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Saturday Dec 1: Interesting Klopp quotes on the different style of play this year. Basically confirming what we thought, that the new more patient approach is deliberate and that the team needed to evolve. He put it down to how opponents play against us, saying that they won’t play football in their own half because they don’t want to fall victim to our press. Not entirely sure it's just that though. To me there's definitely an element of us just not playing that well and individual players not hitting the heights they did last season. We aren't at full throttle but I think that's also deliberate, and the team is geared up to hit it's stride in the new year. If that happens and we're still in the position we're in right now then we really will have a great chance to win the bloody thing. Meanwhile, Bobby Duncan scores four and makes two for the u18s as they won 6-5. I watched the highlights, and one of the assists was a mis-hit shot that Paul Glatzel turned in at the back post, but Bobby still claimed it as an assist. Kids eh? He’s got 16 goals so far this season and is getting better by the week. Really want this kid to be boss. Not only that, I want him to win titles, not just for us but for his cousin Stevie. Not only that, I want him to win a title by scoring an Anfield winner against Chelsea to deny City the title. In fact, I want him to do it after slipping over, getting up and beating half their team before scoring in front of their fans in the Anny Road and then doing a post match interview like this…. Sunday Dec 2: L 1 Everton 0 Hahahahahahahahahaha. Oh man, fucking hell. Hahahahahaha. It’s going to take an awfully long time for me to stop buzzing off this one. The only thing more satisfying than winning a derby by being boss and embarrassing the Blues, is not being boss but beating them anyway, in stoppage time. We’ve done that a few times, but this was the best of the lot just because of how comical the winning goal was, and also the perfect comedy timing of it. “Murderers” was belting out from the away end, and literally two seconds before the goal one of them lashed some purple pyro on the pitch because they thought Van Dijk’s shot had gone in the Kop and they’d clinched a famous draw. You just can’t make this shit up. Everton - Being funnier than fiction since 1878. Pleased for Origi, it’s probably his final swan song for us barring an unlikely return to the fleeting, blistering form of spring 2016, but if it is then what a way to go out. He’ll forever be remembered by Kopites now and tales of his heroics will be handed down from generation to generation. The icing on the cake was Klopp running onto the pitch like a madman. I didn’t even see it at the time as I was watching the lads celebrate. It was only when I got in the car afterwards and checked my phone that I saw the magnificence of it all. It was so out of order and he deserves all the criticism he’ll get for it, and if the FA hit him with a touchline ban he can have no complaints. It’s ok to love it and buzz off it, as it was funny as fuck and an all time derby moment. But you can’t defend it, and if you are defending it then ask yourself what your reaction would be if Mourinho did that after United beat us with a 97th minute fluke. If you say you’d be ok with it, then you’re a big fat liar. What Klopp did today was not ok, it was out of line and there’s no excuse for it. It was also one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. Monday Dec 3: Klopp is charged with misconduct. No surprise there. Whatever punishment he gets will have been worth it though. Surprisingly, most people in the game seem to be defending him and it’s just the odd whopper who’s kicking off. Like Danny Mills. Daft bald prick. Talking about inciting a crowd when he spent his whole career doing exactly that by being a dirty cunt. As bad a pundit as he was a player, and that takes some doing. Chris Sutton laid into Mills on Twitter, basically calling him a big drama queen and saying there’s nothing wrong with showing a bit of passion. Big fan of Chris Sutton, he’s dead funny. My favourite Klopp take has come from Neil Warnock though, who simply said “I thought it were lovely”. Brought a tear to my eye that. As did this, albeit tears of laughter. Michael Ball in the Echo. “Klopp says he apologised afterwards to Marco Silva because, and he knows, it was a classless thing to do and by running onto the field he disrespected the manager and Everton. His reaction, and that of his backroom staff and the Liverpool subs, spoke volumes of how far the Blues have come in such a short space of time since last season, how the Reds are now running scared of them and how he knew they had been the recipient of a massive slice of luck.” Hahahaha oh fucking hell, make it stop. I almost laughed up my spleen yesterday and now it’s starting again. Their best Anfield performance in 20 years and we still created twice as many chances as them and won the game. Yeah, we’re terrified. The balance of power is shifting. Our heads are falling off etc Fucking hell, I’ll say it again. If Everton didn’t exist we’d have to invent them. I’ve spent most of the day watching videos from yesterday and, as with any epic moment like that, there are just so many layers to it. Klopp running on was obviously one, but from watching various clips today from different angles there are other things I didn’t pick up on initially. Like Virgil turning away in disgust and being halfway back into position by the time the ball went in. One of the best things though was the reaction of Mané, who instead of celebrating with the lads went off to taunt his mate Gana Gueye instead. The needle between those two in derbies is great. Their friendship really does go out the window when there’s a derby. Sadio was giving him all sorts of shit when he was time wasting, and after the goal he went over and laughed in his face and handed him the ball, which Gana Gueye just swatted out of his hand. Just glorious. This one will stay with me for a long time, so imagine how it must feel for the Blues. I think Emlyn said it best. Liverpool are Magic, Everton are Tragic. Tuesday Dec 4: El Hadji Diouf says signing for us was the biggest mistake of his career and that he should have gone to United or Barcelona, because they both wanted him. Yeah, not sure that’s true as United tended to get most of their signings right back then, no way would they be getting suckered into signing a bum like him. Still, if there was one player we could airbrush from our history is this piece of shit, and if he feels the same way then can we not just pretend it never happened? Klopp’s punishment is announced, and it’s an 8k fine. Is that it? Talk about getting off lightly. That’s half a day’s salary for Jurgen. So, let me ask you this: If you could run on the pitch and hug Alisson after a 97th minute derby winner at Anfield, and all it would cost you half a day’s pay, who wouldn’t take that deal? In all seriousness, I doubt that Klopp has ever had better value for money with anything he’s ever bought. He got to run onto the pitch to celebrate a derby winner and forever earn a place in derby folklore, and it didn’t even cost him a slap on the wrist really. Naturally, the Blues are fuming. Well most of them are. Marco Silva wasn’t arsed, to his credit. He said there was nothing wrong with what Klopp did and that he shouldn’t be fined for it. To be fair, he’s only been there five minutes and I’m sure there’ll be people in his ear telling him that shit don’t fly. That kind of attitude won’t get him anywhere. He’ll either need to transform himself into a bitter twisted redshite hating Moyesy bastard, or he’ll go the same way as Big Red Ron. Wednesday Dec 5: Burnley 1 L 3 The result was deserved, but sometimes the outcome of games can hinge on one split second of play. Alisson made an incredible save in stoppage time, and then 10 seconds later he started a counter attack that saw us put the game to bed. If he doesn’t make that save, or if we still had Mignolet or Karius in goal, we draw this game. Simple as that. I feel like Alisson has been getting a lot of love that he hasn’t really had to earn up to now, but in some big moments he’s really come through for us, not least this one. When you look at the still photo of it, it’s just an incredible stop, a save of the season contender. Reminds me a little of Pepe’s save from Marvellous Marlon in the “Gerrard Final” in 2006. I’m seething about the goal we conceded though. How the linesman isn’t giving offside against the lad who put Alisson off by going for the ball is beyond me. That’s just basic shit that. Under any interpretation of the rule that’s offside. Our defensive record is so impressive that cheap goals like this really bother me. We’ve got a shot at breaking records, and incompetent ducks like this lino could ruin it. Klopp was having a right moan about Burnley’s tackling. Aside from the scandalous Bardsley one I didn’t see anything untoward. They’re at the bottom fighting relegation, playing against a side in the hunt for the title. They need to tackle like their lives depend on it and if they didn’t then their fans and Sean Dyche would be entitled to feel let down. Klopp’s comments were a bit weird. "I said to the referee after the first sliding tackle [made] over six or seven yards, when he got the ball and everyone liked it: 'Please, tell them they cannot do that. It wasn't a foul but they cannot do that.” If it wasn’t a foul then yes, they can do that. That’s the whole point of rules. It was all a bit “Arsene Wenger at Stoke” for me. Thursday Dec 6: Gomez will miss six weeks. That’s shit, but it could have been worse. Meanwhile, Dyche responded to Klopp’s complaints by having a go at Sturridge for diving. “It’s funny, he didn’t reference Daniel Sturridge’s cheating. He never got touched, nothing near him, and actually got a free-kick. “I watched Liverpool as a kid and was a Liverpool fan growing up and they had a fantastic side of skill, will, demand and a physical edge. If that has gone, or the suggestion is you’re not allowed to make those tackles that our lads made last night, and it’s been replaced by cheating, I absolutely am happy to be old-fashioned. “I just can’t believe Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool fans – and I don’t believe they do – would want cheating in the game and sacrifice good, honest challenges.” Ok, I feel dirty saying this, but I kind of agree with most of what Dyche said there. Sturridge has dived quite a few times (the one to get a pen at Old Trafford even had Suarez shaking his head!) and he went down under no contact last night to win a free-kick. If a player had done that against us we’d be pissed off too. Hell, Klopp was laying into PSG last week and rightly so, but this makes him look a bit daft, as will the next time he’s celebrating Milner crunching someone! Friday Dec 7: Oh no, the Fekir links are starting again after it’s suggested he’s going to be available in January. I can’t handle any more of this. I wanted us to sign him so badly that I’m still not over it falling through, even though we’re unbeaten and could end this weekend top. He’s be PERFECT for us and would give us the kind of depth, creativity and firepower that City have. We don’t have that currently, not outside of our first eleven anyway. City can bring in Bernardo Silva, while we’re hoping Lallana is somehow fit enough to make the bench. A player like Fekir coming in January could make all the difference, but it’s not going to happen and I don’t know why I always do this to myself. I know he’s not coming. I know that ship sailed last summer and unless it docks back in Liverpool with a new knee for Nabil, it won’t be coming back. Yet as soon as I see even the most tenuous link to him, from the most unreliable click bait of websites, it starts all over again. In other transfer speculation, Matip is still being linked with a move away. He’ll play at Bournemouth tomorrow because Lovren has a concussion. He’s too good to be fourth choice and if he wanted to go it would be understandable, but we’ve got a title to win so it’s all hands on deck and no-one should go in January. Not even Origi or Solanke, even though it’s unfair on both that they’re getting no football. I would have sent Origi packing to the highest bidder last summer, but then we wouldn’t have had that all time moment last Sunday. That game showed us that you just never know when we’re going to need these lads. Meanwhile, there’s a “top 100” list on ESPN. These things are always subjective and generally I try to not pass judgement on them. But Andy Robertson is rated as the 8th best left back in the world. Get to fuck. All bias to one side, he’s the best left back in the world. Ever. Seriously. Show me someone who thinks they’re better than Robbo and I’ll show you a fucking deluded spoofer. and that was the week that was…

After going behind to Burnley it looked like Liverpool were once again going to lose to a team they should comfortably beat. Losing to lower opposition is the biggest thing has held the team back since their last league title, but this time around Klopp was determined not to let it happen again. The win proves to the rest of the top clubs that Liverpool are serious title contenders this campaign but even though they are now only two points off the top, Manchester City are looking formidable this season and will be hard to overtake for the title. After going down a goal in the 54th minute to a Jack Cork goal, the manager had it all to do in order to turn things around. James Milner was able to pull one back and thanks to key substitute decisions made by Klopp, the team was able to win comfortably in the end. He brought on both Mohamed Salah (who bagged an assist) and Roberto Firmino (who scored with his first touch) as the Reds stretched their unbeaten run to 15 games. After the result, new UK betting sites have slashed the odds of them winning the EPL title and Klopp's men are second behind favourites Manchester City to achieve it. Since arriving at Liverpool Klopp has managed to put his stamp on the team and they are now playing in his image with a high press game. He has turned an average team into one of the best in Liverpool's history if you look at the stats. So far his team has the highest points total for any Liverpool team with 39 points from 15 matches. Previous to that the highest was 38 points which you have to go all the way back to 1990/91, 1978/79 and 1904/05 campaigns. One of the key decisions made by Klopp was to bring back into the team Naby Keita who was rested for the Sunday game against Everton which the Reds won 1-0. The manager was greatly rewarded for this as the Guinean control the midfield and his box to box running caused problems for Burnley all night. He completed the whole 90 minutes and had the most impressive stats for both teams. He managed to gain possession back 10 times along with 6 shots with 4 on target. On top of this, he was able to have a passing accuracy rate of 93.2% which was the best on the night. Since arriving at Anfield Klopp has put a lot of trust in James Milner and so far he has not let the manager down. Even at 32 years old the former England man is able to have a huge impact on the game and thanks to his fantastic placed shot in the 62 minutes the Reds were able to get the momentum they needed to go on and win. When Milner scores the team always goes on to win with the player having an unbelievable record of his team not losing in 50 games that he has scored in which is the best in the EPL. All of the substitutions that Klopp made paid off big time with them all been involved in the goals. Salah who was left on the substitute bench for the start of the match was impressive when coming on as he provided 3 goal scoring chance and the Shaqiri assist in the 30 minutes of game time he played. If Liverpool can keep up this type of form until the end of the season they will have a chance to pip Manchester City to the title. Klopp will have to keep on making vital decisions that will need to pay off, but if anyone can do it the charismatic German manager can.

