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Saturday Oct 13: What’s this shit? I’ve been out the loop for a week or so due to a house move, I check back online and find out that Mo got injured last night, in the last minute of a game that Egypt led 4-0. Why is he still on the field when they’re up by four? Even worse, they were playing Swaziland. I didn’t even know that was a real country. Seriously, I would have put good money on it being one of those countries that underwent a name change decades ago, like Rhodesia, or just some jarg made up name like Timbuktu. *edit - I had to google Timbuktu to make sure I spelled it correctly, and it turns out that's a real place too. Mind. Blown. Just browsing newsnow and see that Andy Robbo has to defend himself after some comments he made were misconstrued and taken as a dig at Scotland boss Alex McLeish. Hold up, Gordon Strachan is Scotland manager isn’t he? *checks google* Ok so McLeish took over in February. I’m so out of the loop on anything non-LFC related these days it’s ridiculous. Anyway, bottom line is Robbo didn’t have a pop at him but if he did it would be ok because Andy Robbo is the King of Scotland and Alex McLeish is a terrible manager. Staying with international footy for a second, I caught a couple of minutes of the England game last night as it was on when I was at my parents’ house. For a second I thought they were playing at the Etihad as there were more empty seats there than at Goodison for a dead rubber Europa League game. Not sure why, something about Croatia fans misbehaving and having to serve a stadium ban apparently. Bit shit for the opponent though isn’t it? The players having to perform in that weird empty stadium with no atmosphere (no problem for Stones, Sterling and Delph, obviously) and the fans not being allowed to travel. Ok, so that’s actually a good thing. I wish all of England’s opponents would get themselves stadium bans. Sunday Oct 14: VVD is coming home early too with a reported recurrence of his rib injury. He scored last night as Holland beat Germany 3-0. Gini scored as well. Lovely goal that, it was the kind of goal he never scores for us and the kind that I was expecting Naby to be scoring every week. Let’s face it though, we’ve been getting no goal threat from our midfield all season and it’s a big problem because the front three aren’t producing. I really like Wijnaldum as a six, but when he’s in the box to box role he frustrates the shit out of me. Sometimes he looks really good, but mostly he’s just very vanilla. He should be the one who gets double figures every season but he’s nowhere near. Seeing him do this for Holland just makes it all the more annoying. I saw something today listing the top ten slowest players in the league, and two of them were ours. No surprise that Sturridge was one, but I was massively shocked that Lallana was in there, not least because to have your speed measured surely you have to actually spend some time on the pitch? Besides, Lallana isn’t slow is he? It’s that long since I’ve seen him I can’t be sure. For the record, the slowest player in the league was Gary Cahill, but I’m calling bullshit on that as no-one is slower than that Depoitre behemoth at Huddersfield. Cahill has only played 21 minutes this season so maybe he just didn’t need to sprint in that time? The slowest player ever is still Per Mertesacker, who I'm pretty sure would have lost in a footrace with Gunnersaurus. Monday Oct 15: England beat Spain and were brilliant apparently. I didn’t even know they were playing and wouldn’t have watched even if I had. I don’t even know who scored but from looking at twitter I do know that Pickford’s comment about ‘not doing an Alisson’ have come back to bite him yet again. Divvy. I also saw a clip of Eric Dier clattering Ramos totally unnecessarily. It was fucking glorious, I can’t even tell you how much I enjoyed seeing that clip. I wish I’d watched the game now as seeing that live would have been brilliant. I’d probably have cheered, and the last time I cheered anything England did was Owen’s goal against Argentina in 98. Actually not true, I cheered Andy Carroll’s header against Sweden in the 2012 Euros, but only because I had a tenner on him. Anyway, fair play to Eric Dier and I’m so impressed by what he did that I swear that from this day forth I will stop referring to him as Eric 'Dire'. He’s earned that I think. Well in lad. Meanwhile, Mane is injured now but thankfully Van Dijk is ok and he was only sent back early as part of an agreement Klopp had with Koeman, who has always loved us. We should send him a nice big red Christmas tree this year as a thank you. In other injury news, Milner was expected to be out until November but he’s apparently looking to be in training by the end of the week. Of course. He’s like one of those old Tonka trucks; fucking indestructible. Can the sports science team not inject some of his DNA into Lallana and Sturridge? Speaking of Tonka toys, my Dad was telling me a story the other day about when I was a toddler. They were advertising those Tonka trucks on the telly and marketing them as being completely indestructible and that kids wouldn’t be able to break them, so he got me one and within two minutes I’d ragged the steering wheel off it and was about to swallow it. Proper hardcore I was. Tuesday Oct 16: What’s this? Lovren is wanted by Barca apparently. They can fuck off. They can’t afford him. Don’t laugh, I’m serious. They stung the Blues for that Colombian lad who isn’t fit to lace Big Dejan’s boots, so we should be looking for double what they got for him and frankly they don’t have that kind of cash these days. The best defenders in the world don’t come cheap you know. Funny thing is, if they did sign him and he went there and did well there’d still be a load of our fans saying he’s shite. There’s a section of our fanbase he’s never winning over no matter what. Wait, what’s