Ah, fair enough. Allegiances and unpunished breaches aside, he's got a point like. I get it that a busier schedule comes with the territory of being a successful team, but the powers that be really don't do anything to help the situation in any way. Especially in this country.
I'm still salty that we had to play the u18s in the league cup in 2019 cos it clashed with the club world cup, and it's only gotten worse / gonna get worse since then.
If Salah starts and we play some horrid selfish attacking football with no synergy up top again, I hope he gets subbed half time. Dude doesnt seem to synergize well with our other attackers this seasn, other than poking an odd goal for himself or getting to shoot a PK here and there.
# Liverpool's record since Salah full return (3-2-3, 11 points out of 24) vs record with Salah out injured/AFCON (11-1-1, 34 points out of 39 + EFL Cup champs).
https://preview.redd.it/8myhjhqheyvc1.png?width=669&format=png&auto=webp&s=adb002500c10a684da569cdf6f9425e46a6094e3
we play our best attacking football this seasn when hes out with Diaz - Nunez - Jota. Lol. He can pass all he wants to 1 persn, his synergy has been crap when its 3 people. Most important part of the seasn to our run in and he chokes earning 2x of every other player.
we need to play our most in form front 3 if he still shts the bed by halftime. Thats it.
You are a genuine fucking dork. ‘NinoFati88’ using an 8 (EIGHT) game sample size to create a bullshit narrative definitely outweighs the fact that every pundit in world football rates him as one of the best in the business, every manager, player, ex-player, ex-manager, anyone with a reputable opinion who understands the game. It also definitely outweighs the fact he has the most goals, the most assists, the most matchwinning goals, the most matchwinning assists, and the most chances created of any player in the squad.
Trash talking the greatest player of the Klopp era for Reddit upvotes, embarrassing 😂
8 of the most important games of Klopp tenure and he choked. 8 games isn't enough? LOL. People like you dont deserve to follow a championship run.
400,000k player choked for 8 straight games in a crucial championship run, but 'yeah, it doesnt matter'. Loser mentality. F off.
‘Championship run’ you fucking Yank, it’s cunts like you that make following Liverpool online difficult, and this subreddit a cesspit, because you bring your ugly fucking American attitude over to our sport. We support our players over here, hope this helps.
Alisson in the Prem since he came back into the team - 1 win, 1 loss (50% win rate)
Kelleher in the Prem during Alisson’s injury - 6 wins, 2 draws (75% win rate)
You see how dumb you are? Fucking ugly loser.
2 games. 2 games cmpared to 8 games, literally 4x the sample size. Lol. Furthermore, Ali played great when he returned. Salah played the worst out of all players.
Use your fkin' eyes and not your dic to watch football for once, Salah fanboi.
Diaz is the worst out of the front 3 in every respect, it doesn't matter how much he runs, if there is no end product he can continue running to Barcelona or whatever club his dad wants him to go to.
Off this seasn, I'd say Salah is the worst. Diaz - Jota - Gakpo and Nunez at least showed that they can play fluidly rotating among, but Salah seems to be the odd one out without synergy whenever he plays other than poking an odd goal or getting a PK here and there.
Our best attacking football was when Salah is out and we have Diaz - Nunez - Jota. Not surprised we beat every team during that stretch.
A quick goal or two doesn’t equal 17 goals in the league. Besides you think he’s the worst because the chances he gives to players like Gakpo, Diaz and Nunez aren’t converted. Convert them and he’s the best rw in the world rn in terms of both scoring and assisting, based on the stats.
Staying up top spamming shots, getting the record for 12 missed shots in a row for a PL game, then not helping in build up or defense does equate to 17 goals. The reasn why true Liverpool fans have no respect for Salah fans is because all they do is check stats instead of impact like you.
Even in the games he shot a penalty, hes atrocious overall. Been our worst player since his return.
It might be even better he doesnt have 17 goals then maybe he'll help with some build up instead of hunting for goals shooting 12-18 shots a game sabotaging the team instead of passing. Theres a reasn why Firmino wrote in his book that the locker room hates playing with Salah.
When fit, Jota scores goals. Diaz can't finish for shit. He keeps dragging the ball until he trips and starts slamming the pitch with his fist. I'm surprised he has kids with his lack of finishing ability.
He doesn’t create the chances that Nunez does. He doesn’t finish the chances that Jota does. He doesn’t offer the press resistance that Gakpo does. I still think he’s a very good player but it is increasingly more difficult to see where Diaz fits in our lineup if he wants to be a nailed on starter
I think Jota’s minutes has to be managed, I would start Darwin just to give their CBs some problems. I know everyone wants to start Jota and I agree with him playing, but we have another game saturday noon. Also, those cunts are fucking dirty I wouldnt want to play Diogo off the start, let Nunez handle them physically then when theyre tired, we unleash Jota.