Lots to get through with it being a double round of fixtures, so I'll get straight down to it. “Useless” got the old heave ho at last as Southampton finally saw sense and sent his fraudulent arse down the road. The final straw was failing to beat Manchester United. Fair enough I'd say. They went 2-0 up but then blew it. Armstrong fired in the opener and Cedric’s superb free-kick doubled their lead, but they got nervous and let United get back on level terms before the break. Now usually you’d expect United to go on and win the game, but this is Mourinho’s United and…well… they’re fucking shit aren't they? It ended 2-2 and the Saints board had clearly seen enough. “We can accept you losing to Fulham, but drawing with this United team is humiliating. We’re gonna have to let you go”. As for Mourinho, I can’t even keep up with his antics now. I know he’s now dropped Lukaku and Pogba for being shit, and I know he’s been ripping into his players all week. What I don’t know is what he actually needs to do before they sack him. Hopefully we’ll never find out, because this is great and long may it continue. I heard this week that Pogba has given the ball away more than any other player in the Premier League this season. Not surprising, the Southampton game alone would probably have him in the top ten. One of the worst performances you’ll ever see from a so called top player. Fucking fraud him. Mourinho didn’t specifically call him out by name, but he said “we need to lose less ball in midfield” and then dropped Pogba for the Arsenal game in midweek, so that tells its own story. There were also reports that he called Pogba a "virus" in front of the rest of the team afterwards. Mourinho is right of course, but then Pogba could hit back with "takes one to know one". It's all gone a bit playgroundish at United this season, and it's great. Moving on, and Newcastle have been doing better of late but I’m not buying what they’re selling at all. They’re shite, and proved it again by getting spanked at home by West Ham. Hernandez got the opener after 11 minutes when he converted a wonderful cross from Snodgrass. He wasted two more great chances before eventually grabbing his second. The lively Anderson wrapped it up in stoppage time with his fourth goal in as many games. Good player him, but then for £40m he should be. Looking at the teams at the bottom, most of them have something going for them. Huddersfield and Cardiff have great desire and battling qualities. Fulham and Southampton have good forward players. Palace have Zaha. Newcastle? They have Rafa, and that's it. He's their only shot. Still, it's more than Burnley have. They're fucking hopeless. They went down with barely a whimper at Wilfried Palace. The deadlock was broken when McAthur’s cross deceived everyone and sneaked into the far corner. Zaha almost made it 2-0 with a spectacular solo effort but he was denied by a fantastic save by the rejuvenated Hart. Zaha was also denied by the bar after another superb effort. It was getting a little bit tetchy for Palace who had seen chance after chance go begging, but fortunately for them Andros Townsend chose this day for one of his three stunning goals a season. Such a weird player him. He does things that take your breath away every now and again, but it’s just too few and far between, which is why he’s at Palace I suppose. Tell you what, Hart has been the best English keeper by a mile so far this season. The press all love that angry little pottymouth gobshite at Everton, but Hart has been miles better. Jordan Pickford? More like Jordan Prickford, eh lads? Amirite? Moving on, and Bruno’s howler allowed Jorgensen to head Huddersfield into the lead at Brighton, but their joy was short lived when Mounie was then sent off for a nothing challenge. His foot was up but there was no intent and absolute zero force behind it. Some of the things you see go unpunished and then you see this punished with a red card? Fucking terrible. It proved costly too as they were pegged back in the second half when Duffy powered in a header to equalise, and then Andone glanced in the winner. Harsh on Huddersfield, but that's a recurring theme. They keep losing games even though they usually give a good account of themselves. If you can't score though it's always going to be a grind. Leicester are a weird team. They should be better they are I think, but they seem to follow up every good result with a poor one. They've had a decent week though, picking up four points. Vardy won and converted a pen to put them up against Watford on Saturday, and James Maddison quickly made it 2-0 with a brilliant individual goal. Capoue was sent off for a "two footed challenge" that was actually only a one footed challenge on the ball that didn’t touch the man. These refs are shite, but their job is made so difficult by all these cheating cunt players. Capoue was lying on the floor holding his head, while Iheanacho was also rolling around as though he was in agony. You watch the replay and neither made any contact with the other. Iheanacho even said afterwards there was no contact and that helped to get the red card rescinded. He was praised for his honesty. Hold on, if he hadn't feigned injury to begin with maybe Capoue wouldn't have been sent off? Personally I’d ban them both for playacting. Cardiff beat Wolves on Friday night, but Wolves followed it up by beating Chelsea in midweek. Funny old game, Saint. I'll get to the Chelsea game in a bit though. Doherty had given Wolves the lead but Cardiff came roaring back with goals from Gunnarsson and a goal of the month certainty from my boy Junior Hoilett. I say ‘my boy’ because that goes back to his Blackburn days. No idea where he’s been the last few years, but he’s back now baby. I’ve been telling you for a while how ace Neil Warnock is. A lot of you are probably still not convinced, as he’s not exactly Mr Popular with Liverpool fans, mainly due to his run ins with Rafa back in the day. He loves Klopp though, and the feeling seemed mutual as Klopp was buzzing about finally getting the chance to meet him the other week. Warnock was asked on the radio on Monday about Klopp's pitch invasion. His reply? “I thought it were lovely”. Hahahaha what a guy. He then went on to say that he expects he’ll get punished because you’re not allowed to celebrate goals and that the people who make the rules have no idea about the emotion of scoring a 96th minute winner. If I could spend half an hour in the company of any Premier League manager, Warnock would be top three I reckon. He’d probably be second behind Klopp, but it’s a toss up between him and Mourinho as the idea of winding Jose up for half an hour by pretending to be Pogba's number one fan is quite appealing. City won again. Bournemouth put up more of a fight against them than most, but it ended in predictable circumstances. Still, at least they made City do something different to beat them and didn’t give up those ‘gimme’ type goals everyone else does where they let them get in down the sides and cross in for tap ins. Bernardo Silva broke the deadlock after Sane’s pace saw him burst through the middle. Begovic made a good block but Silva lashed in the rebound. Bournemouth didn’t roll over and die like most City opponents though and Callum Wilson’s brilliant header drew them level just before half time. Sterling tapped in a rebound after Begovic had made another save, but the third goal was typical City. Sane in behind. Low cross. Gundogan tap in. Fucks sake. Onto Sunday, and Chelsea took care of business in the West London derby against Fulham. Pedro scored four minutes in after Seri was caught dawdling on the ball by Kante. How stupid do you have to be to be arsing around in midfield when Kante is around? How do you not know what’s going to happen? Do these fuckers not watch any other football? Fulham stayed in the game and were pushing hard for an equaliser. The Chelsea keeper (who’s name I’m not even going to attempt to spell) made a couple of good saves but Chelsea had their chances too. Morata put one into orbit from four yards and it was getting a little tense for the home side until Loftus-Cheek came off the bench to wrap things up late on. The North London derby was a cracker, as Arsenal showed real character and resilience to come from behind and spank Tottenham. Not sure anyone saw that coming, but this is a different Arsenal team this year. Ozil missed the game with a ‘sore back’. Emery has seen right through this fucking waster, and that’s why Arsenal aren’t the soft touch they’ve been for years. No room for any wasters anymore. Bye bye Mesut, I'm sure you'll be happy playing in MLS next year. Arsenal got off to the perfect start when Vertonghen handled in the box just a few minutes in, allowing Aubameyeng to score from the spot. The Gunners were all over them early on but the second goal didn't come and then they conceded against the run of play when Dier glanced in a header from an Eriksen free-kick. Keeper should have done better though. All hell then broke loose after Dier celebrated in front of the Arsenal fans and some of the Arsenal subs took exception to it. No problem with any of that for me. No issue with Dier goading the home fans (it’s a local derby, more of this type of thing I say) and good on the Arsenal subs for not just standing there and allowing it. Tempers were getting frayed though and it all went off again when Son dived to win a pen. Both left backs looked like they were going to come to blows with each other and Sissoko was pushing his luck too. Again though, it’s a derby game so it’s to be expected. Can't beat a bit of derby game aggro. As long as it's on the field of course. We don't want to see that shit that went down in the UKIP Derby between Stoke and Port Vale this week, but a bit of handbags from players is always entertaining. Tell you what though, Son’s dive was a 9.9. Can’t blame the ref for being conned, as even after numerous replays it’s still impossible to know for sure if there was contact. If there was, there’s no way it was enough to put him down, but that’s some next level diving ability from Son. Fair play. Well no, it’s the opposite of fair play, but you know what I mean. Normally a setback like that would finish off Arsenal. From a goal ahead to a goal behind in the blink of an eye, they would usually just collapse like a house of cards, but they were brilliant in the second half. Aubamayeng produced a stunning equaliser and Lacazette gave Arsenal the lead when that Foyth loser got caught in possession. He’s shite him. Pochettino picked him ahead of Alderweireld, who was left on the bench. Out thought himself there I think, and the Spurs fans weren’t happy about it Torrera (I like him) surged through and blasted in number four soon after and Vertonghen was then sent off for a second yellow when he won the ball but caught Lacazette with his follow through. I have no real opinion on this. Dean was entitled to give a yellow but whether he should or not I’m not sure. Much of the talk afterwards was about how some cunt threw a banana at Lacazette. Cue loads of moral indignation about Spurs fans and how football still has a problem with racism. Get the fuck outta here. Football has far less problems with racism than society does, and one fucking scumbag doesn’t represent Spurs fans either. This country is fucked. The world is fucked. Racists are completely comfortable being out in the open spouting their racist views now, yet it’s football that has the problem because one cunt in a crowd of 60 odd thousand threw a banana? Fuck off. Society has a problem with racism, that’s what everyone should be talking about instead of taking shots at Spurs and tarring them over the deplorable actions of one lowlife. The midweek games went pretty well from our perspective. Aside from City winning of course. Watford didn’t let them have it all their own way but their comeback was too little too late and it finished 2-1. In fairness, Ben Foster was the only reason it wasn’t 6-0 at half time, so it’s not as though City were lucky. Results like this are good though because at least it shows the rest of the league that you can be competitive if you have a go. Sane scored City’s first when he arrived at the back post to chest in a cross by Mahrez. Not quite the stereotypical City goal as the