Liverpool favourites ??

The Rooster

I think, without question, Liverpool have been playing the best football this season. None of Arsenal, Chelsea or ManU have hit any type of form. But they're generally still winning matches, when they start clicking and playing well, they'll be winning matches comfortably.

Liverpool need to turn good play into clearcut chances. The Sunderland game showed plenty of promise in that regard. (Although Sunderland are considerably worse than most people think). Liverpool are one game through a handy enough 6 game run. If they win 5 of those 6, then I'll say they're title contenders. If they don't, I don't think they'll prove up to it this year.

Mr Magnolia

Great to see Liverpool getting so much good press in this thread. I think that if they can keep up their good start then they'll be in the reckoning. Last season's start was a disaster so here's hoping for an improvement.

I do think they can win it this season, though I would have said it was going to be next season before they really come good.

5starpool

millersangel wrote:

Last season Liverpool lost to Utd in Anfield and OT, Arsenal home and away.

Thats 12 points dropped.

Liverpool hammered the Arse at home last season, 4-1. I agree with the rest of your point that we are sloppy and lacking something away from home the last few years.

I t has been an encouraging start and with the next 4 games Derby(h), Ports (a), Birm (h), Wigan (a), there is a real chance to get off to a real flyer. 10 points is the minimum I would be hoping for from those games, and there is a change to go into a tough October on a real high.

Mr Alan

oops must have gotten muddled up with the two cup games i've tried to block from my memory!

how could i forget actually, real hat-trick from crouch wasn't it? Aurelio best game for us too if i remember correctly!

5starpool

millersangel wrote:

oops must have gotten muddled up with the two cup games i've tried to block from my memory!

Let's never mention those again

Hobart

~Rebel~ wrote:

..but we did...sure we were all on here last year saying how much we dominated United only to get beat by John O Shea's goal, same as we dominated Chelsea many many times but always get beat or draw (with the exception of when we beat them 2-0 and when they destroyed us scoring 4).

We dominate most big games, completely holding the midfield, but have lacked the incisive cutting edge to trouble the big teams in their box. This is what Yossi Babel and Torres were gotten for id imagine.

Again I think the argument is a pedantic one. We played well in 2/3rd's of the pitch, but sh1te in the last 3rd? We played well against UTD, but defended badly to let JOS score?

I wasn't talking just about last season, I referenced 3 in total, I'm sure I could go back further and see the same results. So, in your opinion, we played well but did not defend well enough to prevent a goal or attack well enough to out-score our opponents??? Ok.

As for the Babel/Torres signing, I agree. We signed them to perform a certain function on the pitch, thanks for pointing that out.

But then again we have signed many players to perform similar functions, all of which seemed to fail at them. I won't list them, but it's a pretty long one. Torres is the first recognisable world class striker we have gone out and signed in many years, I know he will make a difference, lets hope his impact will have an overall positive impact on the team.

~Rebel~

Hobart wrote:

Again I think the argument is a pedantic one. We played well in 2/3rd's of the pitch, but sh1te in the last 3rd? We played well against UTD, but defended badly to let JOS score?

I wasn't talking just about last season, I referenced 3 in total, I'm sure I could go back further and see the same results. So, in your opinion, we played well but did not defend well enough to prevent a goal or attack well enough to out-score our opponents??? Ok.

Jeez, you're saying im being pedantic?! Look we obviously have an entirely different definition of what "playing well" is, so we're working on different points to each other. Will be impossible to find agreement. I think its possible to play well and still lose, by what you said enough you obiously dont.

I think we played well and dominated the 90mins of several of those games last season, particularly the chelsea and Man U games, but fell victim to a sucker punch by John O Shea, and a simply incredible goal by Drogba. The whole team is capable of playing well and still not scoring, for eg Kuyt got into a fantastic position against chelsea, and launched a brilliant shot which beat the keeper but alas hit the post. Those few inches to the left imo don't suddenly turn Kuyts impressive performance from being good to crap.