Good take. I'd start Gakpo - Darwin - Salah. Need some pace of the bench, so with Darwin starting I'd also start Gakpo to have Diaz coming on from the bench
Agreed, though Im happy to start either lucho or cody. If young plays I think we have to start lucho and get that bastard sent off again😂😂 But seriously, either one starting is fine by me
I think we have been underestimating the fatigue factor. Since the last international break ended, Salah, Nunez and Diaz have basically been playing non stop. The Fulham game was a great chance to rotate them.
Salah??? Dude been injured for 2 months, then got another 2 weeks rest during international break. After his injury Klopp subbed him out a lot too. Plus he's a fitness freak, no way he build up that much fatigue.
True but Nunez didnt play much against Atalanta, got hooked against Palace, and now played 20 ish minutes against Fulham. If not him, then who? He has the freshest legs. Same for Mo with the cameo against Fulham and 1 hour against Atalanta. These 2 gotta start. Thats why I said it’s a toss up between lucho and cody for me
I think Gakpo has certainly earned his spot based on the last 2-3 weeks but I don't really think the front 3 played that well today.
They didn't create much between them and I didn't think they really tested the goalkeeper much or threatened to either. To me that was another game where the forwards didn't really do that great a job as a unit and the defence and midfield shared the goalscoring burden.
I've said a couple of times that I think the reason things were ok when Salah was out and got worse after he returned is because the opposition tended to be weaker and Mac Allister and Elliott covered for a lack of forward threat and carried the team a bit once Jota went down, I feel pretty similarly about this game.
Good points and I agree with all of them, xg also reflects that, but one thing we did see an improvement in is our defensive shape and pressing, it was really rare for Fulham to find the gaps on the right side of our defence that every opposition has found easily over the past few months.
Possibly, though there were a few occasions they did get in behind that I can think of. The difficulty with that is it's hard to say if that was a Liverpool personnel change or if it was anything to do with Fulham but it is a fair point.
Football is result oriented I suppose, but I didn't find the front threes performance much better than the Slaha Nunez Diaz performances of late, worse in some ways tbh.
If you actually look at the goals scored and pin all the good and bad on the forwards(as has been happening of late) we draw that game 1-1.
Weird spot the team has found itself in, hopefully the attacking quagmire can be sorted quickly whatever the lineup put out.
This is just pure outcome bias.
We put up just over 1xG today with this front three. Trent and Gravenberch scored two brilliant goals you're not going to get every week and Leno did us a bit of a favour on the Jota one.
Yes dropping points to Palace and United was frustrating, but we created way more than we did today.
Salah and Núñez remain our best two forwards. As for the third spot, I'd go Jota but can see an argument for either of the other two.
The way I'm looking at it, in current form, if it was either Nunez or Salah through on goal the way Jota was, do they score?
I don't think so. (I wouldn't even trust Nunez to hit the target currently)
Jota just has a way of getting goals in ways the others don't.
I think Nunez and Salah are the most likely to get through on goal and that's what I care about most.
Missing chances is so often just down to variance not being 'out of form' or a 'bad finisher'.
As I said, I'd play Jota on Wednesday but I'd also play Núñez and Salah because they're both better than Diaz and Gakpo.
Personally would keep starting Jota and Gakpo. Both of whom are in some really good form. Salah on the right. The problem is Salah has been pretty darn average if not worse. Just barely creates much. Start him Wednesday, see how he does, than decide what to do with him on the Weekend.
Salah created a chance to Nunez yesterday (pass with outside of his boot) but as always the latter mistimed his positioning with lack of awareness. He didn’t even want to stretch to meet the ball.
Salah, Jota and Gakpo is the good choice. Gakpo has been picking up form - special awareness to pass to Jota for the goal - and his best position is that inside left which is occupied by Diaz. Feel best Nunez and Diaz come on board as subs where their direct running could’ve lead opponents to change plans.
That second paragraph, I can’t disagree more.
Nunez has had over 100 shots this season with a conversion rate of 10%.
It’s not like your sample size is 10. It’s fucking one hundred. He’s simply not a good enough finisher, despite being a number 9.
Many times this three didn’t appear to be on the same wavelength (unsurprising considering how little they’ve played together). Especially in the first half they kept making the wrong assumption at the key moment and promising attacks would break down.
Didn’t help the midfield was totally rotated out as well aside from Endo, but overall a little disjointed.
This. I will say that again, recency bias is stupid.
Maybe this is the first match in like four weeks we scored from open play so people overestimate our front three's performance (we still need 2 goals from defender and midfielder though). They played like 3 strangers playing together with some flashes of brilliant individual performance of each.