this? They want Bobby too. Again, fuck off, you can’t afford him. Of course that won’t stop their usual shenanigans. We’ll have Coutinho talking about how he’d like to be reunited with him and how Bobby would be perfect for Barca. They’ll wheel out some Barca club legend like Steve Archibald to talk him up too and try and unsettle him. I don’t know if Bobby would want to go there or not. Chances are he probably would but if there is any South American we’ve had who might not be swayed by the lure of Spain’s big two then it could be him. He genuinely seems to love it here and appreciates the esteem he’s held in by everyone. I’d like to think he’d tell them ‘no thanks’, but I’m not foolish enough to talk myself into that. He'd probably drop us like a bad habit, just like all the other cunts before him. In other news, another day another injury. This time it’s Keita and it looks more serious than any of the others. Probably going to miss a few weeks, which is shite because we’ve got some bad teams coming up and it was chance for him to kick start his season. Mané doesn’t seem too bad though, its a broken thumb so if he misses any games with that then he’s a bad tart. Also tonight, Harry Wilson scored another belting free-kick. Made up for him, it all adds to his growing reputation and soaring confidence. Wednesday Oct 17: We’re linked with Insigne today. Not sure I’m keen, but then I feel that way about virtually any centre forward we get linked with, basically just because they’re not Bobby. We need another wide player more than a centre forward anyway, and we need a Coutinho replacement even more than that. If only Fekir's knee hadn't been goosed. Meanwhile, Origi is being linked with the Blues. Makes sense for them, as he’s better than anything else they have up front, but why the fuck would he want to go there? These are the same cunts who booed him for the crime of being on the wrong end of a shithouse tackle from one of their own. If he were to sign for them after that then he deserves everything that would come his way. I mean I know he’s shit, but he’s not that shit. Newcastle are interested too. Again, why would he go there? Still, he’d probably tear the Championship up next season so theres that I suppose. The other interested party are Wolves, who Origi turned down in the summer. Probably regretting that now as they look pretty good even though they have a glaring weakness at number nine. Thursday Oct 18: Keita will only be out for two weeks, which is a relief but still a right fucking pain in the arse because we need him and we’ve got some easy looking games coming up that might have seen him kick start his season. The midfield looks a little bereft of goals and creativity at the moment, but all is not lost because twitter has revealed that the club hasn’t deleted the Fekir signing video yet. In fact, it’s lying hidden on their youtube channel. Why would they not have just deleted it? It must mean he’s signing in January. Or it could be any number of other reasons of course, but why let that spoil the fun? Some talk today of a new contract for Sturridge. Can’t see it myself. I’m not dead set against it, but its way too soon to be thinking about that. He’s had a few months of being injury free, which is encouraging, but let’s see how long he can keep that up. If he goes the whole season without anything significant, and if he continues to look as sharp as he has done, then maybe when we get to March or April it can be looked at, but not now as that would be stupid. One of the Roma fans who attacked Sean Cox is cleared of GBH but will be charged with violent disorder. The other fella landed the blow that did the damage but this cunt swung his belt at him as he was falling. He’s just as responsible but he’ll end up with a light sentence and will probably be out before Sean is able to walk. Hope he gets a taste of his own medicine inside. They should send him to Walton. Friday Oct 19: I’ve been pretty good recently when it comes to not complaining about stupid clickbait articles on newsnow (mainly because I’ve been on an enforced two week break from the diary due to the house move!) but I saw this today and now I’m irked: 'Better than Robbo', 'Go for it' - These Liverpool fans react to transfer report - The Transfer Tavern As you know, I hate these articles that are based on tweets from fans, and I hate them even more when the fans are clearly morons. Unless that article is about us signing Marcelo then it’s fucking garbage, and even if it is Marcelo I’d still probably say it’s garbage. Who’s better than Robbo? No-one, that’s who. Not even going to click on that shit to see who they’re talking about. Load of shite. You may recall a few weeks ago I wrote about the antics of Jermaine Pennant in the Big Brother house and how he was trying it on with some young bird in there and didn’t tell anyone he was married. Well today he ended up on Jeremy Kyle as his missus accused him of cheating. I didn’t see it, but had I known he was on I’d defo have watched because there’s something really amusing about him. He just doesn’t give a fuck, which sums up his entire career really. He was good in Athens though. Oh this is great. Moreno is linked with a move to Arsenal in the summer because Unai Emery worked with him at Sevilla and wants a reunion. Imagine that, Ramsay joins us on a free and they get Albert the Moron going the other way. Too good to be true. Ok, so I clicked the link on newsnow and now I really hate myself. It wasn’t even a report linking us with a left back, the sneaky cunts had pulled a fast one. It was about Moreno leaving at the end of his contract and they included a few tweets including one from a fan who said that Tierney from Celtic would be a good option as he was once considered ‘better than Robbo’. See what they did there? Clickbaiting twats. Can't believe they suckered me in. Again. Fuck my life. That was the week that was….