Similarly we dominated the second leg against Barca at home, created a load of chances which some last ditch defending prevented, but we still lost. The papers were full of praise for the battling professsional performance limiting the best attacking team in the world to just 1 clear cut chance (which they converted) and largely stopping 3 of th best attackers from doing anything of note (eto'o, Ronaldinho, Messi), yet by your statement above we played badly because we failed to outscore the opponants. In this game, Finnan may have made a slight error in letting gudjonson away, but had stopped Ronaldinho and Eto'o on his side of the park for the whole game, so does this change him from having a good game to a bad game?

IMO its all relative, its possible to have bad games while still winning, and to have good games which you lose 1-0.

Hobart

~Rebel~ wrote:

Jeez, you're saying im being pedantic?! <snip>

I'm saying nothing of the sort. Where did I say you were being pedantic?

~Rebel~ wrote:

IMO its all relative, its possible to have bad games while still winning, and to have good games which you lose 1-0.

I would not disagree with you on that point, but it's not a point I'm trying to argue/discuss. I was addressing our performances and results against the best teams in the UK over the last 3 years (specifically) and I was making a point that, on the whole, we have not performed against them, the results would suggest that I might have a point. I agree that we dominated the game against Manu and that the Drogba goal was a "wonder goal" but so what? We still defended badly against the Ronaldo free kick and we still allowed Drogba to score his wonder goal, we still were ass whipped by Arsenal in the cup competitions and it goes on and on and on, getting a result, in most instances, is as a result of your performance.

~Rebel~

Im more arguing PHB's initial point that we havent struggled last year to up our game against the top teams, only to score. The 3 year thing which came up after his point isn't really relevent, i know its the period of Rafa's charge but its a completely different team, and imo it only makes sense to take into account only our more recent matches against the big teams, they are the benchmark for this years performances.

Again, we've played some of our best football against bigger teams, but have failed to get the goals, but i would still call many of these games we should have won, where we played well and dominated. Where you say we haven't performed, i think we have. Our problem of lacking teeth where it counts isn't limited to the big teams - we had that problem against everyone. Yes we scored goals, but not as many as we should have, and nowhere near enough clear cut chances. So whats consistent there is our poor showing in the final 3rd, but relative to our performances against other lesser teams, the rest of our game stands up to scrutiny in the matches against the big teams. We dominated against Man U last year to near the same extent we dominated against Middlesborough at home - the difference, a Stevie G thunderbolt and a pen.

And when you get down the road of saying every goal conceded is a mistake it gets tough. Sometimes you cant blame someone. Carra did everything right against Drog for example, kept goal side of him, stopped him getting around to get a clear shot, but drog pulled something incredible out of the bag and a shot from a ridiculous position. Does this mean Carra fked up? I dont know..carra left a tiny bit of distance between himself and drog which allowed the shot, however if he was tighter it would make it much easier for drog to have a burst of pace to the side, leaving carra exposed with no time to recover (why he left the bit if distance) so you're damned if you do, damned if you don't.

My basic point is our game didnt lower against the big teams, we stayed about the same, still dominating and still not creating enough clear chances. We played well but suffered the faults in creation we suffered all season. I still think this can be counted as simply playing well. To read your post it sounds like we fell apart and didnt show our best against the big teams while on viewing its clear we're right up there with any of them.

leninbenjamin

lpool2k05 wrote:

Arsenal will struggle to do any better than 4th!they look weak IMO.

I wouldn't agree with this at all, i think Arsenal and Liverpool's prospects are quite similar. the biggest flaw both their squads have is a lack of cover in the central defense, Arsenal have Toure and Gallas and Senderos as cover, Pool have Garra and Agger with Hyypia as cover...both kinda vulnerable in central defense.

