Liverpool banter 7

04 Nov 2026 19:01:53
Nyoni is the future in a Liverpool midfield. The question is who plays alongside him. None of the "regulars" look like midfielders I want beside him for the foreseeable and longterm future. Doms a complete headless chicken at times.

04 Nov 2026 20:08:06
He is quality and going to be an absolute fantastic player but needs a proper 6 alongside him.
That type of player will only bring out his existing qualities to a higher level.
Please please please address this issue in the next window.

It's like groundhog day.
We need energy, physicality and desire in the team and squad!
Araujo has brought it but we need another 2 or 3 with a similar mindset.

04 Nov 2026 18:19:53
Lukaku bullying Virgil, I can't recall a time I've ever seen Virgil look to struggle physically against an opposition.

04 Nov 2026 18:30:57
Clearly took a knock and is carrying it.

04 Nov 2026 19:18:43
what game are you watching man? lukaku once got the better of vvd, and that was when he pushed him off the ball and gave away a foul. I know people love to fish for problems, but VVD is among the least concerning things for us right now.

04 Nov 2026 19:35:41
He was physically dominating Virgil for the first 45 minutes. Virgil grew into the battle, taking the knock as explained by Liverpoolfc8 would explain that happening. Not sure if you're dodgy stick is behind or something.

04 Nov 2026 13:25:10
We've a player on our hands in young Will Wright lads.

04 Nov 2026 14:19:31
So I'm hearing FM. How good is he?

04 Nov 2026 14:32:21
Gonna be interesting to see who steps up, Wright or Danns, because I suspect both profiles may be needed, when Isak pulls up with something. Iraola has shown his willingness to use youth, and rotate the offensive unit, game by game (Unless your name is Gakpo) so it is a possibility.

Wright and Luca Eden look like genuine prospect for the first team, in a couple of years, in addition to Ndukwe. Hopefully no set backs along the way that could hamper their potential. It does look like we have some pretty decent prospects that could play a part in our future.

04 Nov 2026 15:10:13
Looks really good at the level he's at. All types of different finishes. Stays away from injuries and he has a good chance. Thirteen for the season now after today.

04 Nov 2026 15:18:53
Cheers FM. Nothing better than to see a youngster coming through the ranks 🤞.

04 Nov 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 9 - Quick Round Up

04 Nov 2026 10:38:06
Great round up Ed.

{Ed001's Note - thank you T.

04 Nov 2026 17:51:13
Great read, Thanks Ed1 👏.

04 Nov 2026 14:45:58
Great read ed..if you were iraola who would you look to bring in and sell over the next couple of windows?

{Ed001's Note - it would be easier to list who I would be keen to keep, which is basically just Nyoni, Koumas and some of the young defenders plus Araujo over the next couple of windows. Virgil and Ali have both needed a long term replacement for years now, Ali can't be relied upon to stay fit and Virgil has regressed enormously. And the rest are just too soft, though I would keep Kerkez too, he can fight for a place and hopefully refind his form.

Looking at that front 3 that started tonight and it is the worst I have ever seen start a competitive match for us. Not one of them is a goalscorer, not one of them has decent striking technique and I am not convinced we haven't been sold a pup with Barcola. I have still not seen anything to suggest we bought well with him.}

04 Nov 2026 06:30:14
Sorry Ed001
If you could also pick just one midfield addition in January, who would you choose on an available and realistic basis?

{Ed001's Note - I would only go for someone if it was the right player, Sadiki in other words. It if is not him, I would rather work with Nyoni to give him time.}

04 Nov 2026 09:32:48
Have Sadiki been any good for Sunderland this season? Seriously asking as i see their results are all over the place!

04 Nov 2026 10:08:16
Well, Robbo relegated with Hull. See how it turned out.

04 Nov 2026 12:42:11
Wiji was also relegated with Newcastle and he did alright with us.

04 Nov 2026 06:28:49
Ed001
What's your thoughts on Camara
He is versatile, a good passer, is he a natural aggressor, strong in the tackle, good reader of the game?
I have seen next to nothing of him as I have no interest in the French league
Interested to see if you think he would be a good fit?