For many football managers it is the final piece of the puzzle, but it can be an impossible riddle to solve. Just how do you get every single facet of the team ticking along simultaneously? To put it bluntly, it is the main difference between being a good team and a title winning side. It is a missing factor that has evaded every notable Liverpool manager since the early 90s. For Roy Evans and Brendan Rodgers attack seemed to be the best form of defence which was fantastic as far as entertainment is concerned, but it was not going to be a successful method for a sustained period. While Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez were highly adept in keeping the opposition under a tight rein, they just could not to find that final piece of attacking flair when they needed it the most. Current manager Jurgen Klopp is a man who is methodical in his planning of a side. While the fanbase would have wanted the German to dismantle a very poor back four unit on his arrival, he has shown incredible patience with individuals and taken his time to assess the failings and unveil his blueprint for defensive success. The results have been clear to see in the early stages of this season. The Reds have conceded just three goals in eight games with five clean sheets amongst them. That is level with reigning champions Man City for the least goals conceded, some sort of achievement when you compare it to the corresponding time 12 months ago when we had conceded 12 goals, or in 2016/7 (10 goals conceded). However, as the main fault of the squad is well on its way to being sorted, the attacking third, for so long consistent in delivering the goods has hit a bit of a bump in the road. The Guardian reports that the issue has certainly not gone unnoticed by Klopp but the manager says it is all part of the evolution of the side. "We want to be stronger defensively but that doesn’t mean we don’t have interest in offensive things. It is normal in a period of adaptation. "You put the focus a bit more on something – close this gap, close this space – and immediately you lose a bit of the fluency in something else. "But we have created enough chances; it’s just that we didn’t use them like we used them in the best period of last season. " We have had good results and scored goals but it’s obvious we can improve. We need to keep the stability, no doubt about that. "What we’ve done defensively so far is a credit to the whole team. We don’t concede a lot of shots in general. "It’s not that we don’t concede because Alisson makes one world-class save after another. We don’t let them shoot often and that’s the best thing.” The signing of the Brazilian goalkeeper in the summer has certainly made a huge difference as he has a real presence about him, something that Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius do not possess. The shift of Joe Gomez to his natural position of centre-back has been seamless with the young England star striking up an instant rapport with Virgil Van Dijk. While full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have typically gone about their business in a no-nonsense fashion. While Klopp's famed pressing tactics have not being as noticeable in the early stages of this campaign, the manager says it is more to do with the change of approach from the opposition than of his own mindset. "It’s more the case that teams don’t usually play against us. "They overplay our pressing with long balls, which makes sense. In a lot of games, our counter-press has been really good, which is much more important in terms of losing the ball and winning it back. “In terms of the high press, it depends on the style of play of the other team. You can’t do it if they don’t play. It’s not that we don’t want to do it any more. If they play then we should be there." A sixth clean sheet of the season against Huddersfield today will set a club record for fewest goals conceded after nine games.

If there is an example of a player currently in the footballing wilderness then Divock Origi would certainly fit that description. There was a time not too long ago when the powerfully built Belgian striker looked to have a very big future with the Reds. Known as a manager who puts a heavy priority on the work rate of his players, Jurgen Klopp took an instant shine to Origi and the youngster, who was in his first full season in English football, was given a great share of responsibility in leading the front line and he duly delivered. The striker played a key role in getting the team to the final of the Europa League and there was a stretch during the following season when he scored four league goals in as many games that it appeared we had another emerging star striker on our books. The second half of the 2016/7 season saw more opportunities come his way but it appeared he had lost some of his previous spark and complacency had become part of his mindset. The start of last season saw Mo Salah arrive at the club and the rest as they say is history. It soon became clear that Origi had slipped down the pecking order and needed first team football on a consistent basis. However, a season-long loan to Wolfsberg did not hold happy memories with the Bundesliga side struggling throughout the season and only securing their top-tier status courtesy of a relegation play-off. Origi returned to Melwood this season but tellingly has yet to make a matchday squad this season and is in a sort of no-mans-land, not knowing if or when an opportunity will come next. The Liverpool Echo is reporting that the Reds will demand a transfer fee of excess of £20 million for the striker with a couple of Premier League clubs in Wolves and Everton reportedly interested. While a move across Stanley Park would seem unlikely for obvious reasons, signing with the ambitious Midlands club could be just the move Origi needs to kickstart a stalling career. Wolves are expected to put a bid in for the striker in January and it would be the second time that they have done so in a matter of months as they were prepared to pay £22 million in the summer. Hovever Origi made it clear that he was not interested in moving to the newly promoted club at the time. It remains to be seen whether their impressive start to the season has changed the mindset of the 23 year-old. You only get a short shelf life to make a career for yourself and Origi will be smart to take them up on their offer this time around.

