Chelsea (A), 8pm, 16/09/16, Friday Night Lights

[G Richards]

If Karius can only use one hand properly he shouldn't be anywhere near the team. Mind you, he'd still probably be as good as Mignolet, but when he comes in we need him to be a boss back there, so a good understanding can form with the he defence, and the team finds another gear.

 

An injured hand might get him started on the wrong foot, (ha!) so I'd rather wait.

 

However, if he's cleared to play, and he's been using the hand in training, bring it on!

[manwiththestick]

I'd rather play Mig tomorrow and give Karius the league cup game in midweek and take it from there.

 

 

 

Can't believe I typed that.

[an tha]

I despise Chelsea, I could almost describe it as irrational hatred, but then I realise that they are Chelsea and hating the horrible, plastic flag waving shithouse rats is just natural and perfectly normal.

[Razoray]

I despise Chelsea, I could almost describe it as irrational hatred, but then I realise that they are Chelsea and hating the horrible, plastic flag waving shithouse rats is just natural and perfectly normal.

Yes, yes it is!

[Russ Atmosphere]

I don't care which goalkeeper plays tomorrow as long as they have beautiful hair.

[Jairzinho]

A recall for Bogdan?

[SammyAftershave]

A recall for Bogdan?

He had a corker last night.

[Ginny]

Can't wait for this. We're gonna steam roll these cunts. Firminio, Coutinho, mane and big bad LALLANA gonna commit an assault on their defence. Come on you reds!!

[3 Stacks]

Can't wait to watch Costa make five yellow card offenses only for him to escape with a single booking.

[Lee909]

He will get his 5th yellow and first suspension soon enough. Probably just in time to miss the Arsenal or Manc game

[3 Stacks]

I'm not sure about this one. One of the reasons we normally do very well against the bigger sides is because we pack the middle of the pitch with runners and hard workers which allows us to win second balls, counter-attack quickly and restrict the supply to their forwards through pressing. It works against the softies at City or Arsenal but I think this type of tactic will be harder to execute against thoroughbreds like Kante and Matic.

 

I have a feeling Klopp will go back to the Firmino false 9 tactic to keep things a bit tighter. Personally, I'd start Sturridge because I'd bank on him having a point to prove against one of his former clubs, but you can't really argue against the effectiveness we've had against bigger sides with Firmino playing up top.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Our fans seem to have that confidence for this that our team usually shoots down.

[Evelyn Tentions]

A recall for Bogdan?

 

 

He had a corker last night.

Another stupid fucking "playing it out of the penalty area" fuck up, down to goalie coaching. The sooner we fuck Achterberg off, preferably before he has chance to ruin Karius,  the better

[ZonkoVille77]

Our fans seem to have that confidence for this that our team usually shoots down.

Yup. Never fucking learn the shithouses

[eeyore]

Our fans seem to have that confidence for this that our team usually shoots down.

If it helps i still think we are shit

[Hades]

Our fans seem to have that confidence for this that our team usually shoots down.

 

I'm all in. We're going to win 4-0.

[Thoth]

Glass half full or half empty??

 

Score draw 2-2 with that greasy fucking no mark equalizing with the last touch of the game..... Or 5-0 to the redmen with a Sturridge hat trick

[Joe Strummer]

Can't really afford to lose this even this early into the season. All our rivals have piss easy games this weekend. No doubt we will cause them problems with our pace and movement up front but can our defence keep Costa and Hazard quiet? I think we may see a similar result to the one we got at Spurs.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Bit worried about Milner in this one. Whenever we try an emergency full back, they seem to have a few good games and then an absolute stinker which highlights why we need a specialist there.

[Lario]

Please (insert random fictitious character here) let us win.

 

I hate these fuckers, and I'm starting to hate Conte due to association.

[ZonkoVille77]

Make my funk the P. Funk, I want to get funked up

[Rotpeter]

I'm not sure about this one. One of the reasons we normally do very well against the bigger sides is because we pack the middle of the pitch with runners and hard workers which allows us to win second balls, counter-attack quickly and restrict the supply to their forwards through pressing. It works against the softies at City or Arsenal but I think this type of tactic will be harder to execute against thoroughbreds like Kante and Matic.

 

I have a feeling Klopp will go back to the Firmino false 9 tactic to keep things a bit tighter. Personally, I'd start Sturridge because I'd bank on him having a point to prove against one of his former clubs, but you can't really argue against the effectiveness we've had against bigger sides with Firmino playing up top.

On the other hand it could be because we're really good at exploiting the space that the big teams tend to leave you.  Pressing and the speed of our transition is where we excel.  Not sure if that'll be enough against Conte's version of chelsea, who don't give you any space.

[thegreatelephant]

Firmino to tap one in from one yard. And make my shit the chronic

[Guest Alex_K]

Definitely take a draw. Conte is a pragmatic coach, which is a worry for us. Defence can be got at but their midfield looks imposing. Running at an immobile Terry would have been a benefit, but hopefully Luiz's lack of tactical discipline compensates.

[Jairzinho]

Definitely take a draw. Conte is a pragmatic coach, which is a worry for us. Defence can be got at but their midfield looks imposing. Running at an immobile Terry would have been a benefit, but hopefully Luiz's lack of tactical discipline compensates.

 

Sadly, I think the former negates the latter. 

 

Luiz can go for a wander because Matic or Kante will fill in.

 

City and Chelsea are the only two teams in the league that really worry me this season. That doesn't mean I think we'll finish third, as we'll fuck up against lesser teams more than United and probably even Arsenal and Tottenham do, but they're the two teams that stand out in this league.

 

We have to keep Costa really quiet to have a chance of winning tonight.