cross came from deep, but their second had a more than familiar look to it. Sane in behind, to the byline, pull back, Mahrez close range finish. *sigh* Come on coaches, watch the fucking videos. Doucoure pulled one back with five minutes left but City held on. It’s difficult to see where they are going to drop points, but they go to Stamford Bridge this weekend and if they win there then that’s going to be seriously fucking demoralising. All we can do is keep winning and hope for the best. I’m not comfortable relying on Chelsea to do us a favour, especially as they can’t even help themselves lately, having lost two of their last three. They were beaten at Wolves despite going ahead. Loftus-Cheek’s shot was headed into his own net by Coady and Chelsea had this game well in hand. They had enough chances to have it wrapped it before Wolves even had a sniff of a comeback. The second goal didn’t come though and Wolves grew in confidence. Jimenez equalised with a shot that went straight through the world’s most expensive keeper. I say it all the time, but why do some keepers feel like they have to use their hands to save everything? This was straight at his feet, but instead of booting it away he tried to get down low and save with his hands. He’s a bit average isn’t he? (really hope I've set that up perfectly for him to have a stormer against City) Four minutes later Jota hit the winner. There was a suspicion of a foul in the build up, and Chelsea had good cause to be unhappy with the officiating all night, as Morata was denied a stonewall pen when he was taken out on the goal-line. It would have been a straight red as well as a pen, as even though it was Morata you’d still have to say it was a clear goalscoring opportunity. Such a blatant penalty that, but Fat Jon Moss was probably blowing for tugs on the halfway line. That kid Gibbs-White I mentioned the other week got his first start for Wolves (in place of the suspended Neves) and he was quality. He’s got a chance to be some player him. Hopefully Michael Edwards has his page bookmarked on his spreadsheet. Cardiff wasted a great chance to go ahead at West Ham when Ralls had a pen saved by Fabianski after my boy Hoilett had been fouled. Arnautovic was forced off with a hamstring injury but his replacement Lucas Perez bagged a couple of goals and Antonio headed in his first of the season to give the Hammers a commanding lead. Cardiff managed a late consolation when Murphy bundled the ball in from virtually on the line, but that’s two wins on the bounce for West Ham who now sit 13th and nine points ahead of the relegation spots. Everyone below them is in a fight to stay up but West Ham are part of that mini group in the middle trying to finish 7th. Brighton are in there too. They took on Palace on Wednesday night in a game that means everything to both of those sets of fans and very little to anybody else. Not sure why they hate each other, but they do, it’s a real grudge match. Brighton went ahead with a Murray penalty that was awarded when McArthur won the ball cleanly. Awful decision by Kevin fucking Friend. He then waved away another penalty appeal and awarded a corner, even though the ball was clearly played by Murray. A bit of handbags broke out between Duffy and a Brighton player and Duffy stupidly stuck his head in the lad's face and shoved it forward with force. Friend was stood next to him when he did it as well, the fucking knobhead. Initially it looked like Friend was walking away and doing nothing, but then he correctly pulled out the red card. What followed next was one of the reasons we all love footy though. Brighton were in disarray and had to take off one of their best attacking players to get another defender on. The lad comes on, goes into the box and then the corner makes its way to him and he lashes it in with his first touch to make it 2-0. Amazing scenes. Palace then gave up a third goal before half time when Andone collected a long hoofed clearance, ran clear, skinned Tomkins and smashed it in. Zaha won a penalty that Milovojevic converted to give Palace hope with ten minutes left, but that’s how it finished. Brighton are good at home and are currently 10th. Impressive that. Bournemouth have had a tough run of late and had lost the previous four, but a home game against Huddersfield was the perfect chance to get back to winning ways. They did, but only just and it wasn’t pretty. Wilson opened the scoring and then created the second for my boy Ryan Fraser. Huddersfield didn’t lie down though and dominated the rest of the game. They pulled one back through Jorgensen and had chances to equalise but just couldn’t finish them. That’s why they’ll probably go down. In stark contrast to Huddersfield you have Southampton, who have three good strikers and shouldn’t have any problems scoring goals. They also have a new manager who few people have even heard of, but even so I’m willing to bet good money he can’t possibly be any worse than the last two managers they’ve had. The new boss watched from the stands as they lost to Spurs at a two thirds empty Wembley. There was a lot of discussion about why the attendance was so low, but it’s fairly obvious isn’t it? Football is fucking expensive, especially in London. Spurs have a had a lot of games recently and Southampton are shite. It’s midweek, Wembley is a bastard to get to and clearly loads of fans just decided to swerve it, which is fair enough I’d say. Mocking other fans for not filling their ground in the build up to Christmas is all a bit “feed the scousers” really. In other words, a bit Tory. Football clubs are owned by greedy rich cunts who are squeezing every last penny out of us for the ‘privilege’ of watching teams that we’ve loved our whole lives and who they’ve bought solely to line their own pockets. So if thousands of Spurs fans swerved paying 50 quid to watch their team play Southampton in a stadium that’s not even theirs on a shitty, rainy, cold, Wednesday night… *shrugs* Spurs won it easily enough. Kane, Moura and Son gave them a 3-0 lead before Southampton rallied and laid siege to their goal in the last 20 minutes. They hit the woodwork three times, had shitloads of chances but had to wait until stoppage time to take one, when my boy Charlie Austin ran clear and hammered it past Lloris. They’ll be alright I reckon now that they’ve rid themselves of the ball and chain that was holding them back. Hopefully we never have to see Hughes' miserable fucking grid on MOTD complaining about referees ever again, although that shit manager merry go round is still in full flow so no doubt he’ll resurface somewhere else for one final payday. The Ranieri Derby ended honours even at Craven Cottage. Some lad called Kamara put Fulham in front. There’s far too many Kamara's to keep track of which one is which, but this fella is a handful if you catch him on a good day. He terrorised Alonso at the weekend and he took this goal really well in this one. Maddison equalised with a calm finish after good work by Japanese Dirk on the right had set him up. How long before Maddison is a Liverpool player? It could be this summer (replacement for Lallana) but I’ll guess it will be the year after. It’ll happen eventually though. Fulham have got far too much up front to stay where they are. I know they’re shite at the back but a lot of that was down to injuries and having to play some absolute bums back there. They’ll be ok now I reckon. There was so much shite written about Everton after their derby performance. Talk about over-stating things. They were alright, they had a go for once, but all perspective seemed to go out of the window. I heard one commentator refer to their "great" display at Anfield. Kinell. Apparently they’re boss now and are going to be a real force. Yeah, well this ‘emerging force’ couldn’t even beat fucking Newcastle at home. They’re still Everton. Don’t ever forget that. Rondon lashed in the opening goal at the back post after a good run and cross by Murphy, but Richarlison’s scruffy equaliser got the Blues a point. Good result for Everton considering they’d lost a cup final in the most heartbreaking way possible three days earlier. Newcastle fans were all over social media patting themselves on the back for their funny new chant about Pickford. The same chant that had been posted on social media by Liverpool fans within a few hours of the derby. Cheeky thieving pricks. No wonder they’re known as the Magpies. It was a momentous occasion for Joselu though, as the introduction of Calvert-Lewin as a second half sub meant that for the first time in his career the Newcastle frontman was able to say that he wasn’t the least capable footballer on the pitch. I'm serious. That diving blueshite twat is stealing a living. Literally the only thing he is capable of doing is conning referees. Finally, Arsenal went to Old Trafford on a 19 game unbeaten run and on a real high after their win over Spurs. They’ve obviously come a long way under Emery but they’re still massive flaky bastards. Twice they were handed the lead at Old Trafford (howlers from De Gea and Rojo), and twice they surrendered it almost immediately. The first was offside in fairness, but the second goal they gave up straight from the kick off was pitiful. Arsenal have a jelly centre. Not as soft as it was, it’s more like a fruit pastille than a wobbly jelly these days, but the fact is you can’t turn jelly into steel. Not without Virgil Van Dijk.

It has been a week where Jurgen Klopp has made his fair share of the headlines.Fresh from the 'outrage' surrounding his unbridled passion in running on the pitch to celebrate with Allison after Divock Origi turned home the winner in the 96th minute of the Derby, he now has come under fire from Clarets manager Sean Dyche. The two managers greeted each other with a big smile and warm handshake before kickoff, but by the end of the ninety minutes, the relationship was as frosty as the weather on a cold Wednesday night in Lancashire.Klopp and Dyche exchanged words at the final whistle with the German saying he was unhappy with some of the tackles that the Burnley players were putting in.In response, Dyche was unapologetic about how his team went about it and actually pointed the finger at a Liverpool player for an incident on the evening.The Express reported Dyche as saying:He [Klopp] didn’t reference Daniel Sturridge’s cheating when he went down, nothing near him, and he got a free-kick for it.“I watched Liverpool as a kid, I was a Liverpool fan growing up in the 70s and they had a fantastic side, one with skill, will and a physical edge."Now if that has gone and been replaced by cheating, I’m absolutely happy to be old-fashioned."There’s no way I’d want to see good proper professionals challenging in the manner that ours did and replace it with cheating.”In responding to Klopp's accusation about the tackling, Dyche did concede there was one tackle which was questionable, however he was more than happy with the one which has seen Joe Gomez sidelined for six weeks with a lower leg fracture. "What I would say is this, and it’s important to register: there were some excellent tackles in the game.“The only one that was questionable was Bardo’s (Phil Bardsley on Alberto Moreno). Ben Mee’s was a fantastic tackle (on Gomez).“I imagine a player who seems to be an honest player, in Gomez, realised that. That was the message we got after and we send him our best.”These squabbles are commonplace in the world of football management and Klopp will by and large brush off the response as every manager worth his salt is going to fight the cause for his own players.However the cheating reference regarding Sturridge will grate somewhat for the manager and player concerned as it is something you never want to be known as.Just like teams managed by the likes of Sam Allardyce, Neil Warnock and Tony Pulis, you know exactly what you are going to get when coming up against Burnley.That is plenty of physicality, long balls and set pieces to deal with.If you come out the other side with a victory, you have certainly earned it as Liverpool did on Wednesday night.Now they will put this behind them as the team have much bigger fish to fry in the upcoming months. However you suspect Dyche will be sure to receive a interesting reception when the Clarets come to town in early March.

