I saw something last night that said something along the lines of Arsenal being unbeaten in their last 15 PL games (10W, 5D) which is their longest run under Arteta and their longest run since like 2011.

The gap between Arsenal and Liverpool when this run started (after 10 matches played) was 7 points. The gap now? *checks notes* 7 points.

I know the media will try their best to stir up stories for a so called "title race" to encourage engagement and whatnot. And, tbh, they should and every right to do so. And I understand that from now until someone is crowned champions, every game will be reported as the door closing/opening, depending on results. I agree we have not played our best the last 3-4 games and that yesterday was "nervier" than it should have been. But I think all this talk of Liverpool "wobbling" needs to calm down a bit, at least from Liverpool supporters (let the rest of the league talk). Another way of looking at it is that we are a pretty good team that knows how to grind out results.

We have three HUGE games coming up (away to Villa, away to City, and home to Newcastle). Imagine the psychological advantage we would have with a 10 point lead if we beat Villa. Win these 3 games and we should be in cruise control until the end of April/beginning of May when we play Tottenham and Chelsea, respectively. We may even have the title wrapped up by the time we play Arsenal in MW 36. Just have to keep getting wins and not let our foot off the gas. I don't think Arsenal (or us for that matter) are capable of stringing 13 wins in a row. But even if Arsenal somehow pull that off, we would just need 11 wins for the title.

I tend to agree. I enjoy that every game means something in the EPL, either from a historical perspective or from a title challenge perspective, but it gets pretty exhausting after every match when the pundits and social media go on and on and on about "liverpool is wobbling" or "they don't look great right now." Well no crap, but we are stilling winning games and picking up points. In the United States its "Kansas City hasn't looked all that great, but they find ways to win games and display a championship mentality".

Last thing I'll add to this is; once the Champions League starts again in January, the schedule from that point through pretty much the end of March is HELLATIOUS. I thought we looked incredibly leggy Sunday, on top of just overall not being totally there from a mental perspective.

ETA: I think Slot is going to have to be pretty brave over the next few weeks in his team selection. The likes of Maca, Szbo, Robo, Diaz etc. are going to need a break, so he's going to have to have the stones to select Jones, Elliott, Nunez, Tsimikas and maybe even a Chiesa to start or play significant minutes.

Tksymm7 said:

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I tend to agree. I enjoy that every game means something in the EPL, either from a historical perspective or from a title challenge perspective, but it gets pretty exhausting after every match when the pundits and social media go on and on and on about "liverpool is wobbling" or "they don't look great right now." Well no crap, but we are stilling winning games and picking up points. In the United States its "Kansas City hasn't looked all that great, but they find ways to win games and display a championship mentality".

Last thing I'll add to this is; once the Champions League starts again in January, the schedule from that point through pretty much the end of March is HELLATIOUS. I thought we looked incredibly leggy Sunday, on top of just overall not being totally there from a mental perspective.

ETA: I think Slot is going to have to be pretty brave over the next few weeks in his team selection. The likes of Maca, Szbo, Robo, Diaz etc. are going to need a break, so he's going to have to have the stones to select Jones, Elliott, Nunez, Tsimikas and maybe even a Chiesa to start or play significant minutes.

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Arsenal's depth is much worse than Liverpool's right now so I think overall you guys have the advantage on "legs" and of course the large cushion at the top of the table.

I'd be surprised from here if Liverpool lost it

What sucks is we were rewarded for finishing top of the CL table with direct passage to R16 and should have have had two midweek breaks. But the PL thought those two midweeks were ideal times to put two PL games for us. Which means Liverpool will have played 8 games in the month of February, a game every 3.5 days. So I'm not sure we have an advantage on "legs". Like Tksymm7 pointed out, Slot is going to have to trust some of the players from the abysmal showing at Plymouth to play significant minutes in the next few games bc it is unsustainable to ask VvD, Gravenberch, Salah, Mac Allister, Szobozlai, etc to continue to play the number of minutes they have.

Yeah, January/February has been unreal. We could talk about this every year until the cows come home, but there's too many games on the calendar these days, and not enough time off. Running like these guys do absolutely wrecks your body with much they run and at the intensity they do. League, one domestic cup and one European cup if you make it. That should be it.

On the needing to make subs discussion, I think you start with Mac Allister and Robertson, and go from there. Curtis Jones and Tsimikas would play Wednesday for me if I were the coach. Mac Allister looked absolutley shattered after 60 minutes against Wolves. I'd probably start Nunez up front as well.

Some of the straight up p-word behavior by Liverpool fans has me almost unhinged. People are so beyond scared of defeat that they let the highs of a season like this completely escape them, and I am OVER IT. WE'RE 7 POINTS UP IN THE FIRST YEAR OF A NEW COACH. ENJOY THIS.

Tksymm7 said:

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Some of the straight up p-word behavior by Liverpool fans has me almost unhinged. People are so beyond scared of defeat that they let the highs of a season like this completely escape them, and I am OVER IT. WE'RE 7 POINTS UP IN THE FIRST YEAR OF A NEW COACH. ENJOY THIS.

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A 30 year void of titles will do that to any fan base, especially one as rabid as Liverpool. Especially when you consider how close Liverpool came at times. I don't blame fans for not believing until it happens….hell I don't.

Also, seeing fans piss and moan on social media isn't representative of the larger fanbase at all. Online behavior incentivizes strong negative reactions to drive added engagement. So yeah, the twitter and youtube folks are always going to be skewed towards the negative side of the spectrum. I'm loving the ride so far... even when I'm stressed to the max watching a close game.

Let's win a freaking game today!