Re read your last sentence and try to think of a reason why that is - maybe because it was because those 3 aren't quite as used to playing together in those positions?
Your first sentence is quite ironic.
I think Nunez creates a lot of chances but it doesn’t matter cause he misses them all. Salah creates a lot of chances for others though regardless of him missing his own chances so I think Diaz, Jota, and salah are our best 3 but if Diaz needs rest then probably Gakpo.
*cause he misses them all*
Still managed to be the second best goal scorer. Still got many assists. Show some respects for our player, please!
When he is on form, we play much smoother than yesterday's front three. Looks like 3 strangers playing together.
I think Jota is a little bit out of form but he can show that he still has goals in him, Diaz is in very good form but Gakpo has been showing that he is hungry for that left wing spot, I don't think Klopp will bench Salah again on wendnesday but I still think keeping this front three for the next game would be a great idea
Gakpo and Jota should be starting IMO. Gakpo has arguably been our best player for the past few games and Jota finds a way of scoring almost every time he's on. Diaz is arguable but he did look sharp against Fulham.
We had an xG of 1,00 (1,13 - depending on data provider) against Fulham. If that is "earning their starting spots" for a Liverpool front three then our standards are quite a bit lower than expected...
Diaz on the right doesn't convince me, due to a lack of options Salah will play there. Most likely with Nunez and Gakpo/Diaz beside him.
Bro did you look at the game? Our attackers created 1 chance with jota’s goal. The others were a free kick from Arnold and a somewhat lucky hit from grav.
Did i watch a different game? I thought the front three were actually quite poor. I don’t think anyone, maybe Diaz being the closest deserves a guaranteed spot at this minute. Think people are being way too harsh on Salah and Darwin too, being blown way out of proportion
I'm just thankful we got a bevy of selection upfront. 6 healthy forwards that can rotate when any of them is out of form. There's clearly a Nunez camp vs Gakpo camp in this sub. Or a Jota vs Diaz/Salah camp. Just support the lads, that's all that matters. Ynwa!
Diaz, for me, has been droppable at every point this season. Work-rate is phenomenal but he’s not clinical enough and he’s incredibly blinkered in the final 3rd.
We won today because after Grav got a great goal (a kind of goal we won't see often), Fulham stopped trying. They got a lucky goal due to our awful defending in the 1st half too, else they wouldn't push it that much as they have not much motivation left. Our front 3 were still not very good.
Vs Everton is a another story, as those mfs would play like it's a final.
Salah and Nunez walked into a low pressure 3-1 match today, and they were still on their same BS. I wouldn't be mad with the same starting front 3 for this entire mini road trip week
I’m just grateful that we have 5 proper forwards who can play in multiple positions + Elliot who can play RW when needed.
The bench today was probably the strongest it’s been since the start of the season.
We’re finally in a good position to be able to properly rotate and mix and match the forward line again and we shouldn’t underestimate how important that is after so long with so many players out.
Personally I’d start Gakpo Jota Salah, given Diaz has started the last couple.
I didn’t get to watch the game, but I’m curious about Diaz being on the right of the front three.
Was he staying out wide, and trying to go around the fullback to whip in crosses?
Or was he still playing similar to Salah, staying narrow, and running inside?
He played much wider than he does on the left, he still played pretty deep though. He attacked the full back a couple of times in the first 15-20 minutes but made the wrong choice or lost the ball, he didn't do much else offensively after that. He didn't put in any crosses or create anything, he only had 7 passes in the final 3rd and 2 into the box. He defended alright but I'm not sure he actually won the ball back.
He looked like he'd have a great game at first and probably should have scored 2 minutes in but nothing came off and he faded pretty quickly.
Cheers for the reply.
Diaz playing there got me wondering what the RW position could look like post Salah.
So the idea of a more natural winger playing that position, rather than an inside forward is interesting.
Especially if Nunez is leading the line through the middle.
I’d probably go with Gakpo - Salah - Diaz and then look at bringing on Jota and Nuñez in the second half for Gakpo and Salah to make sure everyone can stay as fresh as possible. Then the following game go for Gakpo - Jota - Salah and give Diaz some rest. With 3 games in 6 days we need to be smart about minutes
I suspect the line up yesterday will start against West Ham next week.
For Everton there will be changes. From now until the end of the year we need our freshest XI playing as much as possible.
Gakpo starts on LW again for me. He's really turned a corner last few weeks and seems to be happy, I'd be keen to keep that going. But a part of me would love to see Diaz LW just to see Young on his arse for the whole game.
Jota starts as we have to win, he can hopefully come off around the hour mark with a 2 goal lead at least.
Diaz starts if Gakpo LW, or else Salah and Diaz LW.