Attacking wise again they are kinda similar, each team has one very good player, Torres and VP who they both will be exceptionally reliant on. If anything happens to VP or Torres where they are out for a long period i think you can write off both teams chances. After that they have some good players, like Kuyt, Crouch and Adebayor, but who both have failed to show so far that they are very good players for me. after that both teams will rely on somewhat unproven players, in Voronin and Arsenal on Eduardo and Bentdner... so i think they fare similar up front.

both teams are pretty strong in central midfield, although Pool do have better options, i dont think it's as far ahead as some people make out... Gerrard/Alonso/Mascherano/Sissoko vs. Cesc/Gilberto/Denilson/Diaby

again i think their wingers are also pretty evenly matched... Babel and Walcott are good young players but with a lot to prove, Rosicky and Pennant are both very good players, i think both will have good seasons, the only issue here is Pool have more out and out wingers, whereas Arsenal's are more converted wingers, so Pool are stronger here i guess... but it's still probably the weakest area for both teams.

but at the end of the day over the last few seasons, the problems for both teams have been a lack of the killer finish. they would both dominate in midfield but just fail in front of goal. One difference however is, pool have brought a lot more players in, and while it doesn't seem to be having an affect yet, settling in might possibly lead to a few games going by where players underperform. Arsenal have'nt added as much, but they have a relatively young team playing together more and more, gaining more experience and understanding. that could show this season and they may bloom like we all know they are capable of.

In summary, i don't think the differences between Pool and Arsenal are as vast as some here make out, and subsequently i dont see how you can proclaim one team potential winners while at the same time write off the others as strugglers to maintain fourth.

my own personal feelings are that probably neither of these teams will win this year yet, but that hopefully it will be a much closer race than previously

-fin

PHB

leninbenjamin wrote:

I wouldn't agree with this at all, i think Arsenal and Liverpool's prospects are quite similar. the biggest flaw both their squads have is a lack of cover in the central defense, Arsenal have Toure and Gallas and Senderos as cover, Pool have Garra and Agger with Hyypia as cover...both kinda vulnerable in central defense.

Attacking wise again they are kinda similar, each team has one very good player, Torres and VP who they both will be exceptionally reliant on. If anything happens to VP or Torres where they are out for a long period i think you can write off both teams chances. After that they have some good players, like Kuyt, Crouch and Adebayor, but who both have failed to show so far that they are very good players for me. after that both teams will rely on somewhat unproven players, in Voronin and Arsenal on Eduardo and Bentdner... so i think they fare similar up front.

both teams are pretty strong in central midfield, although Pool do have better options, i dont think it's as far ahead as some people make out... Gerrard/Alonso/Mascherano/Sissoko vs. Cesc/Gilberto/Denilson/Diaby

again i think their wingers are also pretty evenly matched... Babel and Walcott are good young players but with a lot to prove, Rosicky and Pennant are both very good players, i think both will have good seasons, the only issue here is Pool have more out and out wingers, whereas Arsenal's are more converted wingers, so Pool are stronger here i guess... but it's still probably the weakest area for both teams.

but at the end of the day over the last few seasons, the problems for both teams have been a lack of the killer finish. they would both dominate in midfield but just fail in front of goal. One difference however is, pool have brought a lot more players in, and while it doesn't seem to be having an affect yet, settling in might possibly lead to a few games going by where players underperform. Arsenal have'nt added as much, but they have a relatively young team playing together more and more, gaining more experience and understanding. that could show this season and they may bloom like we all know they are capable of.

In summary, i don't think the differences between Pool and Arsenal are as vast as some here make out, and subsequently i dont see how you can proclaim one team potential winners while at the same time write off the others as strugglers to maintain fourth.

my own personal feelings are that probably neither of these teams will win this year yet, but that hopefully it will be a much closer race than previously

-fin

+1

Mr Alan

Wouldnt nescessarily agree with some of the points, but that is an excellent post.

Galvasean

Gotta be honest, I think 1st and 2nd is a throw up between Chelsea and Man u.
3rd and 4th is gonna be between Arsenal and Liverpool.
I honestly don't see anyone breaking into the top 4. Newcastle or Everton maybe, but doubtful.