Last week a report claimed that Barcelona were keen on signing the much-discussed Reds full-back Alberto Moreno. This time it is another one of Liverpool's 'favourite sons' in Dejan Lovren who seems to have caught the eye of the Catalan giants. The Mirror (via Mundo Deportivo) is reporting that Barca are keeping a close eye on the Croatian. They have suffered injuries to Frenchman Samuel Umtiti and ex Arsenal central defender Thomas Vermaelen in recent weeks and are on the lookout for reinforcements when the January transfer window opens. Lovren who has been a regular face in the back four under Jurgen Klopp, suffered a stomach muscle injury prior to the commencement of the new season and his absence gave Joe Gomez the chance to prove his worth. To the great credit of the young English international, Gomez had formed a formidable partnership with Virgil Van Dijk as the Reds have made a unbeaten start to the new campaign. Lovren made his first league start against Man City in the 0-0 stalemate at Anfield while Gomez reverted to the right-back position he occupied for the first half of last season. It remains to be seen if that change in personnel becomes more permanent or whether it was just a chance to give young star Trent Alexander-Arnold a break after he was looking a bit leg weary in the previous few games. As we have become of aware over time, Lovren is a player that doesn't lack any self-confidence and wouldn't be pleased in currently being a bit-part player. However the 29 year-old will know that an opportunity could arise at any moment and so he needs to stay focused and not allow his head to drop. Having a full contingent of defenders to choose from is a headache of the pleasant variety for Klopp. With the games growing more in importance post Christmas, it remains doubtful he would want to let one of them depart in January. Just like the situation with Moreno, this is another storyline to follow with a deal of interest as the season progresses.

While the transfer window is closed at this present moment, the rumour mill keeps going at full speed and offers its fair share of what can only be described as interesting talking points. A report in the Mirror (via Mundo Deportivo in Spanish ) has emerged claiming that Barcelona have registered an interest in Alberto Moreno as they look for competition for their incumbent in Jordi Alba. For the large majority of Liverpool fans, Moreno has been an unloved figure since arriving on Merseyside at the start of the 2014/5 season. After being a regular member of the starting line-up for his first two seasons, Moreno suffered what can only be described as a humiliating blow to his career prospects at the club. The Spaniard was replaced in the role by midfielder James Milner after a number of subpar performances at the start of the 2016/7 campaign. It certainly like the writing was on the wall in terms of the 26 year- old’s Liverpool career. However to the surprise of many, Moreno reclaimed his starting spot for the beginning of the 2017/8 campaign. Perhaps it was presence of proper competition in the shape of fellow left-back Andy Robertson who had arrived from Hull in the summer, but the much-maligned Moreno raised his level even earning himself a recall to his national side. With things finally looking like it was heading on an upward trajectory, Moreno suffered an ankle injury against Spartak Moscow in the Champions League which gave Robertson a opportunity which he has taken with both hands and is certainly not giving it back. It has left Moreno in a familiar place on the outside looking in, only making one appearance in the Carabao Cup against Chelsea, and his Liverpool career is certainly at the crossroads yet again. Eyebrows are bound to be raised over this link, but as we have seen a fair bit over time, footballers who have failed in one league, can suddenly improve when they are in a new environment which they feel comfortable in. Having the likes of Liverpool and Barcelona on your football resume is a pretty impressive double to have. We will watch on with a deal of interest to see whether this rumour progresses any further.

Of all the possible ways this game could have unfolded, this was probably the last thing I’d have expected. 0-0 with virtually no chances for either side wasn’t in the script at all. Maybe this is how it’s going to be from now on though, as there was a definite shift in the approach of Pep Guardiola this time. Usually City won’t alter their style for anybody, but going toe to toe with us hasn’t worked out well for them up to now. This time Guardiola clearly set up with the main objective of not getting beat, and anything else being bonus. That’s a huge compliment to Klopp and his players and Guardiola didn’t try to hide from it afterwards, basically admitting that if you try and attack us you have no chance, no matter who you are. We’re defo in his head and that probably earned us a point, because at this moment in time we aren’t the team he thinks we are. They probably could have opened up a bit and gotten away with it this time because the team that tore them to pieces last season has been nowhere to be seen so far this year. Both teams cancelled each other out but I don’t think Klopp’s intention was to play it cagey, it just turned out that way because we posed virtually no threat up front and City did a great job of denying us space. And for our part, we defended superbly for most of the game. City’s line up was incredibly attacking but the way they approached the game was not. They were still more adventurous than most teams we’ll see at Anfield but Guardiola learned from previous lessons and ensured they wouldn’t be caught out like that again. Walker and Mendy rarely ventured forward and that meant very few opportunities for Salah and Mané to get isolated against the centre backs. Still, that’s nothing new, teams have been setting up like that against us for years. Not City (or Arsenal), but basically everyone else. It doesn’t normally stop us from creating chances, so what’s going on right now? I tell you what this reminds me of. For my 30th I went to see Bon Jovi play Old Trafford. It almost goes without saying that it was boss, but a few months later I saw a tribute act called “By Jovi” playing at a bar in Belfast. They were alright, they looked like the real thing and sounded like the real thing, but it was obvious they weren’t the real thing. That’s what this feels like. Guardiola set his team up that way because he thought he was facing the fearsome threesome from last season, but in reality he was up against a jarg tribute act. We barely