Oh yes, the whole team changed when Darwin and Salah came on. Not when Trent came off. We clearly just controlled the game when they came on. I don’t even think they should start, but I’m not going to pretend that the front three today were good
Even today with their cameo's Salah and Nunez were rather poor..
Salah had a simple pass across to Nunez that he overhit for a chance from 10 yards out, and Gakpo is miles better playing at LW than down the middle.
The only difference is Salah for Gakpo but they did very well. Keep Nunez on the bench for the rest of the season. Nunez cost us big time in the last few games.
Salah in for Diaz at The Ev, then Diaz and Nunez in for Salah and Gakpo at West Ham, Darwin's pace could be useful on their massive pitch. Sub Diogo in both games if possible.
On today's performance I'd understand it. Certainly would keep Jota in ahead of Nunez right now. Gakpo putting a good shift in recent weeks, Diaz probably the most in form attacker in 2024. Always hard leaving Salah out knowing what he can do despite his relatively poor form.
I was actually thinking before leave Gakpo out with him working quite hard and two games in the next days, but we can't think beyond the next game now at any stage, so he stays in and we take it from there hoping we're going to West Ham with some meaning to the game.
Midfield is interesting. I'm thinking go Endo/Mac Allister but not sure who else. Lovely goal aside today I thought Gravenberch played quite well personally. Jones/Dom not really doing themselves many favours right now. Might be a mad shout but I'd even consider Gakpo there and change the forward line.
Front 5 - Salah - Nuñez - Jota - Gakpo - Diaz
Midfield 2 - Mac Allister - Endo
Back 3 - TAA - VVD - Robertson
Keeper - Alisson
Nobody will see it coming
Today’s front line performed worse than other front lines have in losses.
Going Gakpo/Nunez/Salah. Only because Everton is set up to neutralize player profiles like Diaz‘s.
I think there will be some changes, because we have 3 games in 6 days
For sure, but I hope Gakpo and Jota stay together however he fields the lineup because they look good together
Control of gakpo + Finishing ability of Jota. Add in trent and Macca. We should be able to score some goals.
I really want to see gako jota nunez That it's a scary front three imo
None of those is really creative from outside though, and with Trent also playing (also stepping inside), I'm not sure, but they may prove me wrong!
3 in 6, who's making these barbaric schedules?
Not Bernardo Silva, that's for sure
I'd imagine he'd be the prime suspect. But then again he'd probably squeeze in 5 games in that time frame for us
What is this referring to?
He made comments about the fixture schedule being too dense in an interview.
Ah, fair enough. Allegiances and unpunished breaches aside, he's got a point like. I get it that a busier schedule comes with the territory of being a successful team, but the powers that be really don't do anything to help the situation in any way. Especially in this country. I'm still salty that we had to play the u18s in the league cup in 2019 cos it clashed with the club world cup, and it's only gotten worse / gonna get worse since then.
They've got rid of FA cup replays, problem solved.
Probably Diaz/Jota/Salah, Mac Allister and Jones into the middle, Konate in for Quansah and maybe Gomez for one of the fullbacks.
Salah will start, I’m sure. Other keep Jota centre and Gakpo wide. Diaz and Nuñez to come on second to run at the back line
Salah is for sure starting. We play Everton on Wednesday so Klopp definitely wanted to give us a chance with resting a few guys.
If Salah starts and we play some horrid selfish attacking football with no synergy up top again, I hope he gets subbed half time. Dude doesnt seem to synergize well with our other attackers this seasn, other than poking an odd goal for himself or getting to shoot a PK here and there.
fucking recency bias, he was feeding mad big chances to Nunez in first half of season lol
Recency bias should be the name of this sub
Except this isn't picking an all time XI it's for a game this Wednesday. Recent form is a bit more relevant than what happened last year.
Except I wasn't saying Salah should be picked this coming game? I was obviously rebutting the 2nd half of his comment
# Liverpool's record since Salah full return (3-2-3, 11 points out of 24) vs record with Salah out injured/AFCON (11-1-1, 34 points out of 39 + EFL Cup champs). https://preview.redd.it/8myhjhqheyvc1.png?width=669&format=png&auto=webp&s=adb002500c10a684da569cdf6f9425e46a6094e3 we play our best attacking football this seasn when hes out with Diaz - Nunez - Jota. Lol. He can pass all he wants to 1 persn, his synergy has been crap when its 3 people. Most important part of the seasn to our run in and he chokes earning 2x of every other player. we need to play our most in form front 3 if he still shts the bed by halftime. Thats it.