Liverpool emerged with a precious three points after a searching test of their title credentials from a physical Burnley side at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.It was clear from the kickoff that the Clarets were up for the contest and would have fancied their chances further when they saw they were coming up against a much changed Reds lineup.It was the first time since the end of the 2016/7 season that none of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane or Roberto Firmino were in the starting lineup.Daniel Sturridge and the rejuvenated Divock Origi fresh from his winner against Everton, led the line for the visitors.Alberto Moreno also made a rare start at left-back replacing the injured Andy Robertson.Liverpool suffered a major setback midway through the first half and quite possibly for the foreseeable future when one of the stars of the campaign so far Joe Gomez, was helped off on a stretcher with a ankle injury after a challenge from Burnley defender Ben Mee. Burnley's tactics of making their presence felt in a physical sense all over the pitch was certainly on Klopp's mind after the 3-1 win.ESPN reported Klopp as saying: "I'm pretty sure I don't make a lot of friends, but that's not my job."I said after the first challenge, I don't know who did it, sliding tackle from six, seven yards, getting the ball, everybody likes it. "I said to the ref: 'It's no foul, but please tell them you cannot do that. Nobody can judge that. You get the ball, nice, but it's like bowling because you get the player as well.Klopp understood the tactics of the home side but said a line had to be drawn somewhere."They wanted to be aggressive, aggression is a part of football. You try something, and you need someone to say: 'Be careful.'" There were a lot of situations, challenges. There was nothing to say. They were normal challenges, but with six or seven yards and then [slide], these times are over. They are over." Don't go five yards before the player because the grass is wet and take any risk. It's not intentional, but these are the situations." I think the referee has to make sure that things like this don't happen constantly. It's not how it should be. Let's play football.On a happier note, the German was thrilled with the composure to turn it all around in the last 30 minutes after trailing 1-0 courtesy of a close-range Jack Cork finish nine minutes after the interval.James Milner, Roberto Firmino and Xherdan Shaqiri were on the scoresheet for the visitors.Reacting like we did at a tough place like Turf Moor, that's special."We controlled the game in a lot of moments, but in the moments where we allowed Burnley to make proper tackles, it didn't look that cool. Second half, perfect reaction and really happy with three points.Milner was also delighted with the resolute nature of the victory."It was really tough but we showed the character of this team and these are performances you need." The 3-1 win saw Liverpool off to their best top-flight start in their 126-year history, an achievement that is certainly noteworthy. While Liverpool still sit two points behind Man City, a positive is that they feature in early-kickoff game on Saturday at home to Bournemouth, therefore putting some pressure on City if they were to claim the three points. Another massive week looms on the horizon for the Reds in this fascinating season.

That’s a great win. I know it was only Burnley and they’re shite, but this was a big boy second half performance from the lads and it’s a huge three points. Seven changes and playing three days after a physically and emotionally draining Derby win, this was always going to be a grind. The first half was predictably gash and when we fell behind early in the second there’s no doubt we were in trouble. We’ve seen games like this before. Hell, we’ve seen them at this ground. I wasn't exactly panicking, but I was seriously concerned. Two years ago we completely dominated the game, fell behind, couldn’t get back into it and then conceded another. This is a massively different team these days though. They’re battle hardened, know how to get results and don’t need to be at their best to do it. That said, I thought the second half display was really, really good. I had no issue whatsoever with the team selection. I’ve said this before, but if we accept that players can’t play in every single game (which I think we all do, don’t we?), then we can’t complain when they’re left out, surely? Ok, seven changes seems a little excessive, but Klopp doesn’t just do this on a whim. We’ve had a busy time of it and the fixture load gets even more hectic over the next couple of weeks. Mane and Robbo were injured, while leaving out Firmino was a no brainer. It made sense to freshen up the midfield too with Hendo, Milner and Keita. Maybe Salah could have started considering Sadio and Bobby weren’t, but we’ve got some big games coming up and Klopp has to manage it as he sees fit. Some may call it arrogance, believing Klopp has thought “it’s only Burnley”, but I don’t see it that way. If he’d played his strongest eleven in this game he’d have had to leave a few out at the weekend when we go to Bournemouth. What’s the tougher looking game? Burnley might be more of a battle, but Bournemouth is the tougher fixture. Besides, the line up that we put out should have been good enough to take care of Burnley. It wasn’t though and Klopp had to send for the cavalry in the second half. Most of the players who came in didn’t exactly enhance their hopes of a more regular start. Moreno was ineffective, Origi never really got into the game, Sturridge took a long time to get going (he was good when he eventually did) and Matip was ok but had some problems dealing with the awkward Ashley Barnes, who’s the master of backing into defenders and winning free-kicks. He’s a right bastard to play against him, such a crafty fucker. He’s great at what he does and for me he represents the only chance Burnley have of staying up. If he doesn’t start scoring goals they’ve had it, as he’s their most important player. He found the net in spectacular style in the first half but was rightly ruled offside. Great finish though. He’s a handful. He robbed Van Dijk at one point and for a second it looked like trouble, but Virgil had caught up with him within about five yards and just shrugged him off like he was a little kid. Not many are going to do that to the powerful Barnes, but that’s Virgil for you, he’s a one off. Very little happened in the first half. We had some 'nearly' moments, which usually involved the lively Keita. He was at the heart of anything good we produced and was much more direct and adventurous than he has been. We were always just one pass away from getting in though. The second half started much better and we seemed to have more intensity about us. Sturridge brought a brilliant save out of Hart and we were looking good at that point. It felt like a goal was coming, and it did. Except it was at the wrong end. Not that it should have counted. Burnley worked the corner well by blocking Van Dijk off so he couldn’t head it clear (as he’d done with virtually ever other ball into the box), but when it was nodded back in by Tarkowski, Wood was a yard offside. He tried to get a toe on the ball and his involvement is the only reason Alisson didn’t make a simple save. I could even make a strong case that the goal shouldn’t have counted because Alisson had two hands on the ball when Barnes challenged him, but it’s the offside that I’m most pissed off about. It was obvious, it wasn’t a close call, and it’s galling that our brilliant defensive record has been damaged by a goal that should never have stood. At the time though that was the least of my concerns. I could see the points slipping away and we really couldn’t afford to fall five points behind City. Even a draw wouldn’t be much good as that would mean a four point gap. We’ve got to win these games, it’s that simple. And win it we did. The response to going behind was great. We stepped it right up, put them under and turned the game around. Milner collected a short pass from Origi and drilled a precise low shot into the corner, giving his old mate Hart no chance. Klopp sent on Firmino and Salah for Moreno and Origi. You could see the lads had the bit between their teeth now and when Sturridge was hauled down, Trent floated in a free-kick, Virgil stretched out a long leg and Bobby tapped in with his first touch. Keita had a terrific shot brilliantly tipped onto the post by Hart, and soon after there was an almighty scramble that could have seen us score three times in about five seconds. Keita had a shot saved, Salah’s follow up was also kept out but he collected the loose ball and cut it back to Keita again. This time the shot was blocked by a defender. The ball was fired back in by Hendo, Naby flicked it goal wards and Bardsley scrambled it off the line. Normally something like that would make me think it wasn’t our day and I’d be bracing myself for an equaliser. This year it’s been different though. We’ve had a lot of breaks go our way, so much so that you start to wonder if it’s a sign. I never felt like we’d relinquish the lead because we defend so well these days, but when they got a stoppage time corner my nerves were jangling just a little. With good reason too, as they were within a whisker of pegging us back, but thankfully Alisson got a touch that diverted Mee’s header onto the bar. Phew, fucking hell that was close. When the ball was played back in, Alisson did well to keep it in play and prevent another corner, and then he had the awareness to throw it out to Sturridge to start a counter. I fucking love these goals. Nothing finer than a Reds counter attack from an opposition corner. Sturridge lofted the ball into space for Salah, who in turn lobbed it over a defender into the path of Shaqiri who laced it into the corner. Great goal, great win, great celebration from Shaq. Our best ever start to a top flight season this is. And it’s still not enough to be top. That’s what we’re having to deal with, but all we can do is keep winning and hope they crack before we do. We’ve lost Gomez for a while now by the looks of it, which is bad news considering the big games we have coming up. He never even attempted to stand up and put any weight on the ankle. That’s not a good sign as he’s had ankle injuries before so he’ll know when it’s bad or not. All we can do is hope it’s not as serious as it looked. Jurgen had a moan afterwards about their tackling. Sorry, not having it. The tackle that injured Gomez was fine. Nothing wrong with it; not dangerous, not overly aggressive, just a good tackle. The kind of tackle that Klopp has often celebrated like a goal in fact. The Bardsley one on Moreno should have been a straight red, but aside from that I didn’t see anything untoward from Burnley at all. They’re second from bottom, playing the team second from top. Of course they’re gonna get stuck in. Not sure why Kloppo has gone all Arsene Wenger about it. Dyche was unhappy about something afterwards, but fuck him, the tit. All in all just what was required. It’s not easy just churning out win after win, especially when you’re not on a roll and playing great. What we’re doing is fantastic and it’s based mostly on the solid foundation given to us by Alisson and Van Dijk. Those two might make all the difference. Van Dijk is just incredible. I can’t get over how good he actually is. He’s just completely dominant. He reminds me of LeBron James. By that I mean even in a game when there are several great players on view, he’s the one that just stands out as being bigger and stronger and better than everyone else out there. He was the star man but Keita was very good too. If Naby can finally start to produce the form we were expecting then that will be huge. This was probably his best game so far so let’s hope he can build on that. Roll on Saturday, when we play first and will hopefully be able to put pressure on City with a win that would send us top before they have to face Chelsea. Let’s do this Redmen!! Team: Alisson; Gomez (Alexander-Arnold), Matip, Van Dijk, Moreno (Salah); Henderson, Milner, Keita; Shaqiri, Sturridge, Origi (Firmino):

When Xherdan Shaqiri joined Liverpool for only €15 million this season, nobody was expecting that he would play much of a role in a front three which already consisted of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, and Roberto Firmino. The only thing which was expected from the Swiss international was to serve as a backup if any one of those three was to be injured or to play in second rate matches in the Carabao or FA Cup. And in all honesty, Shaqiri's stay in Liverpool started in pretty much the same way as it was expected. He was a late substitute for one of the three main men upfront or filled in during cup games. However, as time went on, Shaqiri started getting more and more minutes next to his name and he also started pitching in with goals and assists. A player who was only considered as a squad player involved only in the standard squad rotation, now started being an integral part of a well oiled machine operated by a German mastermind. In fact, it seems like Klopp knew right from the start that Shaqiri will be a success, but wanted to give him time to adapt to the Reds' style of play. This certainly isn't easy, and all you have to do is to just look at Fabinho and see his struggles. The German knew that Xherdan will be a success and he knew it because the Swiss international had 3 things going for him right from the start. Acquired on the Cheap Acquiring Shaqiri on the cheap paid off to Liverpool in more ways than one. First Liverpool acquired a player of world class quality for literally next to nothing, a deal which you would struggle to find even at some very generous casinos listed at feedback casino. Getting him for less than €15 million was equal to an out-of-this-world jackpot. The second advantage to acquiring Shaqiri cheaply was that there was no pressure on him to justify that price tag. Players such as Fernando Torres, and recently Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, and Alvaro Morata have felt immense pressure to repay the money that the club invested in them which only hurt their performances. Played for Europe's Elite Shaqiri is still only 27, but has played for renowned clubs such as Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and Basel in his illustrious career. He must have picked up only positive things at such highly competitive environments and Klopp must have felt like he won at the Slots Million when he found out that there was no competition from other big clubs to acquire the services of a player who played for some of Europe's top clubs. Point to Prove The fact that Shaqiri is still only 27 means that he will be in his prime during his Liverpool tenure. However, there's an additional factor which should make Liverpool fans confident that he will succeed - he is a player with a point to prove as he has never been given an adequate shot at the big stage in his career.