threatened them at all. I’m not sure how much of that was down to Guardiola figuring out how to nullify us and how much of it was just down to the forwards looking like “By Jovi”. I suspect it’s more about us but that’s not to take anything away from whatever it was that Guardiola did, because clearly it worked a treat for them. The space that we normally have against them just wasn’t there, mainly as their full backs stayed home and Fernandinho was a one man wrecking crew in front of them. He was terrific, but his job was made a lot easier by Martin Atkinson giving him a free pass to foul whoever he liked, as often as he liked, without any sort of punishment. The forearm smash to the throat of Mané that didn’t even draw a free-kick let alone a card was a particular highlight. Atkinson was fairly card happy throughout, so you have to wonder what Fernandinho has on him. Not that I’m offering this as any excuse for how we played. It was such a weird, sterile game that there’s very little to talk about in terms of incidents. City had a couple of efforts from Mahrez, one which he dragged wide and another that was saved comfortably by Alisson. We had a couple from Salah. One that he blasted over and another he curled straight at the keeper. Last season they would have been in. The one he put over the bar highlighted perfectly the difference in this Mo and last year’s Mo. The keeper had come rushing out, the ball was sat up nicely, yet he elected to just lash at it wildly. Last season he’d have calmly just lobbed it over his head into the empty net. That was the best chance we had. It was virtually the only chance we had actually. Sturridge did have a tame header straight at the keeper and there was a loose ball that for a second looked like it would drop to Keita but didn’t. That was it though, no other genuine threat. It was pretty disheartening to watch. At least we didn’t lose though. We didn’t deserve to lose but we certainly should have. Virgil’s brain fart was so unlike him that at the time I actually thought it was Lovren. It was only afterwards I discovered it wasn’t. It was a terrible pen from Mahrez but I’m buzzing off Achteburg calling that perfectly and telling Alisson where to dive. The man gets an awful lot of unfair shit but manager after manager have kept him around so he must be doing something right. Tell you something else; Alisson looked fucking huge bouncing around on his line like a big gorilla. No wonder Mahrez missed, it probably looked like he had virtually nothing to aim at. The penalty was the one moment when the defence let themselves down. Other than that they were outstanding I thought, especially Lovren. His inclusion in the side was something of a surprise, but given the way Trent played in Naples it made a degree of sense. Lovren could have given away a penalty himself in the first half when he got a little too close to Aguero, but it would have been incredibly harsh. Aguero jumped back up immediately and didn’t even appeal for anything, but the same can’t be said for some of his team-mates. Especially David Silva, who spent the entire game crying to the ref about decisions. Back to Lovren though. In the second half he was left one v one on a couple of occasions and stood strong and won the ball both times. Made up for him. I’m not sure what he has to do to win over some fans. Performances like this have been the norm for some time now. He’s a top quality defender. Gomez has played so well that the shirt should still be his to lose, but Lovren couldn’t have done much more to stake his claim. The defence isn’t an issue regardless of who plays (with one notable and obvious exception of course). We’ve only conceded three league goals all season, despite having faced Spurs, Chelsea and City. That’s fantastic. We conceded three at Watford in our opening game last year. Unfortunately just as we’ve fixed that area of our game, problems have arisen elsewhere. I saw someone liken it to golf. Just when you get your driver going, the putter goes cold. That’s exactly it. Why can’t we ever just get everything working well at the same time? Drawing with City is fine though, there’s no cause for disappointment there. It’s the way it went down that left me feeling a bit deflated. I hoped we’d be better than this. I didn’t expect it, because nothing we’ve seen in recent weeks suggested we’d suddenly look great, but I hoped for more than this. I hoped for a few shots on target at least. I don’t think that;s too much to ask. I don’t know what’s wrong with the forwards right now. It could be just that they are lacking a bit of zip after the World Cup, it could just be a lack of confidence due to the slow start they’ve made, or it might be that opposing coaches have figured out how to nullify them. That is the biggest concern I have. I’m not prepared to jump to that conclusion yet, but it is chipping away in the back of my mind now. It’s the chicken and the egg. Are the forwards struggling because the opposition now know how to deal with them? Or are the opposition dealing with them more easily because they are out of form? At this point I have no idea, but I do know that for our next game I hope to see Shaqiri in the line up. Personally I’d leave Mané out but if it was Mo that was benched then I couldn’t argue too much. Both were shite against City, and Bobby wasn’t any great shakes either. Klopp had to go with the big three for this game though. It would have been insane not to. They’ve destroyed City in their last three meetings, but not only that, to be able to have success against City you need everyone knowing what their job is and carrying it out to the letter. City were almost as toothless as we were, so the forwards did their bit without the ball at least. They’ve done that all season though in fairness. That’s why starting either Shaqiri or Sturridge made no sense in this game as it would upset the defensive shape and intensity too much. The next two games, however, are Cardiff and Huddersfield. One or even both have a good claim for a spot, because this can’t just go on indefinitely and we need a spark. The big three aren’t delivering for whatever reason, while both Sturridge and Shaqiri have shown enough to deserve more playing time. Maybe putting Shaqiri in the midfield three would provide us with that x-factor to get things going again? Klopp certainly has some thinking to do over this next couple of weeks. All in all though, this was a huge point because City had marginally the better chances and they missed a pen. We got out of jail and although there has to be some regret at not taking three points (it