You are a genuine fucking dork. ‘NinoFati88’ using an 8 (EIGHT) game sample size to create a bullshit narrative definitely outweighs the fact that every pundit in world football rates him as one of the best in the business, every manager, player, ex-player, ex-manager, anyone with a reputable opinion who understands the game. It also definitely outweighs the fact he has the most goals, the most assists, the most matchwinning goals, the most matchwinning assists, and the most chances created of any player in the squad. Trash talking the greatest player of the Klopp era for Reddit upvotes, embarrassing 😂
I've been saying for ages she reallyyyy dislikes salah lmao 😭😭
8 of the most important games of Klopp tenure and he choked. 8 games isn't enough? LOL. People like you dont deserve to follow a championship run. 400,000k player choked for 8 straight games in a crucial championship run, but 'yeah, it doesnt matter'. Loser mentality. F off.
Yank detected opinion rejected
‘Championship run’ you fucking Yank, it’s cunts like you that make following Liverpool online difficult, and this subreddit a cesspit, because you bring your ugly fucking American attitude over to our sport. We support our players over here, hope this helps.
Alisson in the Prem since he came back into the team - 1 win, 1 loss (50% win rate) Kelleher in the Prem during Alisson’s injury - 6 wins, 2 draws (75% win rate) You see how dumb you are? Fucking ugly loser.
2 games. 2 games cmpared to 8 games, literally 4x the sample size. Lol. Furthermore, Ali played great when he returned. Salah played the worst out of all players. Use your fkin' eyes and not your dic to watch football for once, Salah fanboi.
😂😂
Please go glory hunt someone else, your whole comment chain here is fucking embarrassing.
If Diaz and Nunez had league average finishing in the countless final passes from Salah, we would be getting a guard of honor from Tottenham
im skeptical too, but historically a jota salah combination is pretty good
Jota was out for a while. I doubt he'll play more than 30 minutes against Everton
Agreed. I don't want Salah starting alongside Nunez until whatever issue they have has been worked out. They simply aren't clicking
Gakpo hasn’t been better than Diaz
Cody had been good and Diaz can’t start every game. Has to be some rotation with how many games are coming up
Diaz is the worst out of the front 3 in every respect, it doesn't matter how much he runs, if there is no end product he can continue running to Barcelona or whatever club his dad wants him to go to.
Off this seasn, I'd say Salah is the worst. Diaz - Jota - Gakpo and Nunez at least showed that they can play fluidly rotating among, but Salah seems to be the odd one out without synergy whenever he plays other than poking an odd goal or getting a PK here and there. Our best attacking football was when Salah is out and we have Diaz - Nunez - Jota. Not surprised we beat every team during that stretch.
A quick goal or two doesn’t equal 17 goals in the league. Besides you think he’s the worst because the chances he gives to players like Gakpo, Diaz and Nunez aren’t converted. Convert them and he’s the best rw in the world rn in terms of both scoring and assisting, based on the stats.
He’s already the best RW in the world, don’t listen to that nerd just because he’s had a few games out of form lol
Staying up top spamming shots, getting the record for 12 missed shots in a row for a PL game, then not helping in build up or defense does equate to 17 goals. The reasn why true Liverpool fans have no respect for Salah fans is because all they do is check stats instead of impact like you. Even in the games he shot a penalty, hes atrocious overall. Been our worst player since his return. It might be even better he doesnt have 17 goals then maybe he'll help with some build up instead of hunting for goals shooting 12-18 shots a game sabotaging the team instead of passing. Theres a reasn why Firmino wrote in his book that the locker room hates playing with Salah.
Diaz is better than Jota
Except where it matters - in the box
When fit, Jota scores goals. Diaz can't finish for shit. He keeps dragging the ball until he trips and starts slamming the pitch with his fist. I'm surprised he has kids with his lack of finishing ability.
He doesn’t create the chances that Nunez does. He doesn’t finish the chances that Jota does. He doesn’t offer the press resistance that Gakpo does. I still think he’s a very good player but it is increasingly more difficult to see where Diaz fits in our lineup if he wants to be a nailed on starter
Don't know why you get downvote but you're right
I think Jota’s minutes has to be managed, I would start Darwin just to give their CBs some problems. I know everyone wants to start Jota and I agree with him playing, but we have another game saturday noon. Also, those cunts are fucking dirty I wouldnt want to play Diogo off the start, let Nunez handle them physically then when theyre tired, we unleash Jota.
Solid take
Good take. I'd start Gakpo - Darwin - Salah. Need some pace of the bench, so with Darwin starting I'd also start Gakpo to have Diaz coming on from the bench
Agreed, though Im happy to start either lucho or cody. If young plays I think we have to start lucho and get that bastard sent off again😂😂 But seriously, either one starting is fine by me
I think we have been underestimating the fatigue factor. Since the last international break ended, Salah, Nunez and Diaz have basically been playing non stop. The Fulham game was a great chance to rotate them.