BTHO Villa

Interesting team selection today. I would think Jota is up top with Jones more out left? We need Szobozlai's running in the middle. Maybe Slot is placing extra emphasis on the midfield and overloading it with 4 and letting Jota and Salah free up front? It'll be interesting to see how the team shape changes throughout the game.

Villa can beat anyone if they are up for it. I am hopeful, though, that the team that struggled with a 10 man Ipswich over the weekend shows up. Score first & early and I think we can easily handle them. They've made three changes and brought in Mings at CB for Kamara and put Asensio and Rashford on the wings in place of Ramsey and Malen. Rashford has caused TAA problems in the past so Konate is going to have to have a great game. Also, put McGinn in his place, he can be a nuisance if it turns into a physical game.

They don't have any real game changers on the bench other than maybe Malen? Ramsey can provide legs in the midfield. But if we are struggling and in need of a goal, I hope Darwin is set loose to create chaos up the middle and Diaz (or Chiesa but I think Slot no longer trusts him and he will struggle to find game time now) is free to run the left side.

Exciting but nervous game ahead. Win and we have everything in front of us with a 10 point lead at the top. Squash any hope Arsenal has.

Ugh

Going to have find a way to at least level in the 2nd half.

Pretty poor performance so far outside a few self imposed errors by Villa. We are ceding possession in the middle of the park. Not enough effort and technical skill across the board. Hopefully Arne has some second half magic up his sleeve.

Sell Nunez. Tomorrow.

Yep, Nunez time is done here.

How many chances is Nunez going to get?!

Sell him again. Two times over.

These announcers are atrocious.

His price tag dropping every minute he plays today

And lost Bradley to an injury….

Well, we had extremely good spells of the game and really poor ones. Again, Nunez shouldn't see the field again. I would have Danns above him but he's gone.

Extremely lucky at the end to not lose. Form continues to be subpar at the moment.

I thought the four midfielders really worked for the most part, and our attack had real teeth again, but unfortunately I think the fullbacks defensively, and how they connect to our CBs, continue to be the biggest weak link in this team.

hoosierAG said:

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And lost Bradley to an injury….

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Any news on his prognosis?

I guess we'll see if City has folded up the tents this weekend or if they have any fight left. A win would be massive.

Poor showing today and the title race is on. We have no one to reliably score goals outside of the King. Mo should renegotiate his renegotiation…he's worth all the money. Scary to think of this team without him. Midfield still not able to control the game and too many chances in transition. The lack of depth (particularly in midfield) with the matches piling up we look slow and lethargic. Lack of a clinical finisher (other than Mo) a massive issue. Slot needs a tactical rethink. We'll see how he responds. Next few games are massive. Lucky to even get 5 points of the last 9. Yeesh.

Slot stated that they still have to check him but he said he is out for at least MC and Newcastle. Gomez had surgery on his hamstring and Gakpo is a toss up at best to return for MC.

So the back is left with our starters and Tsimikas and Quansah. RB is only Trent. Slot will have to use Endo back there as before.

Agree. Gakpo going down really hurt because he was the other scoring option and was on a hot streak. Szo has been great, but everyone else (besides Mo) have fallen off a cliff. It seems all the games and no depth (Elliot, Chiesa, and others are just wasted roster spots under Slot) have taken it's toll. No more ruthlessness and controlling the games with aggressive attacking to get the ball and when they do the one touch or buildups are just given away or taken away. Grav and Mac especially look spent.

I know MC looks done, but winning there is a tall order and Newcastle at home is gonna be nervy at best. Feels like grabbing 4 in these next 2 is our best case scenario and then hope Arsenal drop some points in their next 2.

Getting Gakpo back is huge. He's the other proven, bona fide goal scorer that this team needs. I'd also continue to play Jota because at least we know he can score goals. Ride him until he breaks again and then sell him in the summer. Nunez doesn't see the field for me and has a "break glass in case of emergency" designation on him now.

Regarding some of eiggA2002's comments above; I think there's some validity to their comments and some "that's just good v. good football" going on recently. I do agree that our midfield looks absolutely spent right now and that it has led to a bit of back and forth football recently, but on the other hand I think back and forth football is simply just a product of good teams going at it, especially good v. good in the midfield. Villa had their chances with Morgan Rogers and Tieleman's running with the ball, and we had ours controlling the ball with Grav, Maca and Jones, and Szbo pushing forward.

I also don't necessarily think we necessarily lack depth in midfield. We have a great group of six guys in Mac Allister, Grav, Jones, Szbo, Elliott and Endo. What I do think we lack is a specific type of depth. From that group I mentioned, Mac Allister, Elliott and Endo aren't particularly athletic, and also quite short. That's not a bad thing, but when you take into account we play Szbo as almost a false 9, it leaves us pretty unathletic and short in the true middle of park. Then add on that Slot hasn't rotated there as much as he should have, and you get a midfield that is teetering at times (they haven't been garbage, just not dominant like we've seen).

What I have mentioned above is why I think Slot went with Grav, Mac Allister, Szbo and Jones in midfield last game. To lighten the load some and give an extra option. I thought it worked for the most part until the game became unhinged in the last 10 at Villa. I personally would do the same thing against City, except I really think I would give Mac Allister the day off and get Elliott on the field. Slot won't do it, but I think Mac Allister is shattered right now.

ETA: Sorry for the long post, but I have been brewing on that take for a while. Outside of terrible fullback defense, I think that is this teams issue right now.

Well said...and no need to apologize for long post, good stuff and great discussion!

And making things worse, especially from midfield depth, we are still going to lose Jones and Slot for sometime once the red card decisions come.

Is Jones still subject to discipline even after he served his one match suspension? He was given a second yellow, not a straight red like Slot.