All IMO of course.

PHB

beating Sunderland away 2-0 was an impressive result

I find it funny that this was the reason for the start of the thread, and look at Luton tonight :P

Chucky the tree

PHB wrote:

I find it funny that this was the reason for the start of the thread, and look at Luton tonight :P

Why? Sure you hardly expect Chelsea fan to have any sort of footballing knowledge.



I think Chelsea will win it, and then throw the other 3 up in the air and see where they land.

DerekD Goldfish

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Liverpool are certainly not favourites at this stage, but early signs are promising. You can be out of the race by Christmas, but you can't win it by Christmas.

Liverpool have played 3 matches so far. In all honesty, what can that tell you?



At the risk of falling for an obvious troll - who do you think will finish above Liverpool?

Appologies if it seemed like a troll I just find it laughable that anyone could take a performance against sunderland who will be fighting relegation this season as an indication of title credentials.

I dont think Liverpool can win the league under benitez a CL again is always a possibility he is to negative, the team lacks flair and is not clinical enough.
Chelsea will win the league Aresnal will be second Man Utd will be 3rd.
United would have been serious challengers is they signed a striker instead of a foward instead their chances rest on keeping the crooked Saha fit as they play far better when a natural striker is in the team.

Mr Alan

I think Liverpool can definately win the league under Rafa.
How long did it take Ferguson to win the league with Utd??
Something funny about the reasons you gave for Liverpool NOT being able to win the league followed up by saying you think Chelsea WILL win it

DerekD Goldfish

millersangel wrote:

I think Liverpool can definately win the league under Rafa.
How long did it take Ferguson to win the league with Utd??
Something funny about the reasons you gave for Liverpool NOT being able to win the league followed up by saying you think Chelsea WILL win it

Chelsea are clinical and win games even when they play badly liverpool dont do this enough.
Chelsea are more creative and better going forward than liverpool.
The main team liverpool have going for them is when they have their first team out they are extremely solid and hard to beat great for cup football but not enough to win the league.

Mr Alan

Think its a bit harsh to write off liverpools attack after signing Babel, Voronin, Torres and Benayoun.

No one can say for sure now, but we'll see

Hobart

DerekD Goldfish wrote:

Chelsea are clinical and win games even when they play badly liverpool dont do this enough.
Chelsea are more creative and better going forward than liverpool.
The main team liverpool have going for them is when they have their first team out they are extremely solid and hard to beat great for cup football but not enough to win the league.

I agree with everything you are saying above, when put into the context of the team he had last year. You are bang on the mark. Too much emphasis was put on not conceding as opposed to actually winning games, with the result, the wrong kind of pressure was put on players from both a psychological pov and in the way the team was formed.

That's exactly why I believe the addition of the players he has brought in this year will change that focus, simply because of the nature of these players. If you look at the signings he has brought in Torres, Voronin, Babel, Benny etc... they are all attack minded players, and it will be reflected on the pitch.

I'm far from convinced that Liverpool will win it this year, but I'm confident that we will be a hell of a lot closer to winning it than we have in the recent past.

DerekD Goldfish

Hobart wrote:

I agree with everything you are saying above, when put into the context of the team he had last year. You are bang on the mark. Too much emphasis was put on not conceding as opposed to actually winning games, with the result, the wrong kind of pressure was put on players from both a psychological pov and in the way the team was formed.

That's exactly why I believe the addition of the players he has brought in this year will change that focus, simply because of the nature of these players. If you look at the signings he has brought in Torres, Voronin, Babel, Benny etc... they are all attack minded players, and it will be reflected on the pitch.

I'm far from convinced that Liverpool will win it this year, but I'm confident that we will be a hell of a lot closer to winning it than we have in the recent past.

