also playing as a box to box. More importantly, when the fullbacks are attacking, the cb's play on a high line and spread themselves more towards the sidelines with Fabinho dropping between them.
@Big_Boss- Want? I didn't say I wanted him to play there, I don't at all- he should be a DM in the middle of a 3, just that he has played as a genuine all-round CM for Monaco in the past (11 league games last season). Klopp likes Henderson and there's no point spending big on Fabinho if he is to be on the bench, so he will start when fit, ditto with Jordan. Fabinho also played as a RB in the infancy of his Monaco career, so when Alexander-Arnold is far up the pitch, the vacated space can be covered by somebody who has positional sense. Wijnaldum's defensive positioning is poor, he cannot tackle and he often switches off at important moments so they badly needed an upgrade. He is box to box in dynamism, yes, but in skill? Not so much. In lieu of having a 2nd Naby Keita (or Oxlade-Chamberlain being fit), I think Fabinho makes the most sense.
@SteveHyland Plus I might add that Fabinho doesn't have the speed to be a good box to box. He's quite slow from what I've seen.
@SteveHyland It makes no sense to play Fabinho as box to box because you already have multiple players who can play there. Henderson is a controlling midfielder. Fabinho was bought to balance the midfield since a strong midfielder with excellent aerial ability was lacking. Why would you put that asset as a box to box? It really makes zero sense when you already have Keita, Wijnaldum and to an extend Shaqiri. It doesn't matter how he played for Monaco. For Klopp he will play close to the defenders when Liverpool is attacking so normally he will not join the attack. When Liverpool pushes forward with the backs Alexander Arnold and Robertson, the cb's go closer to the flanks and Fabinho stays in the middle, making a three-way defense: VVD-Fabinho-Gomez. We all know wijnaldum is more of an attacking player, but you forget that Klopp has changed his position to match his tactics. This is why Fabinho plays defensive midfielder, his skills are needed to bolster that position, n
@Big_Boss- I think you misunderstand. I would NOT play Fabinho as a box-to-box midfielder, I'm simply pointing out that we know that Fabinho, Henderson and Keita will be Klopp's first choice midfield trio in a 4-3-3 for this season, so it just depends on where you play them. Of course Fabinho's best position by far is DM, but that means Henderson will have to play as a box-to-box CM to keep the balance. He cannot play that role due to a lack of mobility, even less so than Fabinho, so we have a problem. Do you play Fabinho DM/Henderson CM or Henderson DM/Fabinho CM because it has to be one of those two options. Probability says the latter because Fabinho has at least played as a box to box CM at a high level.
@SteveHyland I don't think fabinho is ready yet but he probably start
@nekt- Henderson would ideally have another week or two before being thrown in as well. With the world cup, the FA should have delayed the premier league by a fortnight to ensure the best players are fully ready. Many teams will be missing top players for the first 1 or 2 games. Liverpool probably need to play their full XI to hit the ground running though. Can't afford to drop home points and West Ham are no mugs now.
Nothing but a Liverpool win I tell you.
2-1
West ham have had a habit in the past for turning up and getting something against Liverpool, but I do fancy us to beat them fairly comfortably this time. Personally think this is the strongest Liverpool side since the 2009 squad.
Liverpool 4 - 1 West Ham
Liverpool win Firmino score
This Liverpool squad is starting to look scary right now
@swagio and they have Man City in their back pocket... Shud be a good EPL season, first time in a few years...