Great comedy is all about timing. That explains why this was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. In fact, can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. I'm laughing now as I type. We’ve had more than our fair share of last gasp derby winners to leave the Blues devastated and heart broken and usually my reaction to them is just to celebrate and go nuts. This was different. For a couple of seconds I went mad, euphorically jumping around in jubilation as you do. Then I just stood there laughing. Uncontrollably. To the point that my stomach began to hurt. I’m still laughing now and will be for a good while yet. It doesn’t get much better than that, and I doubt we’ll ever see an ending that funny ever again. This was an all timer, make no mistake. It's all about the timing, you see. A chant of “Murderers” echoed out from the away end. Purple smoke billowed out too, from flares that had been let off by Evertonians to celebrate what they thought was a famous draw. Trent played a hopeful ball into the box, Everton cleared it and the game looked to be over when Van Dijk tried a ridiculously ambitious volley that ballooned straight up into the air towards the Kop. Virgil turned away in disgust and my frustration spilled over as I yelled “what the fuck was that!”. And then it happened. Perhaps the best moment in Merseyside Derby history. If not the best, certainly the funniest. The ball began dropping down out of orbit and it became apparent that maybe it might just stay in play. Yep, it’s going to drop on the bar so we could get a corner out of this. Wait, what the fuck? It’s bouncing on the bar! There’s Divock, could he…. YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! Un-fuckin-believable. No wonder they hate us. Imagine having to deal with what they’ve had to deal with. No wins at Anfield since 1999 and so many last gasp goals home and away to leave them broken hearted. I almost feel sorry for them. Almost. I heard that “Murderers” chant and saw them throwing stuff at Trent. That Richarlison cunt (I was first on that bandwagon, I hated him even when he was at Watford) had tried to start a scuffle with Gomez to waste more time, and it gave the rabid Blue hordes the opportunity to spew their bile. “Come on Reds, one last chance here. Fucking shut these pricks up” I held out little hope, but that was the thought I had when Trent prepared to take the free-kick. Little could I have imagined what was to follow. A freak winning goal in the time added on after added time because of all the time they had wasted. Poetic that. Something that has maybe gotten a little lost in all this was the presence of mind Alisson had to run out of his goal and play the free-kick into the path of Trent to allow him to get up the pitch and deliver the ball from a more favourable angle. A little thing, but it mattered. The big keeper was boss all day. He needed to be in the first half because Everton caused us problems. It’s probably the best they’ve played at Anfield in 20 years, but people have gone overboard about it I think. They didn’t deserve to win so let’s throw that bullshit hot take out of the window here and now. A draw would have been fair, but despite this ‘fantastic’ Everton performance we had more of the ball and twice as many chances as they did, despite not playing anywhere near our best. Just because they’ve set themselves such a low bar with their hideous Anfield performances, people have gotten carried away with how good they were. I’ll give credit where it’s due. They played well and look a much better side than they’ve been in a long time. That being said, they barely troubled us at all in the second half and the chances they had were all in the first half. One of them was offside too. I’d have been fuming if that had gone in, but thankfully Mina fluffed his lines and headed wide. The other two chances they had would probably have ended up in the net had we not spent the cash on upgrading the keeper position last summer. Alisson made a great save to deny Andre Gomes from point blank range, but he also needed a brilliant goal-line clearance from Joey G to prevent the follow up going in. Alisson was called into action again when he was out quickly at the feet of Walcott and just did enough to put him off by getting a hand on the ball and knocking Walcott out of his stride. Apart from that, what did Everton do? I remember an awful shot from Bernard in the second half when it briefly opened up for him, but that’s about it. As for us, we were never fluent but we created several gilt edged chances that we didn’t take. At times we put together some really nice moves, we were just not able to sustain it and build up any kind of momentum. Mané fired over after a nice interchange of passes and Shaqiri wasted a glorious chance after a good bit of pressing by Fabinho. He has to score there though, it was a bad, bad miss. Sadio wasted another chance after the break and was then unlucky with a curling effort that flew just wide. Salah also rolled one wide and Origi hit the bar. We also had a decent penalty shout when Sigurdsson blocked a shot with his elbow. So this 'great Everton performance' is a bit of a myth. We were the better side even though we were well below par. The result is all important and the manner in which it was achieved almost makes up for how we played. It’s very satisfying when we batter them but there’s a lot to be said for wins like this too. These are the ones we’ll remember with the greatest fondness I think. This has eclipsed the Gary Mac derby for me. I wouldn’t change it for the world but that doesn’t mean I’m not concerned with how we’re playing. This is not sustainable. We can’t keep pulling results out of the fire like this, but the more it happens the more you start to think that maybe this means something. Teams who win things usually need games like this along the way. City last year are a notable exception and they've carried on into this season. They are winning at a canter every week while we’re scrapping for everything and riding our luck at times. We needed a worldy from Studge to snatch a point at Chelsea. We needed Mahrez to miss a late pen to get a draw with City. We needed the ref to miss a clear foul in the box by Mané to hold onto a win at Spurs, and now we had this, one of the flukiest Derby goals ever, six minutes into injury time. We can’t keep relying on things going our way like this, but if we click into gear then maybe at the end of the season we’ll look back on all of these things as being huge. Maybe. We'll see. I don’t see how any Red can not be concerned about how we’re playing though. It just isn’t clicking, but we don’t concede anything so we’ve always got a chance. Five goals in 14 games. Brilliant. It just doesn't look right though. Klopp went with 4-2-3-1 again and once more I’m left thinking this is solely about Shaqiri. It’s the only way he feels can get him into the side without leaving out one of the front three. Maybe the time has come to leave out one of the front three though? Both Mo and Bobby were well below par in this one, although I thought Sadio was good other than his wasteful finishing. He was heavily involved and positive in everything he did. He was easily the pick of the forwards, but that wasn’t hard. Firmino as a number ten just isn’t working and I don’t care how many German coaches are in the stands creaming themselves about him. Klopp can pull that on us as much as he likes, the implication being “well people who know football know how effective he is”. Well I don’t really care if he’s dragging people around with his movement. That’s great and all, but when he’s passing the ball straight to the opposition and offering virtually no goal threat at all, then sorry, it’s not really enough is it? I love Bobby. He makes us tick and other than Van Dijk he might be the most important player we have. He’s struggling at the moment though. Big time. Yet Klopp left him on and brought Salah off first. I couldn’t believe that. Nor could Mo by the looks of it. He wasn’t happy, which is fair enough. He walked off the pitch slowly though, which isn’t fair enough. I’d bollock him for that. It’s 0-0. You get subbed, you fucking run off like Bobby did later when he got hooked. You don’t waste valuable time because you’ve got a titty lip on. It was a strange substitution though and Everton will have been made up to see him go off and Sturridge come on. Defenders hate forwards who can run in behind them, and Mo is always a threat to do that. Studge has his attributes, but pace isn’t one of them. The obvious move was to put him on for Firmino, but it all worked out well in the end. Better to be lucky than good as they say. The late winner was a punch in the face for Evertonians, but it was also a clip around the ear for City. “Oh you thought you had a four point cushion? Think again, knobheads". We’re still here, like the fucking T-1000 holding onto the back of their car as they try to speed away. Bet City were cursing Pickford and his little arms when that goal went in. It was just an inexplicable lapse in judgement from him. He obviously didn’t want to give a corner away, which is funny because our set-pieces were a disgrace all day. By trying to avoid conceding a corner he’s handed us three points in the most comical circumstances ever. Couldn't happen to a more deserving little scrote. He's got the most Everton face ever him. What a moment though. No wonder Klopp couldn’t contain himself. He ought to find himself in hot water over his pitch invasion. I’ve seen some of our fans trying to defend it, but to me it was massively disrespectful and completely out of order. I don’t know how anyone can even dispute that. You just can’t do shit like that and I’m struggling to remember any other manager doing anything like it. We’ve seen Mourinho pull some shit, but not even he has gone that far. Klopp went charging onto the pitch celebrating like a loon, hugged the first player he reached and then ran off while continuing to celebrate like a loon. You just can’t defend that, sorry. If an opposing manager did that against us I’d be fucking fuming. There’s no defence for what Klopp did and if he were to be given a touchline ban I don’t think he could have any complaints at all. All that being said…. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Without doubt, it’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. Yeah it was wrong, it was completely out of order and disrespectful, but fuck me it was almost as funny as the goal itself. Not quite, but almost. I’m not going to defend it or try to make out it’s ok because "passion got the better of him". It’s no excuse, it was massively out of order. However, unless you’re a Blue (or a Manc of either persuasion) then how can you not watch that and just laugh your head off? It was great. Whatever punishment he gets will be deserved, but it will also have been worth it. It’s an iconic Derby moment that we’ll tell our grandkids about. I’m made up for Origi too. That’s a bit hypocritical of me given some of the things I’ve written about him over the past year or two, but I’m genuinely pleased for him as he’s had a tough time. At one stage I really thought he was going to be something special, but he was never the same after that Funes Mori assault and I’d completely written him off. It reached a point where just seeing him on the pitch put me on a massive downer. He usually made us worse when he was on the pitch and I’d written him off. Full disclosure, I watched him warming up at half time with the other subs (all except Sturridge, who I assumed was back in the dressing room with a hot water bottle) and I was thinking “how the fuck is he on the bench, are we that desperate?” Yet despite all that, when I saw that Klopp was about to bring him on, I turned to my Dad and said “can’t believe I’m saying this, but about fucking time. He can’t do any worse can he?”