feels like we have to beat them because I don’t think we can rely on anyone else to do it), not losing feels absolutely massive. City seemed happy enough to have finally come away from Anfield with something too, but really they should be kicking themselves as it was a real chance for them to put a little distance between us, and Mahrez blew it. As it is, we’re level on points with them and Chelsea despite having played more difficult fixtures and not really having got going yet in attack. The international break probably comes at a good time as we are wobbling a bit at the moment, although I’m not sure how much good it will do us when most of the players will be scattered all over the world playing pointless games. We’ve come through a really tough period and the damage we’ve taken has been fairly minimal all things considered. It gets a little easier now, but only if the forwards get their shit together. It’d be nice if Naby started showing a bit more too, as he’s been distinctly underwhelming to this point. The good thing is somehow we’re still joint top even though the one area of the team we didn’t think we’d have to worry about has been a big problem. It’s fucking mad like, but I’ve got more trust in the back four and goalkeeper than I do the front three now. Who could have predicted that a couple of months ago? Maybe in another couple of months the roles will be reversed again, but how nice would it be to have both working at full capacity? Team: Alisson; Gomez, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Milner (Keita), Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino (Sturridge), Mané:

International break - it is the two words that Football fans all over the globe arguably hate more than any other during the season. If you feel strongly about no Premier League action this weekend, then you are in good company with Jurgen Klopp displaying his clear frustration after the dour 0-0 draw against Man City on Sunday. The Independent reported that Klopp is certainly no fan of the newly rebranded UEFA Nations League. “If somebody had told me after eight games, 20 points I would say yes but with this fixture list, I would buy it. "Now the players go off and play the Nations League which is the most senseless competition in the world. We have to start thinking about the players. "You have to call the manager of any country and say can you leave players out and he says I am under pressure as well. “People asked why this game was less intense. Guys like Jordan (Henderson) only had two weeks after the World Cup.” It is fair to say because of that fact; we have not seen the best of the captain in the first few months of the season It has also been noticeable how 'leggy' Liverpool players have been in the last few weeks. The fixture list has not been kind with a number of big games coming in quick succession but while the Reds have not won in their four games, the unbeaten league record to start the season remains in tact. After sticking with a settled starting lineup during the first few games, Klopp has naturally had to make subtle changes as the matches came thick and fast. One of those mainstays throughout the early part of the campaign has been James Milner, but the midfielder limped off before the half-hour mark against Man City with a hamstring injury. Klopp said he was unaware over the severity of the injury. "I asked him if it is a big one and he said don’t think so but big enough and he goes off.” There is somewhat of a respite in the next few games with Liverpool taking on Huddersfield (A) and Cardiff (H) in the league and Red Star Belgrade (H) in the Champions League sandwiched in between. While no win should be taken for granted, it goes without saying those three games present the ideal opportunity to regain some momentum.

1. That was hardly the most riveting game we’ve seen at Anfield in recent years, but you know what? I’m more than happy tonight. The pre-match narrative was all grumbles about Napoli and the forwards, but I think a reality check is needed, regardless of how valid those concerns may be. Just what more could we possibly have expected by this point in the campaign? If any one of you thought we’d have been in a stronger position than this back in August before the season got underway, I’d be amazed. 2. We're joint top, undefeated, have conceded just three - three!!! - goals in the league and emerged from a run of seven games in twenty one days that saw us play Spurs, PSG, Napoli, City and Chelsea twice. Twenty points from eight games is sensational. That’s title winning form. Yes, City and Chelsea are up there too and Arsenal (bizarrely) are only two points behind, but even so. It’s been a great start to the season all things considered. Certainly I don’t think anyone could have expected more. 3. Today was about two teams nullifying each other’s strengths, but lots of Reds seem to be seeing that as a bad thing. Weird. I think limiting City to two shots on target, avoiding defeat and riding our luck with a penalty is a good result for us. Make no mistake, the much-vaunted “All I do is attack” Guardiola philosophy was dented today because he cane to Anfield not to lose and showed us huge respect with his tactics. Whenever we had the hall, Bernardo Silva sat in next to Fernandinho to try and stifle the supply to our forwards for the ball in behind. He’s never done that before and indeed he sacrificed Sané’s pace on the break too in order to do so. No, he’s gone back to Manchester thinking, “Great point” no matter what he says to the media. 4. I must admit, I was worried when I saw the team. I thought it would be a mistake to lose the possibility of Trent’s attacking threat, not to mention breaking up Gomez’s burgeoning partnership with Virgil. However, it did not disrupt us in the way I feared. Lovren did well coming into such a big game and Joe actually offered a fair bit of penetration down the right. I think quite a lot of the stilted forward play recently has been down to our fullbacks operating more circumspectly: with no one overlapping them they’re easier to defend against. However, both Joe and Robbo were more threatening today, albeit without ever truly opening City up. Joe’s pace really stood out today too. I already knew he was quick, but he won one-on-ones with both Sterling and Sané and I can’t think of many other players who can do that. He is a massive talent. 5. In midfield I thought Hendo and Gini were very disciplined, but I confess to being worried when Milner went off. Naby clearly doesn’t understand the press like the established boys do and he’s not been as explosive as I expected him to be when he arrived. However, he was largely neat and tidy and I’ll settle for that at this stage. 