{Ed001's Note - I have not seen enough of him to be sure, the little I have seen he looked good, but I wouldn't say it was enough.}

04 Nov 2026 07:57:32
Honestly we looked fine with Mac and Trey but I fear we will shoehorn Sob in and it's all going to be a mess again.

Sob and Wirtz should be competing for the 10 spot (which may actually help them both get better at it)

04 Nov 2026 08:27:47
Dom and Nyoni looked ok in pre season. Would like to see a Nyoni Macca duo with Dom ahead.

04 Nov 2026 11:27:10
Lamine Camara is performing even better across all midfield metrics this season. He's Ligue 1's standout midfielder outside of Vitinha and Neves.

03 Nov 2026 16:56:27
Ed001 if we replayed the Arsenal game, what would you do to get us the result. Or do you believe we're just not at the level yet to beat that Arsenal side set up like that?
There's a lot of praise for that Arsenal side but Brighton showed you can get at them at score against them.

{Ed001's Note - if Isak puts some effort in, we would have got a result. That was the main difference, not talking about the penalty either, his all round game is just so poor at the moment.}

03 Nov 2026 19:20:18
Ed001 tryoni grew into the game and it spoke highly to the lad that as soon as he went off, centrally we lost more control and balance. I'm hoping we buy a top midfielder in January and this young lad is given the same grace as Bradley to flourish there.

{Ed001's Note - he was very good, we need to give him plenty of time.}

03 Nov 2026 20:20:57
interesting take on the match Ed01.
I didn't notice that so much re Isak. I thought, probably like most, that Isak wasn't given a lot of supply.
What could he have done to affect the result positively do you think? To make obvious to the untrained eye that is?

{Ed001's Note - make runs.}

03 Nov 2026 21:13:44
Isak will score goals for us for sure, but I don't think a goal mouth predator is the right profile of striker for Liverpool.

03 Nov 2026 21:19:18
Faithinworrks, I think Isak is an all rounder. He just need to trust his body more and actually put in the effort.

03 Nov 2026 22:00:13
Isak has scored 6 PL goals from 8 PL games (7 starts) that's not a bad conversion rate considering he does not take the penalties like Salah did, at Newcastle his highest PL goals in a season was 23 (5 pens), the problem the team has is not giving him more chances to score, Newcastle could provide the service, no reasons why LFC cant. Ekiteke scored 11 PL goals from 28 games last season.
Isak scored 3 PL goals from 14 apps last season, now has circa double the goals from less appearances than last PL season.

The best profile any forward can have is to score goals, scoring goals is the most important commodity in any game of football, if you don't score you don't win a PL game.

03 Nov 2026 22:03:57
Isak on his own is not enough.
We need goals from other players too.

When we have had really good teams in recent years, it is not just one player on his own.
When we had Torres as he had his best season with us, we had goals from Gerrard, Alonso in midfield.

When we had Suarez, Sterling and Sturridge we had 2 of them hitting double figures.

Salah, Mane, Firmino pretty obvious they all chipped in.

Salah in his last good season 24-25 he hit 29 in the league. Luis Diaz got 13 goals. Gakpo got 10. Diogo R. I. P. he got 6 and so did Szoboszlai. Nunez and Macca got 5 each.

So unless Isak has a player in the mould of Suarez to play off there's just not been the input yet from Wirtz and Barcola. Wirtz may never be that guy. When we had Coutinho he would still score.
Barcola is potentially a very good player but asking him to be something he's not is just not going to happen.

Iraola has to find the right formula.

03 Nov 2026 23:10:27
The issue against Arsenal, in my opinion, was playing into their hands; they're more than happy to sit back and defend for 70 minutes. That's why they've got 17 CB's. We shouldn't have been afraid to give up a little possession in the second half for the sake of stretching them out, creating some space and catching them on the counter, like we did against Brighton, CB's do not like backpedalling, something Brighton actually showed themselves when they got 3 against the gooners. Brighton were also high pressing and aggressively looking for turnovers in the final 3rd which was hugely beneficial, but something I thnk we're still a ways off mastering.