. I was all in on Origi being brought on just because Bobby had been so ineffective and at least Div would bring something completely different for Everton to worry about. And he did. The first thing he did was a positive run down the right that left a defender in his wake. He put a good ball into the box too and it needed a timely intervention from Coleman to deny Mané. He then hit the bar from a yard out, but as critical as I’ve been of him, I honestly didn’t blame him for that as it was a difficult chance and he was unlucky. The ball just wouldn’t sit down for him. That’s easy to say now that we’ve won and he scored the winner, but honestly, I wasn’t mad at him over that missed chance at all. I was mad at Keita though for that pitiful shot he had when he took the ball of Sturridge’s toes and sliced it miles wide. That was shite. He needs to step up as other than that boss turn and ball over the top at Palace, he’s done fuck all so far. Here’s where I am with Origi now though. I’d start him against Burnley. No question about it. He might stink it up and if he did it wouldn’t surprise me, but it’s a risk well worth taking. I mean, he must be on cloud nine now, so why not take advantage of it. Ride the wave, tell him today that he’s starting and build him up, encourage him and tell him to go out there and tear Burnley a new arsehole. Bobby has been shite for weeks and a rest won’t do him any harm. Sturridge had his chance at Red Star and didn’t take it, so go with the hot hand and play Origi. Now is the time to do it. He’s come out of nowhere to be the hero in a derby, give him the chance to build on that. I’m not changing my opinion on him after one freak goal, but confidence plays just a big part in football and we saw what he could do when he had it. Maybe he’ll have another purple patch and we can take advantage of that for a few weeks until Firmino remembers how to play football? Keeping pace with City is going to be incredibly tough and we have to try and match them result for result. They’ve already got six points in the bag against Everton without even kicking a ball yet, so this was huge for us. We’ve now got two tricky away games and we need six points from them. Anything less just isn’t good enough because the standard required to win the title now is higher than it’s ever been. There’s no margin for error at all, and with City playing Chelsea next week there’s a chance they might actually drop some points. We have to be there in position to take advantage if that happens. Star man is tough. Nobody was exceptional although I thought Fabinho played well and Gini had a really good second half. Robbo was his usual self, Alisson was boss and Gomez was good. Van Dijk was probably our best player though. He’s just so dominant and also provided the assist for the winner. What? He did! Doesn’t matter if he meant it, or that he didn't even see it as he was turning back to get back into position thinking it had gone into the Kop. He’s not the star man though. I can’t look past Origi because he’s written himself into derby folklore after this and gained some nice revenge after what happened a couple of years ago. Payback’s a bitch sometimes. Football eh? Fucking hell. Merry Christmas, Everton. Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum; Shaqiri (Keita), Firmino (Origi), Mané; Salah (Sturridge):

While there might be individuals out there who feel like sports betting tarnishes the honour of their beloved sport, there’s no denying the fact that one would not be able to live without the other. Sports betting has been a part of football’s history since its inception, and the crowds that these pools tend to draw has played a significant role in financing the sport. Money makes the world go round - and sports betting plays an integral part in keeping the game of football fresh and exciting. That said, it can be quite intimidating to try sports betting without prior experience. Sometimes, even veterans of the pools feel like they’re losing too much money, ending up discouraged and unwilling to continue. Here are just a few methods to help you get your feet wet and hopefully help you to win big. Unrealistic expectations will only lead to disappointment down the line One big reason why some sports bettors tend to win a lot of money is that the majority tend to lose. It’s a fact of life and one that you’ll have to accept before starting. As a beginner, you're even more likely to suffer losses, but that doesn't mean that you're not going to win a couple of wagers. As a matter of fact, you might just win enough that you feel you could start making a real profit. However, don’t let a few wins blind you; making a steady profit from sports betting is an incredibly difficult prospect. Instead, set more realistic expectations. In this case, making the safe bet is all about understanding that you stand to lose as much as you might win. Betting small at the beginning will help provide a foundation for bigger bets down the line. Betting on the long-shot rarely works Do you want to know why many sports bettors lose money and why few win big? A good percentage of bettors tend to give in to temptation and go for the longer odds bet, in the hopes of winning big from an unlikely situation. However, remember that in football, skill will almost always win when put against luck. While there are a few exceptions, that’s exactly the point. It’s the reason why online gamblers who play casino games at sites such as bingo.com have a habit of playing safe. Build your intuition through experience Despite the fact that long odds will rarely work in your favour, it will only be a matter of time before you start building intuition with regards to how some matches will play out. By starting small and doing what you can to make safe bets, you’ll begin to sense certain patterns with how matches play out. If you play your cards right, you could make a long-odds bet that is more likely to succeed than usual. To conclude, betting isn't always going to go your way, and it's important to understand how making the safe bet works - especially in football. By following these simple methods, you'll increase your chances of winning your wagers, and eventually, you'll build real profit! Image: Pixabay.com

Football never manages to disappoint with its ability to surprise during the course of 90 minutes, just ask Divock Origi. After spending last year on loan at Wolfsburg, you could be excused for forgetting the Belgian striker had returned to the club, as the opportunities have been few and far between for the 23-year-old this season. Origi has seen just 11 minutes of first-team action for the Reds to be exact be exact which came in the disappointing 2-0 defeat to Red Star Belgrade in Matchday four of the Champions League. So when Jurgen Klopp called his number to replace Roberto Firmino with six minutes remaining and the scores locked at 0-0 in a tight and tense Merseyside Derby, there undoubtedly would have been a raised eyebrow or two amongst the Anfield faithful. As a striker, you can toil for 90 minutes of action and fail to get a decent chance at goal but Origi made his presence known from the moment he arrived on the pitch. After a strong run and cross which set up a corner, he had a clear-cut opportunity when Virgil Van Dijk headed down into the path of the striker. Origi was in the perfect spot, but somehow managed to hit the post from a few yards out with only Jordan Pickford to beat. With the clock ticking down, it appeared to be one of the final chances and two crucial points dropped in the title race. However, the old adage of playing till the final whistle was never more apt in this clash, and in the 96th minute a speculative looping shot by Van Dijk was completely misjudged by Pickford. The English international palmed the ball back into play and after bouncing along the crossbar, Origi was in the vicinity again. Unlike a few minutes prior, this time he made no mistake, nodding home his third Derby goal for the club, sparking euphoria amongst the Liverpool players, fans and coaching staff alike. It was a fine time for Origi to score his first league goal in over 18 months (May 2017 vs West Ham to be exact). Speaking to the Official site after the game, he still seemed to be in a sense of disbelief about what occurred. "It’s unbelievable. Derbies are always special, I’ve played in a couple of them and I’ve scored in a couple of them but this one was the most crucial one, so it is very, very special for me.” When you are on the fringes of a side who is playing well, it would be easy to get downhearted and drop your head. It was testament to the character of Origi that he wanted to play an impactful role when he came on. “I had the first chance and it was Virg, so I knew there was an open ball. Then I just played on my instinct, I was so hungry to help the team and give whatever I could. I had a good action before down the side but I wanted to be in [the box]. "Thank God, it came in front of me.” It is these moments which help you win titles. While the disappointment would have been palpable in the Blue side of Merseyside on Sunday evening, Pep Guardiola would have had a wry grin wiped off his face once Origi nodded home. For Divock Origi and the fortunes of the Reds this season, the second of December 2018 could certainly be a defining date to look back upon.

There was a time in the not too distant past when Divock Origi was a key figure in Jurgen Klopp's starting line-up. The German took a real shine to the young Belgian striker who is blessed with a great deal of power and pace - two things which defenders hate coming up against. Origi also had a very good work ethic, a key if you want to play a consistent role in a team managed by Klopp. He looked to be a star on the rise, winning plaudits on the domestic and European stage, and winning admiration among the fanbase. In online casinos terms, Klopp gambled on number 27 and came up trumps on the roulette wheel. The evening of the 20th of April 2016 would prove to be a pivotal date in the career of the 23 year-old. Origi was in the middle of a hot streak, having just scored his fifth goal in as many games for the club in the Merseyside Derby. However early into the second half, a crude challenge by Everton defender Ramiro Funes-Mori struck Origi down, leading to a serious ankle injury. It led to a crisis of confidence which Klopp identified after the 1-0 win against the same opposition on Sunday: "I said it to him, when I went to him on the pitch I had it in my mind. I've never forgot it since" said the German. "Fouls and harsh tackles happen, but in his case it was so obvious that it [the injury in 2016] was a break in his development. "At that time he was outstanding, after that, it took a long time before he felt absolutely nothing. "In the Europa League final he was somehow ready but not completely pain free. Then there was a tournament [Euro 2016] when he couldn't really show up there. "It all changed a little bit, you lose confidence and you don't play from here anymore. When Divock played at that time he was an unbelievable threat, he had speed, he was strong, remember the Dortmund game [in the Europa League] and stuff like that. Klopp felt that when he brought on the striker to replace Roberto Firmino in the 84th minute that it was the closing of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. The symbolism of the moment was not lost the manager. " Coming on tonight, he can finish that book and from now on everything will be fine again." Origi has ridden the personal ups and down of being a professional footballer in his fledgling career. After being linked to Wolves both in the summer and in more recent times, the winning goal on Sunday could be the start of a re-birth for Origi at the Reds. A little bit of confidence and good fortune certainly goes a long way in this game.