My problem was not that the original poster thought liverpol would challenge this season but that he based this on a performance against sunderland.
If the new signings gel they could challenge for the title.
Personally I dont think Benayoun is good enough for a top side Babbel looks unimpressive from what ive seen, Voronin, will make a good squad striker, Torres is quality but will he have the supply?

marco_polo

DerekD Goldfish wrote:

My problem was not that the original poster thought liverpol would challenge this season but that he based this on a performance against sunderland.
If the new signings gel they could challenge for the title.
Personally I dont think Benayoun is good enough for a top side Babbel looks unimpressive from what ive seen, Voronin, will make a good squad striker, Torres is quality but will he have the supply?

Even though it was only against Toulouse I thought Benayoun was very impressive last night and threaded a few great balls through for Kuyt. I would like to see him play a few games with the pace of Torres in the side. Another bonus is that his signing has given Pennant a kick up the backside and he is playing much better as a result. Babel played pretty well when he came on but he is still a bit raw, I think he will do pretty well this season I but he will turn into a very good player in a few seasons.

I would hope that Liverpool can maintain a consistant challenge for the title this season but 3 games is far too early to be drawing any sort of conclusions.

Benitez won a couple of league titles with Valencia so I don't see how you could possibly stand over a statement like he will never win a PL title. Last I checked wasn't the the principal the same in the Spanish league as in England?

DerekD Goldfish

marco_polo wrote:

Benitez won a couple of league titles with Valencia so I don't see how you could possibly stand over a statement like he will never win a PL title. Last I checked wasn't the the principal the same in the Spanish league as in England?

In spain to win the league you have to have as good as season as possible and hope Barca and Real shoot themselves in the foot by sacking good managers manking signing they dont need to make and having dressing room trouble A difficult task but a not impossible one. At the moment in the premership you have to compete with the most expensive squad ever assembeled and 2 of the greatest managers in the history of the game.
Im not saying winning la liga is easy what he did with valencia was a great acheivment but he has yet to show any signed of repeating this acheivment

mike65

Maureen one of the greatest? Shirley shome mishtake.

Mike.

Chardee MacDennis

hate to defend him but he hasnt lost a home game in 4/5 years or something crazy like that. he is definitely top quality although I think Rafa has the taking of him!

Mr Alan

Rafa is at least as good, if not a better manager than Mourinho imho.
Rafa has the potential to surpass Ferguson too.

oooooohhhhh controversial

DerekD Goldfish

mike65 wrote:

Maureen one of the greatest? Shirley shome mishtake.

Mike.

I was taking about Wenger and Fergie obviously

RE*AC*TOR

Wenger is one of the greatest managers in the history of the game?

DerekD Goldfish

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Wenger is one of the greatest managers in the history of the game?

In the English game certinaly
only his lack of european success would stop him being considered one of the all time world greats. He has won numerous trophy's with aresnal while having negligible net spending.

and no Im not an Aresnal fan

herbieflowers

21 points Pool finished behind Man U last season and that - in my view - is too huge a gap to make up in one season. That said, Liverpool have loked better this season but every fan knows that the season is a long, arduous test...to make title claims at this stage is over-presumptuous. Liverpool have added to their squad, added the quality that's needed to win titles...but I don't think that just magically happens in one season...it takes time (at least two / three seasons) to build a championship-winning side, such is the standard of the league now. Liverpool's problem last season was that they, perhaps, underewstimated teams in the bottom half of the table. Sure they were well able to compete against the big sides but they just seemed incapable against sides like Middlesboro etc. But, just like for Man U and Chelsea and (to a lesser extent) Arsenal, it all depends on how well Liverpool cope when their key players lose form, pick up injuries or acquire suspensions. And whether or not the squad can cope with competing in all competitions - last season they pretty much threw the towel in for the Premiership and focused solely on the CL after Xmas...

RE*AC*TOR

No doubt he is a very good manager, and has an uncommonly good eye for talent, but 3 leagues and some fa cups does not a greatest manager in the history of the game make.

