The Premier League 2018-2019 thread.

[Shane]

As a Liverpool fan I think they have hit the wall as well. There are key games that define whether a team will be champions and for Liverpool it was when they went to City and lost, and then these last two draws. If they had put everything into trying to beat City and were sucessful, they would have been 10 points clear and had such a massive psychological advantage that I doubt they would have been caught. The best teams through the years have managed to win these keys games.

It was clear to see that any injuries to their defence would cause major problems and this has been the case, made even worse by loaning out Clyne and not having a strong enough squad to allow for injuries. Stats will tell a different story but many of the performances have just not been good enough, and they were lucky to win some games. Klopp should just admit that they didn't play well enough, instead of making excuses. We have played well in some games, but the consistency hasn't been anywhere near good enough.

I definitely think Spurs have a chance of the title, but I would have to say that City with their strength in depth and experience of winning the title before will probably pull away in the last couple of months.

[thegreatdogwood]

As a Liverpool fan I think they have hit the wall as well. There are key games that define whether a team will be champions and for Liverpool it was when they went to City and lost, and then these last two draws. If they had put everything into trying to beat City and were sucessful, they would have been 10 points clear and had such a massive psychological advantage that I doubt they would have been caught. The best teams through the years have managed to win these keys games.

It was clear to see that any injuries to their defence would cause major problems and this has been the case, made even worse by loaning out Clyne and not having a strong enough squad to allow for injuries. Stats will tell a different story but many of the performances have just not been good enough, and they were lucky to win some games. Klopp should just admit that they didn't play well enough, instead of making excuses. We have played well in some games, but the consistency hasn't been anywhere near good enough.

I definitely think Spurs have a chance of the title, but I would have to say that City with their strength in depth and experience of winning the title before will probably pull away in the last couple of months.

Fair summary from what I've seen. Firminho has been been poor in most of the games I have watched (on tv!) and Shakiri hasn't been as strong a replacement as I expected. Sturridge is clearly out of favour too and Salah has been ineffectual in far too many games. In all honesty it has just been Mane taking the fight to the opposition on numerous occasions, often with poor link play from midfield and relying on Robertson.

I haven't looked back at the stats but it feels like Man City have generally lost when they have played poorly whilst Liverpool have often scraped a win. The fact that the points are now so similar feels like Man City have probably played better in more games.

Spurs were super lucky to win against the Toon and I don't see them winning the title without Kane and Ali for a number of games. The Chelsea game feels crucial for Man City as they can take real momentum from a good performance / win and I also seem to recall Liverpool are at home to Bournemouth soon which must be THE fixture you would pick as a home side, so a slip up against Chelsea could swing momentum back.

[Ivan Drago]

Fair summary from what I've seen. Firminho has been been poor in most of the games I have watched (on tv!) and Shakiri hasn't been as strong a replacement as I expected. Sturridge is clearly out of favour too and Salah has been ineffectual in far too many games. In all honesty it has just been Mane taking the fight to the opposition on numerous occasions, often with poor link play from midfield and relying on Robertson.

I haven't looked back at the stats but it feels like Man City have generally lost when they have played poorly wh
ilst Liverpool have often scraped a win. The fact that the points are now so similar feels like Man City have probably played better in more games.

Spurs were super lucky to win against the Toon and I don't see them winning the title without Kane and Ali for a number of games. The Chelsea game feels crucial for Man City as they can take real momentum from a good performance / win and I also seem to recall Liverpool are at home to Bournemouth soon which must be THE fixture you would pick as a home side, so a slip up against Chelsea could swing momentum back.

Agree Firminho hasn't played well this season but to say Salah has been ineffectual is daft. Hes the top scorer in the league and has the 2nd most assists behind Hazard. If that's being ineffectual that id take it every week until he retires. Shaqiri has also been really good for us this season and an absolute steal at the price !

Mane who you've praised has been the most inconsistent out of every Liverpool player this season. Hes scored a good few but I don't think hes even had an assist.

[thegreatdogwood]

Agree Firminho hasn't played well this season but to say Salah has been ineffectual is daft. Hes the top scorer in the league and has the 2nd most assists behind Hazard. If that's being ineffectual that id take it every week until he retires. Shaqiri has also been really good for us this season and an absolute steal at the price !

Mane who you've praised has been the most inconsistent out of every Liverpool player this season. Hes scored a good few but I don't think hes even had an assist.

I'm not a Liverpool fan so haven't seen all their matches. But I just took a look at the LFC rating site for players and Mane has been MOM last two matches vs Salah rated as 5 which is how I saw it. I also recall Salah going AWOL against Man City (rated somewhat rose tinted by this is anfield as 6.5), so that's at least 3 poor performances in last 5 or 6 crucial games. You also chose to quote Salah as being ineffectual when what I actually said was ineffectual in too many games. Frankly banging in a few goals in a 5-0 romp over a bottom club isn't nearly as important as turning up in either the big six pointers or when you are top of the league at the business end of the season.

So having covered off the recent games when they really needed him, Salah was rated a 6 vs Spurs (Mane 7) and 5 vs Chelsea (Mane 6). Neither great, but it's not daft to say he has been ineffectual too many times at all and for anyone who can be bothered, I bet there's a number of players that average far higher than Salah in those match by match player rankings across the season, he simply hasn't been as good as past seasons.

[sevvy]

Great result for City tonight at what’s often a bogey ground for them. Watched the game and don’t know where that Everton performance came from after recent efforts but they made City work really hard for the three points.

[demonloop]

Great result for City tonight at what’s often a bogey ground for them. Watched the game and don’t know where that Everton performance came from after recent efforts but they made City work really hard for the three points.

Agreed on all counts, good game to watch too.

[thegreatdogwood]

I'm not a Liverpool fan so haven't seen all their matches. But I just took a look at the LFC rating site for players and Mane has been MOM last two matches vs Salah rated as 5 which is how I saw it. I also recall Salah going AWOL against Man City (rated somewhat rose tinted by this is anfield as 6.5), so that's at least 3 poor performances in last 5 or 6 crucial games. You also chose to quote Salah as being ineffectual when what I actually said was ineffectual in too many games. Frankly banging in a few goals in a 5-0 romp over a bottom club isn't nearly as important as turning up in either the big six pointers or when you are top of the league at the business end of the season.

So having covered off the recent games when they really needed him, Salah was rated a 6 vs Spurs (Mane 7) and 5 vs Chelsea (Mane 6). Neither great, but it's not daft to say he has been ineffectual too many times at all and for anyone who can be bothered, I bet there's a number of players that average far higher than Salah in those match by match player rankings across the season, he simply hasn't been as good as past seasons.

Add another big game to the tally that Salah has been ineffectual - Shaw totally owned him today and the fact Klopp took Salah off when Mane was having a shocker speaks volumes.