Saturday Nov 24: Watford 0 L 3 Good three points that. Not entirely convincing but results are everything at the moment seeing as how no-one is even making any kind of pretence about giving City a game. They’re battering everyone so we have to just win and so far we’ve been finding a way to do it. There’s a lot to like about what we did here, not least because Klopp only had one training session with his players. These are the kind of games we’ve fucked up so often in the past, but we’re taking care of business. It wasn’t fluent but we barely gave Watford any chances at all. We’re hard to play against and that’s half the battle. What’s the deal with Mo’s celebration though? It was defo a dig at Ramos, but what was the intent behind it? Bet we never get an explanation. He should just say “it’s my celebration now” and do it all the time. He scores so many goals it will quickly become synonymous with him and when Ramos does it it will look like he’s copying Mo. This has Lovren’s finger prints all over it. In other news today, the Copa Libertadores game between Boca and River Plate was called off after River fans smashed up Boca’s bus. One player had to have glass removed from his eye and the Boca team were pretty shaken up about the whole thing. Apparently Carlos Tevez was the worst affected, which will surprise nobody. You can take the player out of Man City but you can’t take Man City out of the player. Still, it could have been worse. Someone could have lashed a can of Kopparberg. That would have been terrible. Sunday Nov 25: Ben Woodburn is back playing for the u23s. His loan hasn’t been cut short yet but it’s trending in that direction and could happen any day now apparently. The last couple of years of his career haven’t been great. He barely featured for us last year and a loan move made sense, but not being able to get in Sheffield United’s team doesn’t bode well. Thing is, he’s still really young. To put it in perspective, loads of us are really excited about Harry Wilson (who scored again by the way) and how maybe he can come back next season and contribute here. Worth remembering then that when Wilson was Woodburn’s age he couldn’t get a game at Crewe. He’s three years older than Ben, so that shows just how much time Woodburn still has to develop. So hopefully he doesn’t get too disheartened by this loan move as ultimately it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Come back here, play some games in the u23s and find a new loan move in January. In hindsight, Rangers might have been good for him as Ejaria and Kent seem to be enjoying themselves up there. Charlie Adam is talking about Shaq again, but this time he’s far more complimentary. “I don’t think he was (suited to a relegation battle), but listen, he’s got a wonderful talent and his game probably suits playing for a bigger club with better players. His awareness to pick a pass and see things that other players don’t – and we probably didn’t have enough players at his level. “I criticised him because I felt when we were in a dogfight, we probably needed different types of characters – a Jon Walters, a Glen Whelan – they were the types of characters we needed. “The little man can score goals out of nothing but we were low on confidence and couldn’t carry anybody of that ability without the other side of the game.” Maybe if he’d said that in the first place he wouldn’t have pissed off Stoke and Liverpool fans as much as he did. Still, I’m not entirely happy with his explanation anyway. I mean, you can’t have a team of Jon Walters and Glenn Murrays, you need someone with a bit of guile too, otherwise you’re Burnley. Monday Nov 26: “I don’t compare seasons, to be honest, but I’ve known Robbo now for one-and-a-half years and I feel that he’s at 75 per cent – maybe less – of what he can do. There’s a lot of potential still. But it’s all good. He improved a lot but there is still a lot to come, he is still a young fella. There’s enough time for that.” Kinell, imagine Robbo 25% better than he is now. The benchmark for left backs has always been Maldini. By that I mean he’s the one you’d reference if you were saying “he’s the new Maldini” or “who does he think he is, Maldini?”. If Robbo improves by 25% then he’ll be the first name anyone thinks of in that situation. Tuesday Nov 27: If I was King of the World, my first decree would be to round up all those ‘big game hunters’ who like to shoot defenceless animals and drop them in the middle of the jungle without their guns. My second would be would be to drop Trump, Farage, Robinson, Boris Johnson and their minions in there as well. My third would be that the next person to write a story about Fabinho leaving in January has to do a six month stretch in Alcatraz. Seriously, just fucking stop it, it’s ridiculous. Get your precious clicks by making something up that at least has a tiny percentage chance of coming true. Meanwhile, Jurgen’s a fucking case isn’t he? In his press conference ahead of the PSG game he was buzzing off the French interpreter and his sexy voice. Crazy bastard. Camacho is in the squad for tomorrow night but Origi and Solanke aren’t. What’s going on there then? Solanke was tearing it up for England u21s but he can’t even make the plane when we’re taking 21 players?? Doesn’t bode well. Lallana isn’t there either as he’s injured. Again. Seriously, enough is enough. He’s worse than Sturridge. That’s not just a throwaway line, it’s a fact. He’s missed more games in the last two years than Sturridge has. He’s finished at this level now and I hate saying that as I’m one of his biggest fans. Wednesday Nov 28: PSG 2 L 1 Well that was shit. I know that there’s no shame in losing away in Paris, and it’s not the result that I’m upset about. It’s the eye test. So many times this season I just haven’t liked how we’ve looked, irrespective of the scoreline. The results have generally been fine but there’s just something troubling about watching us. It’s hard to explain, but it just isn’t right, is it? We’ve gotten away with some below par performances domestically, but in Europe we’re being punished. We’ve been SHITE on our travels. Proper shite. It’s the polar opposite to last season. The thing is, it’s not the idea of going out in the group stages that bothers me, it’s having to go into the Danny Welbeck Cup. Fuck that noise. Thursday Nov 29: That picture of the asylum seekers and the coach load of Reds has made my day. It’s just so heartwarming, and funny too. Had those two lads stowed away on the coach of another group of fans (Chelsea, Burnley or Stoke for example) it could have trouble, but they touched lucky with a load of young scouse lads, who looked like they were absolutely buzzing off the whole thing and made a real fuss of them. Love it. Also today, Carra says he spoke to Shaqiri after the game last night and told him how important it was to win the derby. No-one loves a derby more than Carra, he’s probably the only Red I know who’s as obsessed with this game as the Blues are. It’s hilarious that he’s pulling players over and telling them they “have to beat Everton”. Saw this on newsnow. “James Milner is not a central midfielder” blasts Dean Saunders. *sigh* “Dean Saunders is not a credible pundit” blasts Dave Usher. I liked him as a player but as a pundit he’s king of the hot take. It’s a scary thought that someone actually interviewed him and then gave him a job as a manager. You only need to listen to him for two minutes to know he’s got some seriously fucking weird views on footy. Meanwhile, Robbie Keane is retiring from football. Dream move for him, he was a big fan of retirement as a kid apparently. Friday Nov 30: LFC Twitter is in meltdown because Klopp said he doesn’t see anything wrong with our midfield. Couple of things here. Firstly, even if he did think the midfield was a problem, he’s hardly going to say it and undermine his players in a room full of journalists. He’s not Mourinho. Secondly, the question apparently referenced teams running through our midfield, so he rightly pointed out that we’ve only conceded 5 goals in 13 league games so that’s bollocks. The midfield has been shite in Europe though, as have the forwards. And the defence hasn’t been great either come to think of it. Andy Robbo was helping out at a local food bank again. He’s done this before but it was more low key than this, as the club decided to send cameras and made a big thing of this one, while appealing to fans to contribute to the food banks at Anfield for this Sunday. Something about this really doesn’t sit right with me. On the surface, it looks good. The club giving exposure to a worthy cause and that. Yet they are handing over 250k to a millionaire Premier League exec while urging us to help stock the food banks. This is a multi million pound company who pays its manager £6m a year and most of the players similar. Yet they wouldn’t pay the living wage to some of their employees. Fans who are being ripped off on ticket prices to fund all of that are now being asked to dig a little deeper to help those less fortunate. How about you hand over that 250k to the food banks instead of Scudamore, and then you can appeal to our good nature. I dunno, I’m probably not expressing myself well here, but I just feel like they’ve got a fucking cheek. Maybe it’s just me. That was the week that was….

Spurs battered Chelsea at Wembley to inflict a first league defeat of the campaign on Sarri’s men. That leaves us and City as the last of the undefeated, although it doesn’t really feel like it given how we’re continually being beaten like a red headed step son in Europe. Spurs went ahead when Alli headed in an Eriksen free-kick. Very little has been said about it but that free-kick was awarded out wide after an outrageous dive by Kane, who went airborne after what was at most extremely minimal contact from David Luiz. Chelsea had further cause to be aggrieved when Martin Atkinson somehow failed to spot that Hazard was fouled in the box by that Spurs centre back who no-one has heard of. He’s shite him, he’s made big mistakes every time I’ve seen him. The defender I mean, not Martin Atkinson, although the same applies to him obviously. Hazard went down again soon after and again Atkinson was unimpressed. He was looking for it this time, but it could easily have been given and probably should have been, if only to make up for the staggering shit decision to not give him the earlier one. Ordinarily I’d have no sympathy for Hazard, who loves a dive, but a draw would have been the better result for us here and a penalty at that point would have changed the game. Instead, Spurs went down the other end and Kane made it 2-0 with a shot from distance that the world’s most expensive keeper just stood and watched go into his net. Shite that. Never even made an attempt to save it and it wasn’t even that good a shot. The lively Son made it 3-0 with what initially looked like a brilliant solo effort. A lot of the shine is taken off it though when you look at who he beat. Jorginho was pulling two caravans and Sideshow Bob was in Krusty the Clown mode all day. This reminded me of when everyone was creaming themselves over the goal Hazard scored against us at Anfield a few months back. That looked class too, but then you realise it was Moreno trying to stop him and you have to take some style points off just because of that. Giroud headed a consolation but Sarri wasn’t impressed at all. He could have moaned about the penalty they didn’t get and blamed the defeat on that, but to his credit he just pointed out that they didn’t play well and were soundly beaten. Interviewer: “If you’re looking for positives, Ross Barkley did well when he came on. Were you happy with him?” Sarri: “No. Today I wasn’t happy with anybody.” I like him, he seems like a genial fella but you can tell he’s got that old wiseguy vibe about him and you defo wouldn’t want to get on his wrong side. My Chelsea supporting mate told me months ago that Jorginho can’t run and can’t defend, and that playing him as the deepest midfielder and using Kante further forward would cost them. Until now it hadn’t, but that was more through luck than good judgement (we were shite when we went there for example), but Spurs exploited it perfectly and Jorginho was tormented all day. You can get away with not being able to run in Italy (I still haven’t given up hope of one day making it in Serie A), but not over here. Having the world’s best holding midfielder and playing him further forward seems mental to me, but I’m not complaining if it harms Chelsea’s title prospects. Fulham against Southampton was surprisingly good, especially because Mark Hughes ended up empty handed again. It was Ranieri’s first game since taking charge at Craven Cottage and it was a dream start for him as they came from behind to win a five goal thriller. It wasn’t enough to lift them off the bottom but they’ve closed the gap to a point. I don’t know who that Armstrong lad for Southampton is, but he scored two and could easily have had more. Southampton played quite well and will be wondering how they lost, but Fulham have quality up top and if you don’t defend well you’ll pay the price. Southampton didn’t defend well. Armstrong’s first gave the Saints a well deserved early lead but Fulham hit back with a brilliantly worked equaliser that saw Mitrovic head home after some lovely one touch football in the build up. Schurrle then fired them ahead from close range after Sessegnon got clear down the left and delivered a buffet ball into the middle. Armstrong smashed one into the top corner from 18 yards to bring Southampton level again but Mitrovic volleyed in the winner. Mitrovic was unplayable on the day. He’s a really good player actually, I’m willing to accept that now. When he first came over here he was a massive hothead who always looked like he was going to get sent off, but he looks to have matured and he’ll probably score enough goals to keep Fulham up. That’s how it often goes at the bottom. If you’ve got someone who can get between 15-20 goals you’ve got a real chance. I mean Benteke almost single handedly kept Villa up three years running and then did the same for Palace before he suddenly forgot how to play football. Glenn Murray’s goals are keeping Brighton safe too, but the likes of Huddersfield, Newcastle and Cardiff don’t have a goalscorer. Fulham do so they’ve got a chance, especially with Ranieri and his midas touch there now. The most predictable result of the weekend saw City roll over West Ham without having to break sweat. I know