Mr Alan

how many points did Utd finish behind Chelsea the season before?

if Utd finished 1 point ahead of Liverpool the season before last (which they did) wats to say Liverpool can't pull off the same feat and run amuck this year?

herbieflowers

Utd finished 8 points behind Chelsea, an easier deficit to make up imo, turn two defeats and one draw into wins...Pool, on the other hand, have 21 pints to make up ie win 7 matches they didn't win last season.

Your second point is valid but all I can say is Utd's team had the consistency of playing two seasons straight together. The only addition they last summer was Carrick, the rest of the team was exactly the same (aside from Scholes coming back from injury).

Furthermore Utd's success was down to Ronaldo improving vastly, Scholes returning and the side having more balance generally and bags and bags of luck with injuries at key points in the season to Chelsea. Liverpool need such factors (or similar factors) to stand a chance.

Don't get me wrong, there's no evidence to say that Liverpool won't win the league, I just think another season and they'll be better equipped.

astrofool

I don't think Liverpool have the bottle to win the games when it will really matter, they bottled the CL last year, against an under par Milan, almost bottled it when they won and came back amazingly from 3-0 down, and have only ever got close to the top 2 in the league when the season has been over.

Even last season, on the weekend when Pool beat Chelsea and Arsenal beat United, they weren't able to push on and assert themselves, losing and drawing games a team with more mental fortitude would win.

Also, they don't yet have the experience of winning the league, which all their main rivals do.

Now, of course they could do it, but if they were favourites, then the bookies would reflect it, rather than a disillusioned Chelsea supporter who see's any slight slump for Chelsea as a disaster of epic proportions.

herbieflowers

I dunno, I think they showed a lot of bottle and guts the year they won the CL...it's as much about desire as it is bottle, Utd had the desire to win it last season, players who had won it before were still hungry (Giggs etc). Whether Liverpool have that same desire and hunger we shall soon see..

Mr Alan

some people say liverpool can only do it when it matters in the big games, hence they are a great cup team....others say they can not do it in the big games and only when it doesn't count . . . dont know what to think anymore!

Herbieflowers: you points are well made and make a lot of sense. hope you're wrong though

leninbenjamin

herbie in reality that 21 points isn't a true reflection. how many games did Rafa field his reserves because he was looking ahead towards the semis and final? it was at three anyway wasn't it? people have been reading too much into that imo.

~Rebel~

Not to mention the amount of stupid points lost away last year, which pretty much couldn't happen again (well it could, but its not looking likely with 3 away wins out of 3, and would be a major disaster)

There strikes me as being a lot more confidence in the team this year. Again, i dont think we'll win it, but there at least seems some belief from the team that we could, which we've not really had before.

/Andy\

jackdaw wrote:

I tip Liverpool for the title.

Chelsea don't look impressive struggling for a win against
Portsmouth and were lucky last week against Liverpool.

Man U have had a bad start and were lucky to get a win of
a Spurs side in a mess...

I know there is a long long way to go but Liverpool just look
the best at the moment .. Beating Sunderland away 2-0 was
an impressive result, people expected them to lose points there
but they put in a great performance, the Liverpool of last year might have
lost points there , but so long as they continue this form .. I tip them
as league champs next May...

PS .. I'm a Chelsea fan...

I tip Chelsea or United for the title, with Liverpool and Arsenal fighting for third place.