6. As for the forwards, that tale has already been told this season so I’ll give it a miss, save to say I think they’ll come good. Also though, for all that Salah’s figures are weaker, it’s Mané who’s been worrying/annoying me more. For all his decent return and inarguable impact I just feel frustrated by his continuing rawness as a decision maker. It’d be wrong to say it’s a massive issue because these things are relative and he’s still very much in credit for what he gives us, but in his third year here, it annoys me that he’s still doing daft things like picking the wrong pass or giving the ball away. 7. The relative misfiring of the front three has obviously had plenty of Reds bemoaning the missed opportunity to sign Fekir. And to be honest, you can see exactly why Klopp wanted him. A player who can create, score, operate in a number of positions and do so while contributing to the press, would be huge. However, we didn’t take him and I don’t think we can second guess that decision. That’s not to say we shouldn’t go for another player of that type though and, if we can identify one and get the deal done in January, I think we should. Klopp is on record as saying he dislikes the January window, but I think this campaign is shaping up to be a three-way battle to the death and in that case the benefit of some fresh input into the attack cannot be underestimated. I read rumours of a Brazilian boy wonder this week, but ultimately I don’t care who we sign as long as he fits that profile of player. 8. So, what next? For me we need to start to accelerate the acclimatisation of the new lads into the team because we’ll need them. For all the concerns about how little they’ve played and how muted they’ve been, let’s not forget how long it took Ox and Robbo to “get it” last season and then how well each performanced once he did. I see no reason to think otherwise about Shaqiri, Keita and Fabinho. And with the likes of Huddersfield, Cardiff and Red Star coming up, they should have plenty of chances to settle into our style. 9. As for assessments of the season to date, I think we all need to recalibrate expectations if we’re disappointed with this in any way. Yes we can improve but that’s a good thing because under Klopp it’s almost a given that we will. 10. So, the international break now and that’s always an injury worry. However, hopefully Milner can get himself right over the break and we can then spread the minutes around a bit when the lads return so anyone who is feeling it - as was clearly the case with Trent today even at such a relatively early juncture in the campaign - can be given a rest. If they all return unscathed, the fixture list looks a little kinder and I see no reason why we can’t consolidate this great start while bringing the squad depth to bear more effectively. 11. In short, come on you Reds!!! Paul Natton

Well that was terrible. We almost got away with it but this time the late sting came in our tail. We bagged a late winner against PSG, which was deserved. We got a miraculous late equaliser at Chelsea, which was deserved. This time we conceded a late winner, and it was also very much deserved. For all the talk of how Napoli is an intimidating environment and a difficult arena to play in, I'm not having it at all. It was a half empty stadium. These lads played a semi final in Rome, so this was nothing. The stadium had nothing to do with the performance. I'm also irritated to lose to a side playing in a kit as terrible as that. Napoli always had boss kits but this one looks like a teenager designed it. How have their fans stood for that? Maybe that's why half the stadium was empty and why their best players always seem to leave. Except Hamsik of course, but one look at his haircut tells you all you need to know about his sense of style. Napoli were alright but I wasn't blown away by them at all. They defended very well but they were a bit lightweight and predictable in attack. For most of the game Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk kept that at bay relatively easily. When it keeps coming back at you because the front lads are having a night off though, it's difficult, and eventually Napoli started to look threatening in the closing stages. We had a massive let off when they got in down our right and Mertens hit the bar from close range. The warning wasn't heeded though and soon after they got in down the other flank and this time Insigne was there to score from close range. Had we came away with a point it would have been a great result considering how badly we played. It would also have been daylight robbery. What went wrong? That's easy. We were shite, especially the front three. Answering why it went wrong is above my pay grade. Hopefully Jurgen knows, because this performance has been coming. We haven't played anywhere near this badly, but the signs have been there with the front three. They've not been at it all season barring the odd flash here and there. Put it this way. Had we played Napoli last March or April, we'd have smashed them everywhere. Now? We're not even mustering a single effort on goal. Not one. When was the last time that happened? Maybe we needed something like this, because when you're getting results it's easy to just say "imagine how good it will be when we start playing well". At some point though you actually have to start playing well. We've been doing well in a lot of areas but we've just not hit top gear in others. In fact, the front three have barely got out of second all season. Last season it was disappointing when one of them didn't get on the scoresheet. In the last three games none of them have scored, and this time Sturridge couldn't come to the rescue. Mané was doing my head in again. Slowing it down when he should have been speeding it up. Not going at the full back when he should have, then inexplicably trying to run past four players. No idea what he was doing. On the other flank Mo was even worse. I thought he played quite well against Chelsea until his final pass or shot. This time he didn't even have that to fall back on. He seemed to realise early in the game that it was nice and cosy in the pocket of Koulibaly so he stayed there for the entire 90 minutes. The big defender was outstanding to be fair, but he was helped by Mo being fucking rubbish. Bobby ran around a lot but it wasn't his night either. Napoli's three at the back system completely shut us down, which is surprising as usually we tear that formation a new one. I love it when