Where is everybody, still no thread for tomorrow?
I think West Ham will be a difficult test - on paper they are set up perfectly to exploit our usual weaknesses: physical defenders who are comfortable to defend deep for 90 minutes if necessary, genuine quality on the counter in Arnautovic and Joao Mario or Lanzini, a poacher up front, a goalkeeper capable of inspired performances (I mean Adrian, of course), the usual threat on set pieces... They will be missing some attacking threat in Masuaku, who is suspended, and physical “plan B” up front in Andy Carroll, but overall I think it will be one of the harder home games this season.
In terms of tactics fortunately our usual 4-3-3 works quite well against 3-5-2, so it will be up to Moyes to try to devise something different. I think we’ve won every game against 3-5-2 this season except Chelsea and Swansea; surely Moyes will be looking at the latter in particular for inspiration. For that reason I think there is almost no chance Oxlade (who started vs Swansea and was ineffective) will play from the start in this game.
Klopp promised that “the strongest players will play” from now on until the end of the season, so this selection will reveal a lot about his thinking and priorities. Key questions:
1. Trent or Gomez? It would seem that Gomez would be better physically equipped to deal with the threat of Arnautovic, but Trent did perform excellently in his absence and perhaps has just earned his place.
2. Who will miss out between Hendo, Gini and Can? That’s going to be a tough and consequential selection, especially if the captain is the one to miss out. Let’s see if Can’s contract situation has any influence on this.
3. Which attack-minded midfielder will join the front four? I think we are talking about 1 place up for grabs between Lallana, Oxlade and Milner. Based on recent form, Milner should win it hands down, but who knows if the training camp in Marbella changed anything. For sure after all these training sessions Lallana should be fitter than before and given his potential importance to this team in the run-in is it the time for his first start?
Prediction (based on absolutely nothing):
————————Karius————————
Trent———Lovren——Van Dijk-—-Robbo
————————-Hendo———————-
————Gini———————Lallana——-
Salah—————Firmino—————-Mane
I think West Ham will be a difficult test - on paper they are set up perfectly to exploit our usual weaknesses: physical defenders who are comfortable to defend deep for 90 minutes if necessary, genuine quality on the counter in Arnautovic and Joao Mario or Lanzini, a poacher up front, a goalkeeper capable of inspired performances (I mean Adrian, of course), the usual threat on set pieces... They will be missing some attacking threat in Masuaku, who is suspended, and physical “plan B” up front in Andy Carroll, but overall I think it will be one of the harder home games this season.
In terms of tactics fortunately our usual 4-3-3 works quite well against 3-5-2, so it will be up to Moyes to try to devise something different. I think we’ve won every game against 3-5-2 this season except Chelsea and Swansea; surely Moyes will be looking at the latter in particular for inspiration. For that reason I think there is almost no chance Oxlade (who started vs Swansea and was ineffective) will play from the start in this game.
Klopp promised that “the strongest players will play” from now on until the end of the season, so this selection will reveal a lot about his thinking and priorities. Key questions:
1. Trent or Gomez? It would seem that Gomez would be better physically equipped to deal with the threat of Arnautovic, but Trent did perform excellently in his absence and perhaps has just earned his place.
2. Who will miss out between Hendo, Gini and Can? That’s going to be a tough and consequential selection, especially if the captain is the one to miss out. Let’s see if Can’s contract situation has any influence on this.
3. Which attack-minded midfielder will join the front four? I think we are talking about 1 place up for grabs between Lallana, Oxlade and Milner. Based on recent form, Milner should win it hands down, but who knows if the training camp in Marbella changed anything. For sure after all these training sessions Lallana should be fitter than before and given his potential importance to this team in the run-in is it the time for his first start?
Prediction (based on absolutely nothing):
————————Karius————————
Trent———Lovren——Van Dijk-—-Robbo
————————-Hendo———————-
————Gini———————Lallana——-
Salah—————Firmino—————-Mane
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