We didn't play to our strengths, for example, Barcola, lightning quick, does anybody remember how many lightning quick runs he made in behind? I've a short memory but I don't think the lad was at a full stretch at any point in the game. There was one or two moments early in the first half, I think that was it, I only really remember him trying to beat settled defenders head on after that, something he's not great at.

Isak's best asset is his timing, particularly when he's arriving into the box, how much of that did we see? Not enough. You put those 2 things together, and the ideal scenario is actually Barcola bombing down the wing, receiving an early ball on the run in behind, preferably down the right-hand side and looking for Isaks run into the box to deliver an early cross. How many times did that happen?

Sure Barcola is dangerous form the left side too of course, and did manage to find pockets of space at times, but they were those little tiny pockets you get on jeans that live inside a bigger pocket, you know the one that nobody knows what it's used for except that one time you got 2 quid stuck in it and never managed to get it back out so your misses ended up throwing that pair out because you can hear it banging around in the washing machine every time she does a load and it was doing her head in but I really miss them jeans, they were favourite pair, and they don't even make them anymore.

What was the question?

03 Nov 2026 23:19:00
Andoni in his press conference tonight said he has not made a complaint about the referee on sunday, his reply when asked was " i have not got any time to make a complaint "

Well Done Andoni telling them to shove it where the Sun doesn't shine? they have always purposefully ignored LFC, you ignore them.

Gravenberch injury may be a blessing in disguise, for adding a midfielder in the winter transfer window, our last notable winter signing was VVD. Gravenberch has been out of sorts but an out of sorts Ryan is still far better than prime McConnell.

03 Nov 2026 23:59:47
I thought we signed Gakpo. And Diaz in the winter?

04 Nov 2026 05:57:19
Along with mancity for cheating we need to ban Arsenal for being anti-football club. Like every game 30-40% of time ball is out of the field.

04 Nov 2026 07:04:55
Just like some thought Lallana, Lambert and Balotelli would replace the goals scored by Suarez, We spunked money on Bracola, Isak and Wirtz to replace the numbers by Salah. Unfortunately it is not happening atm. If wirtz was even 10% of what coutinho did for us, we would be competing for the league by now.

04 Nov 2026 07:25:51
he could also have done more with the chances he had, Arsenal players went to ground straight whenever it looked like he was about to take a shot, could have just faked it. i mean either way, get the goalkeeper to work at least.

04 Nov 2026 09:55:27
First half we looked really dangerous putting crosses in. We seemed to stop doing it in the second half and reverted to the classic Slot tactic of passing it sideways with nobody making any runs. For a manager who never made the players train he sure seems to have engrained that into them.

04 Nov 2026 10:04:41
Just looked up Coutinho's stats. his final run before heading to Barca was12 goals and 8 assists in just 20 games. I might try and watch some highlights of his Liverpool Career. I possibly foolishly did not appreciate how good he actually was. This may be down to how his career went after he left.

04 Nov 2026 10:53:54
"He just need to trust his body more and actually put in the effort."


Ugbes, this is a very good point. I see Isak make runs but he seems to hesitate to go full pelt.

You may be on to something.

03 Nov 2026 18:09:14
Another injury concern Gravenberch has a fractured heel, has not travelled to Turkey will also miss the palace game, and the international break, first game after internationals is man United home Sunday 22 November 16.30 KO Sky sports.

03 Nov 2026 18:33:31
Oh dear, I hope we can cope.

03 Nov 2026 18:47:06
There was warning regarding injuries in Central midfield and the club left andoni short. Here's hoping a top one is sought in January.

03 Nov 2026 19:06:52
Its probably a broken nail, he doesn't try hard enough to break a heal. Or a sweat.

04 Nov 2026 07:06:08
Time to unleash the Japanese sensation Endo.

03 Nov 2026 11:27:52
Just a question, why did OPTA chalk off our shots on target? I did think I saw Macca, Virgil's header and Barcola test Raya. Did I see wrong? Arsenal fans are all over the place making noise about it here.

