I was unable to make time for writing for a while, but changes in my life i.e. a 2-hour commute mean I’ve now managed to create a routine where I should be able to share my thoughts for anyone daft enough to care.
Saturday marks the return of the Premier League and the start of possibly my favourite footballing time of the year. Leading into Christmas and still being involved in Europe means game after game, weekend / midweek for most weeks, peaking with the Festive Footballing Frenzy that I love. When people talk about a mid-season break, I couldn’t imagine Christmas without Liverpool being on telly over the period, and a later break in the harsher Jan / Feb months is sensible for the fans as well as a sensible commercial decision.
Liverpool return with a tough game away at Watford, flying high in 7th. They’re a good team playing good football, well balanced they can defend and cause trouble for opposition defences. Liverpool will need to be at their defensive best while hoping that the shoots of recovery up front are bolstered by Sadio Mane’s new contract news. In less than a year the front three have all signed improved contracts, which on the one hand in the modern game means nothing long term, but obviously does show a commitment in the medium term at least. It’s become a point of focus for many that the front three haven’t quite clicked with the same menace as last year, but the results are what matters, and the results are better than the same time last year. So it’s a non-story as far as being a Liverpool fan goes, or at least it’s more hope to hold on to – imagine when they click and we start steam-rollering teams. That will happen and while I don’t expect it, we did get a great result v Watford at home last year when we’d gained momentum, unlike when they held us 3-3 at home at the start of the season.
The international break seems for once to have been good for Liverpool, Van Dijk showing class on and off the field with a superb late goal matching fine and humbling gestures to the mascot and referee in the respective games. Trent bagged his first England goal, Scotland got a decent win for Robbo, Shaquiri helped engineer an incredible turnaround against a talented Belgium side and Mo Salah bagged another late goal. Joe Gomez also had a great break and aided the England victory over Croatia which saw them reach the semi-finals of the Nations League which is probably growing on people now it’s passed. Most of the players will return buzzing and ready to go in the busy period ahead, and that can only be a good thing, because the challenge is a tricky one.
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)‘Only’ two points behind Man City, while we will always be hoping for a favour from some of our rivals, in reality it’s probably helpful knowing we won’t get any favours from anyone. It should keep the team focussed, unable to drop any points so that they stay on City’s shoulders until we meet them in January for our first game of the New Year. All being well that game could be a crunch tie and help swing the race back in our favour, if it hasn’t already changed before then. City have a slightly harder period until that match than we do, but they look imperious and it’s us who need to stay on our game and make sure we don’t have any slip ups. Once upon a time West Ham away might have raised hopes of a chance for them to slip up, but even with ex-manager Pellegrini at the helm I just don’t see it happening.
Reading some facts from the BBC, you could talk this Watford v Liverpool game anyway you wanted. Liverpool have only a 1-0 away win in the last 5 away games in all comps. But against Watford the record is 9 wins and 1 draw from 11 fixtures against them, their last win a 3-0 home win in 2015. Salah has 5 in 2 while Firmino has 4 goals and 3 assists in 5. Watford have won 5 of 7 home games. But they’ve lost 15 of 17 against top two sides. Watford are on a record number of points after 12 games, Liverpool’s record is the best at this point since 2002-2003.
Jurgen Klopp is no fool and will be treating this game with great caution, having watched how they play and will come up with a way to get the best out of his own team. Despite not much time to prepare after the international break, he’ll have the team geared up and will use their international successes for maintaining momentum. He has an almost full squad to choose from, including a midfield bustling with players desperate to play. I find it interesting that Emre Can left and despite being a player with great potential who never quite did it consistently for Liverpool, he’s certainly not been missed, in fact nobody ever mentions him, which I find a great sign of how strong our midfield is now.
Having managed draws at City and Chelsea, and a win at Tottenham so far away this season, it’d be a huge surprise if Liverpool didn’t come away with something at Watford. Klopp will be encouraging his team to make sure they start this period with a bang, so I would expect a Liverpool win, with a draw not being impossible for Watford.