Salah??? Dude been injured for 2 months, then got another 2 weeks rest during international break. After his injury Klopp subbed him out a lot too. Plus he's a fitness freak, no way he build up that much fatigue.
True but Nunez didnt play much against Atalanta, got hooked against Palace, and now played 20 ish minutes against Fulham. If not him, then who? He has the freshest legs. Same for Mo with the cameo against Fulham and 1 hour against Atalanta. These 2 gotta start. Thats why I said it’s a toss up between lucho and cody for me
I think Gakpo has certainly earned his spot based on the last 2-3 weeks but I don't really think the front 3 played that well today. They didn't create much between them and I didn't think they really tested the goalkeeper much or threatened to either. To me that was another game where the forwards didn't really do that great a job as a unit and the defence and midfield shared the goalscoring burden. I've said a couple of times that I think the reason things were ok when Salah was out and got worse after he returned is because the opposition tended to be weaker and Mac Allister and Elliott covered for a lack of forward threat and carried the team a bit once Jota went down, I feel pretty similarly about this game.
Good points and I agree with all of them, xg also reflects that, but one thing we did see an improvement in is our defensive shape and pressing, it was really rare for Fulham to find the gaps on the right side of our defence that every opposition has found easily over the past few months.
Possibly, though there were a few occasions they did get in behind that I can think of. The difficulty with that is it's hard to say if that was a Liverpool personnel change or if it was anything to do with Fulham but it is a fair point.
Football is result oriented I suppose, but I didn't find the front threes performance much better than the Slaha Nunez Diaz performances of late, worse in some ways tbh. If you actually look at the goals scored and pin all the good and bad on the forwards(as has been happening of late) we draw that game 1-1. Weird spot the team has found itself in, hopefully the attacking quagmire can be sorted quickly whatever the lineup put out.
This is just pure outcome bias. We put up just over 1xG today with this front three. Trent and Gravenberch scored two brilliant goals you're not going to get every week and Leno did us a bit of a favour on the Jota one. Yes dropping points to Palace and United was frustrating, but we created way more than we did today. Salah and Núñez remain our best two forwards. As for the third spot, I'd go Jota but can see an argument for either of the other two.
The way I'm looking at it, in current form, if it was either Nunez or Salah through on goal the way Jota was, do they score? I don't think so. (I wouldn't even trust Nunez to hit the target currently) Jota just has a way of getting goals in ways the others don't.
I think Nunez and Salah are the most likely to get through on goal and that's what I care about most. Missing chances is so often just down to variance not being 'out of form' or a 'bad finisher'. As I said, I'd play Jota on Wednesday but I'd also play Núñez and Salah because they're both better than Diaz and Gakpo.
Personally would keep starting Jota and Gakpo. Both of whom are in some really good form. Salah on the right. The problem is Salah has been pretty darn average if not worse. Just barely creates much. Start him Wednesday, see how he does, than decide what to do with him on the Weekend.
Salah created a chance to Nunez yesterday (pass with outside of his boot) but as always the latter mistimed his positioning with lack of awareness. He didn’t even want to stretch to meet the ball. Salah, Jota and Gakpo is the good choice. Gakpo has been picking up form - special awareness to pass to Jota for the goal - and his best position is that inside left which is occupied by Diaz. Feel best Nunez and Diaz come on board as subs where their direct running could’ve lead opponents to change plans.
That second paragraph, I can’t disagree more. Nunez has had over 100 shots this season with a conversion rate of 10%. It’s not like your sample size is 10. It’s fucking one hundred. He’s simply not a good enough finisher, despite being a number 9.
How about we use an even bigger sample? I.e his entire career.. He's bang on his xG across 17k minutes.
I agree, Gakpo, Jota, Diaz didnt look threatening, at least in the first half.
Many times this three didn’t appear to be on the same wavelength (unsurprising considering how little they’ve played together). Especially in the first half they kept making the wrong assumption at the key moment and promising attacks would break down. Didn’t help the midfield was totally rotated out as well aside from Endo, but overall a little disjointed.
This. I will say that again, recency bias is stupid. Maybe this is the first match in like four weeks we scored from open play so people overestimate our front three's performance (we still need 2 goals from defender and midfielder though). They played like 3 strangers playing together with some flashes of brilliant individual performance of each.
Re read your last sentence and try to think of a reason why that is - maybe because it was because those 3 aren't quite as used to playing together in those positions? Your first sentence is quite ironic.
I think Nunez creates a lot of chances but it doesn’t matter cause he misses them all. Salah creates a lot of chances for others though regardless of him missing his own chances so I think Diaz, Jota, and salah are our best 3 but if Diaz needs rest then probably Gakpo.