Jazzy

astrofool wrote:

I don't think Liverpool have the bottle to win the games when it will really matter, they bottled the CL last year, against an under par Milan

the same under par milan that dominated the PL champions in waiting last season in the semi final stage? when u have kaka on ur team u are anything but under par.
would agree with the rest tho. Chelsea are still the favorites in my eyes but i do believe pool supporters have been given good reasons so far to have faith that they can actually win, rather then "maybe possibly we will come 2nd"

kryogen

i will stake my reputation as a genious:p on the fact that liverpool will not win the league this season

i still dont think you have a 20 goal a season striker and i believe this is where they will yet again falter..... torres is much more like a rooney then a van nistlerooy so i dont think he will be doing it, his highest total league goals ever scored was 19, but that was 2,3 seasons ago....

personally and i hate to say it, but its gotta be chelski for me, and i hate chelski!! they are just a machine, they will grind out enough results this year to win i think....very hard team to beat and they always seem to find that goal!

as a united fan i would love to say that we will win the league but i just cant see anybody finishing ahead of chelsea.....we will improve once we have our first 11 back but i think the lack of an out and out goalscorer will hurt us this year, ronaldo compensated for that last year with his huge goal tally but it would be ludicris to expect him to repeat that this season....

arsenal are amazing when they are playing well but they still dont have the consistency to do it..

1. Chelsea
2. Man Utd
3. Liverpool
4. Arsenal

Bounty Hunter

dont think they are favourites at all but if United drop enough points (cos they have so far and i cant see Cheslsea doing so) they could have a real crack at 2nd place, as they have got strenght in depth now and have thus far avoided their usual early season mess up

zing

kryogen wrote:

i still dont think you have a 20 goal a season striker and i believe this is where they will yet again falter.....

Rafa has not attempted to sign a 20 (PL) goal a season striker - he's tried to build a team with enough depth in it to cover injuries, resting players, etc.. and that includes not trying to be too dependent on any 1 striker. He's repeatedly said he'd rather have multiple players (not just strikers) netting in 15 than a single striker banging in 20+ and his transfers for this season seem to back up that approach. Torres has the potential to do 20 ish per season but unlikely this season as it'll take him a while to fully adjust.

Personally I think it's far too early to call so am not even going to try to other than it'll prob be the usual top 4 but the order will prob be different. Liverpool have certainly started better than the last few seasons and are looking like one of their best squads in years but there's 35 more games to go. Let's get Sept out of the way and see how the table is looking then. PHB made a comment recently about Liverpool needing to take at least 13 points out of Sunderland (A), Derby (H) , Portsmouth (A), Birmingham (H) & Wigan (A) to have any sort of a chance and I agree completely.

The Rooster

zing wrote:

Liverpool needing to take at least 13 points out of Sunderland (A), Derby (H) , Portsmouth (A), Birmingham (H) & Wigan (A) to have any sort of a chance .

Followed by Spurs at home. Never get a better chance to have 6 wins in a row in the PL!

herbie wrote:

21 points Pool finished behind Man U last season and that - in my view - is too huge a gap to make up in one season.

Luckily the Premier League have been kind enough to wipe out ManU's 21 point advantage and start everyone from scratch again this year!

Mr Alan

ha ha ha

PHB

The Rooster wrote:

Luckily the Premier League have been kind enough to wipe out ManU's 21 point advantage and start everyone from scratch again this year!

lol

Jazzy

hmmm, i do see a 2 point gap there between liverpool and man utd... and i also see that liverpool have a game in hand. smashing. and isnt there a 5 point gap between chelski and man utd... and another 2 point gap between arsenal and utd with arsenal having played one less game.


spose liverpool arent the only club who have to worry about gaps then huh ?

DSB

Ah yeah can't wait to finally see Man City and Wigan play a bit of Champions League football.

Mr Alan

I think his point was meant more in relation to Arsenal,Liverpool and Chelsea, teams who are more likely to build on their decent starts and not drop points.

marco_polo

herbieflowers wrote:

Utd finished 8 points behind Chelsea, an easier deficit to make up imo, turn two defeats and one draw into wins...Pool, on the other hand, have 21 pints to make up ie win 7 matches they didn't win last season.

Just to play devils advocate I have realised that Liverpool have made up 10 of those points already. Just 11 more to go

Last season
Man U - 4 games 12 Pts
Liverpool 3 - games 4 Pts

This season
Liverpool 3 - games 7 Pts
Man U 4 - games 5 Pts