teams go three at the back against us as it leaves our forward lads with one v one match ups a lot of the time. That happened here too, the problem was Napoli's three defenders won those match ups. It's worrying, no question about it. I have no great concerns in the term, I know they'll find their form again sooner or later, but how much damage will have been if its later? The midfield weren't great either but to me that's a direct result of how the forward lads are playing. There's only so much they can do as they're basically just workmanlike players who facilitate the forwards. They're all good players of course, but what I mean is there's Steven Gerrard or Philippe Coutinho in there who can step up and win a game with a bit of magic when the forwards aren't delivering. They're cogs in the machine, and when the machine functions as it should they look very good. If the forwards aren't doing anything though, it's hard for players like Milner, Wijnaldum and Henderson to shine. Perhaps if Keita hadn't been forced off with a freak injury it might have been different, but probably not because he'd been dreadful in the time he was on. Alisson is blameless as he did all he could. Van Dijk was fine too, while I thought Gomez was superb again. The rest? All need to do better. Trent was terrible, Robbo was ok but not his usual self and by the end the midfield lads were chasing shadows. Again though, when the forwards play like that it makes everyone else's job harder. The game on Sunday is huge and I have absolutely no idea what to expect. It's easy to fear the worst because we're not playing well and it's City. We have to be at our best to have any chance, so anyone who is worried has a right to be. Equally though, maybe the players need a game like this to get them going again. And by players, I mean the front three. And by the front three, I mostly mean Salah and Mané because I think they're much more to blame for the misfires than Firmino is. They have to be at it on Sunday or we have no chance. It's such a big game though you'd expect them to step up and deliver. We'll see. Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Milner (Fabinho), Keita (Henderson); Salah, Firmino, Mané (Sturridge):

Liverpool tasted defeat in the Champions League for the first time this season with a last minute Lozenzo Insigne strike securing a 1-0 victory and sending the Italian side to the top of group C after two games. The defeat stretched the winless run for the Reds to three games across all competitions and it doesn't get any easier with Premier League Champions Man City coming to town for an eagerly awaited heavyweight showdown on Sunday afternoon. Reflecting on the loss, midfielder Gini Wijnaldum told the official website that the loss was a deserved result. "You’re always disappointed when you lose a game. We didn’t play well and they deserved to win. "They had a good chance before the goal. “They were calmer than us on the ball, they defended well and stopped us creating chances. It was not a good day for us. They deserved to win. "It’s a good game to learn from. That’s what we’re going to do – we’re going to analyse the game and see what we can do better.” Incredibly for a Liverpool side with so many attacking weapons, they failed to register a shot on target throughout the 90 minutes and only had four attempts in total. The Netherlands international continued his analysis on the result. "We know what we can bring, we still have confidence. "But this was a reality check on how things must not go. “They did well; they were calm and played the ball around and waited for the moments. That’s why they were so good. "We have done it better this season, so we can do it – but we have to do it every game. "That’s why we’re all so disappointed because we expect more and to bring more. It didn’t happen but we still have four games to go. "It’s a good lesson for us to get better. We have to take it as a lesson and then we have to carry on.” While it is a result that will sting, this is the beauty of playing in a top-level competition like the Champions League. You are not going to stroll through the group stages, especially one as difficult as what Liverpool have. You are also going to come up against top-level managers like Carlo Ancelotti who despite his advancing age, still showed he is in the elite bracket. Every point is extremely precious -with the last minute winning goal by Roberto Firmino against PSG being a prime example. The squad now has a few days to regroup and recover ahead of the big clash on Sunday.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has accepted a large share of the blame for the listless performance of his team in the Champions League clash against Napoli on Wednesday evening. The Reds fell to a 1-0 defeat courtesy of a 90th-minute goal from Napoli striker Lorenzo Insigne which sees the Italian side top Group C after two games. Unlike some notable managers, Klopp is never one to shirk responsibility if the team does not live up to expectations and the German did so again after the second defeat in three games for the Reds. The Liverpool Echo reported Klopp as saying: “I have to accept that a big part of that performance was my fault for sure. " We lost the game and it is quite difficult to perform like you perform. "I am pretty sure the reasons will be obvious and then we will sort that but tonight we were not good enough and normally if you are not good enough you lose games. That happened to us tonight.” Liverpool failed to register a shot on target throughout the 90 minutes and it was statistic that Klopp struggled to get his head around. "No attempts on target, I don't remember when that happened last time. I think we had a big part of that because we can play much better. "We don't have a lot of set-pieces. No shot on target is not enough. They had a good game, we didn't, that's why they deserved the three points.” The impressive start to the Liverpool career of goalkeeper Alisson Becker continued on Wednesday evening and along with central defender Joe Gomez, the duo could certainly hold their head high. Klopp paid tribute to his Braziilian keeper. "The first half was kind of okay but the second half was not good enough and it's always a bad sign when your goalkeeper is your best player. “But it was obvious tonight,” Klopp said. While a defeat is never ideal, the win against PSG on matchday 1 is worth it's weight in gold especially with back to back games against Red Star Belgrade coming up. The big games don't stop coming for the Reds with reigning Premier League champions Man City coming to Anfield on Sunday.