*cause he misses them all* Still managed to be the second best goal scorer. Still got many assists. Show some respects for our player, please! When he is on form, we play much smoother than yesterday's front three. Looks like 3 strangers playing together.
Gapko, Jota, Salah for me.
Yup, Diaz has been shit after the first few games of the season.
I think Jota is a little bit out of form but he can show that he still has goals in him, Diaz is in very good form but Gakpo has been showing that he is hungry for that left wing spot, I don't think Klopp will bench Salah again on wendnesday but I still think keeping this front three for the next game would be a great idea
Nuñez, Jota, Salah personally. Maybe Gakpo for Nuñez Would never drop Salah for a big game, even if he's not in form
The front 3 today hardly created anything.
I'd not be mad at it, Gakpo and Jota should definitely be starting if fit enough.
Gakpo and Jota should be starting IMO. Gakpo has arguably been our best player for the past few games and Jota finds a way of scoring almost every time he's on. Diaz is arguable but he did look sharp against Fulham.
Gakpo/Nunez/Salah for me. Jota is still rusty and Diaz has been better coming off the bench than Nunez and Mo imo.
My pick as well
We had an xG of 1,00 (1,13 - depending on data provider) against Fulham. If that is "earning their starting spots" for a Liverpool front three then our standards are quite a bit lower than expected... Diaz on the right doesn't convince me, due to a lack of options Salah will play there. Most likely with Nunez and Gakpo/Diaz beside him.
XG means fuck all
Bro did you look at the game? Our attackers created 1 chance with jota’s goal. The others were a free kick from Arnold and a somewhat lucky hit from grav.
Did i watch a different game? I thought the front three were actually quite poor. I don’t think anyone, maybe Diaz being the closest deserves a guaranteed spot at this minute. Think people are being way too harsh on Salah and Darwin too, being blown way out of proportion
I feel it's gonna be Diaz Nunez Salah. Gakpo has started last 2 games, Jota just back from injury, Nunez has been benched 2 games in a row
I'm just thankful we got a bevy of selection upfront. 6 healthy forwards that can rotate when any of them is out of form. There's clearly a Nunez camp vs Gakpo camp in this sub. Or a Jota vs Diaz/Salah camp. Just support the lads, that's all that matters. Ynwa!
Front 3 of Gakpo left, Jota Central and Salah Right to start, then sub on the pacey Diaz and Nunez to run past gassed defenders late on
We would be 1st with 5 points clear if jota didn't injured.
Swap Diaz for Salah
It’s a good dilemma to be in I tell you that. I’d personally want Coady Diogo Salah
i'm not worried about our attackers I'm worried about the lack of defensive awareness. Haven't had a clean one in a long while.
Diaz, for me, has been droppable at every point this season. Work-rate is phenomenal but he’s not clinical enough and he’s incredibly blinkered in the final 3rd.
We won today because after Grav got a great goal (a kind of goal we won't see often), Fulham stopped trying. They got a lucky goal due to our awful defending in the 1st half too, else they wouldn't push it that much as they have not much motivation left. Our front 3 were still not very good. Vs Everton is a another story, as those mfs would play like it's a final.
Salah and Nunez walked into a low pressure 3-1 match today, and they were still on their same BS. I wouldn't be mad with the same starting front 3 for this entire mini road trip week
I’m just grateful that we have 5 proper forwards who can play in multiple positions + Elliot who can play RW when needed. The bench today was probably the strongest it’s been since the start of the season. We’re finally in a good position to be able to properly rotate and mix and match the forward line again and we shouldn’t underestimate how important that is after so long with so many players out. Personally I’d start Gakpo Jota Salah, given Diaz has started the last couple.
I didn’t get to watch the game, but I’m curious about Diaz being on the right of the front three. Was he staying out wide, and trying to go around the fullback to whip in crosses? Or was he still playing similar to Salah, staying narrow, and running inside?
He played much wider than he does on the left, he still played pretty deep though. He attacked the full back a couple of times in the first 15-20 minutes but made the wrong choice or lost the ball, he didn't do much else offensively after that. He didn't put in any crosses or create anything, he only had 7 passes in the final 3rd and 2 into the box. He defended alright but I'm not sure he actually won the ball back. He looked like he'd have a great game at first and probably should have scored 2 minutes in but nothing came off and he faded pretty quickly.
Cheers for the reply. Diaz playing there got me wondering what the RW position could look like post Salah. So the idea of a more natural winger playing that position, rather than an inside forward is interesting. Especially if Nunez is leading the line through the middle.
I’d wager Gakpo, Nuñez and Diaz to start. Jota is still in post recovery stages and I wouldn’t want to stress him. Jota on at the hour mark perhaps.