they’re good but it’s ridiculous the way teams are setting up to play them. Seriously, watch City’s goals and they’re fucking identical every week. Almost every goal they score comes from someone getting to the byline in the box and delivering a low cross for someone to tap in. I mean fucking hell, Sterling is making an entire career out of getting on the end of them. To be fair he creates a few as well, such as the opening goal that he delivered for David Silva. How any times have we seen that though? Low cross, runners in the box, goal. Rinse and repeat. Sterling then tapped in one from Sane. Trademark Sterling. Back post, yard out, couldn’t miss. West Ham rallied a little and managed a couple of shots against the woodwork before City added a third through Sane. How did that come about? You guessed it, Sterling getting in round the back and rolling a low cross into him. Of course, oui. You’d think that maybe opposing teams would do a bit of homework on it and at least put up some sort of resistance, but it hasn’t happened yet so I won’t hold my breath. City are capable of scoring in all sorts of different ways, but for fucks sake, at least try and take away their main source of goals and make them beat you another way. City added a late fourth when, yep, that’s right, Jesus got in round the back and picked out Sane for his second of the game. Congratulations West Ham, you managed to concede four goals in virtually the exact same manner. There’s an old saying in Tennessee. Fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me twice… I forget that bit, but fool me four times and I must be West Ham. Absolute deadbeats. Speaking of deadbeats, Everton had a narrow 1-0 win over Cardiff that wasn’t as close as the score suggested. The blues played some good stuff at times and had loads of chances, but only managed the one goal when Sigurdsson tapped in a rebound from close range. Neil Warnock wasn’t happy with the ref afterwards, but the focus of his displeasure wasn’t something as major as a disallowed goal or the none award of a penalty. No, Warnock was fuming about not getting a throw in near the halfway line. Don’t ever change, Colin. Seriously, he’s great. I could listen to him complain all day, the funny bastard. Everton are starting to run into a bit of form now and are in the top six. Gomes played well and we’ll have to watch Mina on set-pieces this weekend as the fucker is about nine foot tall and knows where the goal is. Elsewhere, Brighton missed a good opportunity to claim three points against ten man Leicester. Murray headed them in front and then their cause was made easier by a ludicrous red card for Maddison. Ludicrous in the sense that it was incredibly stupid as he dived in the box about a minute after being booked for a needless trip. I like him as a player, but that was bad. Leicester kept chipping away even with ten men and eventually got their reward with ten minutes left when Vardy came off the bench to smash in a penalty. It was a reckless tackle from the Brighton lad but he didn’t actually make contact with Iheanacho, who did a better job of selling the non-foul than Maddison had done earlier. The Mancs were held at home by Wilfried Palace. They were lucky to even get that as Palace had the better chances and had a goal ruled out for offside. It was just about the right decision but it was fucking close. Fellaini should have been sent off for a nasty over the top foul. He looks fucking weird without his afro, but there’s definitely no Samson thing happening here after getting all his locks chopped off, as he’s still just as snide and shite as he was before. I’d never noticed it before because the hair is all you ever see when you look at him, but he’s a right funny looking bastard. He should grow it back asap as he needs something to distract people from that face. He looks like someone generated him on FIFA as a piss take. He’s like a fucking Ghosbuster though. Whenever United are in trouble, it’s “Who ya gonna call? Fellaini”. He saved Jose’s bacon a few days later with a stoppage time winner to clinch qualification to the knock out stages of the Champions League. Mourinho was way too fired up about that, but I guess he must get his kicks out of sticking it to Young Boys. It’s weird though, I don’t think of them as a Champions League side and every time a round of games comes around I’m expecting them to be playing on a Thursday. I’m serious. I’m not saying that to take the piss, for whatever reason my brain just isn’t accepting it. A few times I’ve been in the car and heard it mentioned on the news that United have a Champions League game that night. My instinctive reaction every time has been to blurt out “erm no, they’re in the Europa”. And then I realise, “shit yeah, they finished second last year”. It’s just weird, I can’t train my brain to acknowledge it. Probably because they were the worst second placed side in history and they look every inch a Europa League team these days. I do that “talking to the radio” thing a lot though, especially when I’m in the car on my own. A few weeks ago an advert came on saying “how would you like to see Ed Sheehan live” and before I knew it I was blurting out “I’d rather see him dead”. Wasn’t my finest hour. Anyway, onto Sunday. The hoodoo I put on Bournemouth continued as they lost at home to Arsenal. Brooks had an early goal incorrectly ruled out for offside. Eddie Howe said “we were a little unlucky with some decisions”. That’s as angry as you’re ever like to see Nice Guy Eddie. In Eddie Howe terms, that was the equivalent of someone like Mourinho or Neil Warnock taking a baseball bat into the ref’s office. Poor Jefferson Lerma had a right Jon Walters of a day. He spectacularly volleyed into his own net to put the Gunners in front and then gave away a stupid free-kick that led to Arsenal’s winner after Bournemouth had got back on level terms. Josh King’s finish on the stroke of half time was glorious. Left foot, first time, top corner. Bang. Great goal. Lerma almost made amends with a 30 yarder that hit the post, but in terms of blame for the defeat, it’s 50% on him and 50% on me and my jinxing big mouth. Sorry Bournemouth. Unai Emery is weird. He’s been watching Peaky Blinders to help with his English. Not sure that’s the best idea in the world as no-one wants to talk like that, but he defo needs help of some sort as he sounds like someone doing a really bad, over the top Spanish accent. Can’t believe Huddersfield won at Wolves. I doubt anyone saw that coming. They fully deserved it too and played some good stuff. The win saw them go from bottom to 15th. I suspect it won’t be long until they’re bottom again, or pretty close to it anyway, but this was a good performance. They don’t have a striker worthy of the name and that’s really hurting them, but they’ve played some decent stuff this season with no reward. Aaron Mooy got both goals from outside the box. This time last year I was calling him ‘my boy Mooy’ but somewhere along the way he fell from favour. I’m fickle like that, but the door isn’t closed for him. He’s good, but I think my favourite Huddersfield player these days is Philip Billing. He’s got a great left foot and he’s played well whenever I’ve seen him this season, and he’s achieved ‘my boy’ status after this performance. Wolves are weird though. At times they’ve looked great but they’ve lost some games they really shouldn’t have lost. I suppose when you have so many new players some inconsistency is to be expected, but maybe some of them think games like this are beneath them? *points at Ruben Neves and Moutinho* It’s all well and good doing it against Man City and Arsenal, but it’s a waste of time if you stink it up against Huddersfield, Brighton, Watford and Everton. Finally, Newcastle won 2-1 at Burnley. The Geordies are awful but have squeezed out three wins in a row and sit four points above the relegation zone. I still think they’ll be in the relegation shake up but there will almost certainly be three worse teams than them, and Burnley might well be one of them. Whatever it was that Dyche had going last season has well and truly gone now and they look every inch a Championship side. They can’t keep blaming the Europa League either, as they’re as bad now as when they were playing twice a week. There’s just nothing to like about them either. Some of the other sides down there at least have some redeeming qualities. Huddersfield are plucky and honest, Fulham play some lovely stuff and are good to watch, Cardiff have the entertainment factor with Warnock, but what do Burnley have? The worst club badge in football, a manager who loves the smell of his own farts and sounds like he’s been inhaling too many of them, and a kit and stadium that looks like it’s been transported from the 1970s. If they go, no-one will miss them.

When Steven Gerrard decided to take on the extremely daunting challenge of being manager at Rangers, he made sure to take some familiar faces north of the border with him, one of them being Liverpool academy graduate midfielder Ovie Ejaria. Ejaria is a player who seems to have been on the scene for quite a while, but the former Arsenal junior is still only 21 years old. Having spent the second half of last season on loan at Sunderland where he played 11 times, he has already made double the number of appearances for the Glasgow giants (25). In the latest instalment of our 'A view to the future series', Jason Harris caught up with lifelong Rangers fans David Brown (@sharpdiv7) and CJ Novo (@CjNovo992) to discuss in depth the impact Ovie has made in the SPL so far. What were your first impressions of Ovie Ejaria when he arrived at the club? DB- When Ejaria arrived at the club it was exciting. He was young and coming from a great club, but many times Rangers have loaned young players from top clubs in England and been let down so there was still a lot of doubt with the fans. We had heard he was a creative midfielder with good dribbling skills and he would be able to breeze through the Scottish league, but like most players Ovie found this wasn’t the case and in his first 3-5 games he really underperformed. He spent way too much time on the ball and gave it away persistently, but Steven Gerrard kept playing him. What I noticed though was even when playing bad by 85 minutes he was still fresh and the fittest on the park. It goes without saying that when you put on a Rangers shirt a lot of expectation goes along with it. How has Ovie dealt with that pressure and adapted to the Scottish Premiership in your opinion? CJ - I think the big man handles it well and seems to thrive on it. Every kick or late push he gets he seems to relish it and even sometimes welcomes the contact as he holds off players. He's been kicked a few times now and every single time he gets up and gets on with the job, his temperament has been really impressive. Along with regular first team action in the league, Rangers are battling it out on the European front. How has he performed under the bright lights of Ibrox in the Europa League? DB- One game in particular comes to mind. Rangers went over to Russia to face FC UFA knowing avoiding defeat would allow us to progress to the group stages of the Europa League. In the first 15 minutes he unleashed a curling effort from outside the box to put us 1-0 up away in Russia. Ultimately this goal put us through as we went on to concede later in the contest. In other matches he has been immense. He was a key player at home to Rapid Wien in a 3-1 victory. He gives Rangers a different dynamic, a composed midfielder who can dribble past players making them tired as they chase after him. He has the ability to play the killer pass and links up very well with Ryan Kent. What is the one key part of Ovie's game that you really like? CJ- His biggest asset is definitely his strength on the ball his ability to pick the ball up in tight areas and hold off a few opponents. He reminds me a little of (Mousa) Dembele at Spurs in the way he welcomes the challenges and looks to hold off people as he moves with the ball. In your opinion, what is the one main improvement he can make? DB- He has to keep his concentration levels high and track runners. In our 1-0 defeat to Celtic he is seen letting Oliver Ntcham run off his shoulder on a Celtic counter attack and ultimately score the winning goal. He has also said that he must get more assists and goals. Is there a performance by Ovie that stands out for you so far this season? CJ- I think his best performance so far for me was against UFA in the Europa league group stages. Playing away to a hard working team was always going to be difficult, but Ejaria really made a statement scoring a thunderous shot from outside the box bending it brilliantly into the top corner to set us on our way Constantly being on loan can end up having a negative impact on a young Footballer. With that said, how important for Ovie is it to have familiar faces like Steven Gerrard and Jon Flanagan there to keep his morale up during any difficult moments he may have during the season? DB- It is very important for him to have familiar faces around him. Flan, Stevie and Ryan Kent are key figures, but I also think he is a lad who would take great guidance from experienced pros who have experienced a lot in their careers. For example Allan MacGregor or Scott Arfield who has had Premier League experience with Burnley in the same position. He will learn from these players and I think he has gained more experience than Liverpool would have thought at this stage, because I don’t think anyone thought Rangers would get through four qualifiers to get into the Europa League group stages. Ovie will be fine and I believe he will come back to Liverpool and try his very hardest to break into that senior squad. We regularly see Premier League clubs send their young players into the Championship to gain first team experience. Do you think it is a clever move by the Liverpool hierarchy to send prospects to a club like Rangers where you have to have a sharp focus as every game is like a cup final for your opponents? CJ- I really do. Playing for a team like Rangers every performance is crucial, every game especially these days is vital to win in the league, fighting on all fronts that is what the supporters demand. So I think its a great move by Liverpool instead of sending him down to the Championship, he gets to come up and feel that pressure and demand from the fans, whilst also experiencing European football which will make him and (Ryan) Kent better players in the long run.