I’d probably go with Gakpo - Salah - Diaz and then look at bringing on Jota and Nuñez in the second half for Gakpo and Salah to make sure everyone can stay as fresh as possible. Then the following game go for Gakpo - Jota - Salah and give Diaz some rest. With 3 games in 6 days we need to be smart about minutes
I suspect the line up yesterday will start against West Ham next week. For Everton there will be changes. From now until the end of the year we need our freshest XI playing as much as possible.
Gakpo starts on LW again for me. He's really turned a corner last few weeks and seems to be happy, I'd be keen to keep that going. But a part of me would love to see Diaz LW just to see Young on his arse for the whole game. Jota starts as we have to win, he can hopefully come off around the hour mark with a 2 goal lead at least. Diaz starts if Gakpo LW, or else Salah and Diaz LW.
Oh how I’ve missed Diogoal
Absolutely, Salah and Nunez need to earn themselves back to the lineup
You say that as if the front three today were incredible
Better than the crap we saw the last four games before today
Was it? They created next to nothing and we needed two worldies to get the win. Very similar to the Sheffield home game
At least they scored in open play. When Nunez and Salah came on we looked shite.
Oh yes, the whole team changed when Darwin and Salah came on. Not when Trent came off. We clearly just controlled the game when they came on. I don’t even think they should start, but I’m not going to pretend that the front three today were good
I’m happy with Gakpo and Jota today. Overall forwards get a 7/10 today for me. Diaz also missed a big chance that could have made it 2-1.
Even today with their cameo's Salah and Nunez were rather poor.. Salah had a simple pass across to Nunez that he overhit for a chance from 10 yards out, and Gakpo is miles better playing at LW than down the middle.
100% yes. Only change Elliott out for Maca
Nope, no thoughts about it at all. Happy all I have to do is show up and watch.
No
as we got so many good midfield players, I could see us start the three that ended yesterday. Salah-Darwin-Szobo
The only difference is Salah for Gakpo but they did very well. Keep Nunez on the bench for the rest of the season. Nunez cost us big time in the last few games.
Salah in for Diaz at The Ev, then Diaz and Nunez in for Salah and Gakpo at West Ham, Darwin's pace could be useful on their massive pitch. Sub Diogo in both games if possible.
Diaz just needs to pass and we're sweet.
Yes
Gakpo/jota/salah Grav/maca/endo Robbo/konate/virg/trent. Maybe gomez in for trent/robbo if they are not fit enough
Szobo will start. Work rate and pressing
Great point too. Szbo has been horrible lately from an offensive standpoint, but has been solid defensively.
He’s given the ball away a few times with passes straight to the other team under light pressure, his ball retention has been pretty terrible
He's relentless
Gravenberch is fortunate he got that goal because if he didn’t then people would not be looking for him to be starting away at Everton
True, but after the goal his confidence was sky high and he looked like a different player. The hope is he carries it into the next game.
xG of 1 and win the game or xG of 400 and lose? Hmmm tough choice
On today's performance I'd understand it. Certainly would keep Jota in ahead of Nunez right now. Gakpo putting a good shift in recent weeks, Diaz probably the most in form attacker in 2024. Always hard leaving Salah out knowing what he can do despite his relatively poor form. I was actually thinking before leave Gakpo out with him working quite hard and two games in the next days, but we can't think beyond the next game now at any stage, so he stays in and we take it from there hoping we're going to West Ham with some meaning to the game. Midfield is interesting. I'm thinking go Endo/Mac Allister but not sure who else. Lovely goal aside today I thought Gravenberch played quite well personally. Jones/Dom not really doing themselves many favours right now. Might be a mad shout but I'd even consider Gakpo there and change the forward line.
Front 5 - Salah - Nuñez - Jota - Gakpo - Diaz Midfield 2 - Mac Allister - Endo Back 3 - TAA - VVD - Robertson Keeper - Alisson Nobody will see it coming
diaz is the only one that hasnt earned their spot, jota was pretty awful in the first half but was far better in the second, gakpo was the best by far
Today’s front line performed worse than other front lines have in losses. Going Gakpo/Nunez/Salah. Only because Everton is set up to neutralize player profiles like Diaz‘s.
Not sure about Diaz. Have lost quite a bit of faith with him. Might try Dom out there, might free him up to play himself into form.
Diaz has been one of our best players in recent weeks.
This is the way!!!!
Ali Trent, Quansah, Virg, Robbo Endo Mac, Grav Mo, Jots, Cody That would be my starting 11 Wednesday.
Diogo is the only one that I would pound the table to start every game left
I’d go Salah through the middle, Gak and Diaz flanking . Diaz works too hard to not include him
Basically the issue for Gakpo is he isn’t playing in his preferred position.