03 Nov 2026 13:03:33
I can't recall exactly where but I'm positive we did have shots on target that were blocked. Not sure how these things get recorded but I'm not buying the no shots on target headline to be honest.

{Ed025's Note - you had less shots than the Italian army in WW2..

03 Nov 2026 13:10:03
OP, it's all fugazi. We had at least one shot on target from Macca that Raya held easily while potentially having 3 other shots on target that got blocked, as Westwood alluded to.

It's all BS. Kinda like how the "stats" said that Doku cooked Trent at the Etihad a couple of years back. Only to find out later that none of that actually happened.

But sadly, the internet has picked so good luck debunking that "stat".

{Ed025's Note - Raya is booking his summer holiday at Anfield next year so he can relax in peace Oli..

03 Nov 2026 13:30:45
I think they record shots on target by saves being made. I was watching a dodgy link so may have missed one but I don't remember one. Shots heading towards goal that are blocked not being counted makes sense I guess since they didn't reach the target.

03 Nov 2026 13:37:42
A blocked shot is not a shot on target.
I don't remember the MacAllister shot on target so I can't say whether it was one or not.
It's not a stat I'm too bothered about anyway.

Arsenal only had three and one of them was a tame effort by Rice.
I don't think the stat is a 'fugazi' or that there is a stat conspiracy against us though.
What would be the point?

03 Nov 2026 13:42:45
Who cares. Wirtz hit the bar with Raya beaten, Macca should have scored the free header that he fired over the bar and VAR failed to give the most blatant of penalties for the shirt pull on Isak. None count as shots on target but were 3 very narrow escapes for Arsenal that on another day might easily have all resulted in goals and a comfortable win for us - and that was despite them parking the bus and sticking 11 players in their own box.

03 Nov 2026 13:44:38
Infamy, infamy, they all have it in for me! Like you say, what would be the point, Rigsby? It really is getting tedious this "they're all against us". It's complete and utter tosh.

03 Nov 2026 14:01:25
I'm more infuriated with the fact this stat has been altered than I am with Man City's 115 charges.

Just hope Liverpool don't miss out on the title or CL places due to the shots on target stat affecting their final league position.

{Ed025's Note - love it JK..

03 Nov 2026 14:25:01
I can only assume Maccas shot was so far out, and such a weak effort, that it was logged as a failed pass.

{Ed025's Note - i think he went down holding his foot for 5 minutes if im not mistaken Chewy.. :)

03 Nov 2026 14:25:48
Still many opportunities for VAR to influence proceedings, either giving or taking, as the season is still young!
But on the plus side affected teams can expect an apology, usually within a fortnight!

03 Nov 2026 14:43:09
I'm concentrating my efforts on slagging off Wirtz, Kerkez and, to a lesser extent, Barcola, to moan about VAR and shots on target. I only have so much pent up anger in me. I dread the day that the 3 of them start performing. Maybe Alisson's distribution continues to be dire, I may have to turn on him.

03 Nov 2026 15:40:40
We could joke about the 0 shots on target, 1 if you count Macca's floater or 2 if you count Munoz's header.

Or we could talk about 17 shots, 14 inside the box, 9 of which were blocked by an Arsenal defender, one hit the woodwork, 33 crosses, a record (against Arsenal) 52 touches in the box and a blatant penalty not awarded.

I think we're improving guys.

03 Nov 2026 15:54:44
I've honestly forgotten about Sunday's game. I'll judge us on how we do this Sunday. Palace always up their game against us, so let's see if we're up for it.

03 Nov 2026 16:11:23
I found it funny that there is a narrative of how good Arsenal where, and they where, for 15 whole minutes, the rest of the game we played them off the pitch.

Throw into the mix we should have had a clear penalty and its all just bluster from an over hyped team. We are sub 10 games into the league under Iraola and we just played the league winners off the pitch.

Bring on the next 10 games.

03 Nov 2026 16:47:46
Bekind, we did not play them off the pitch. You must've been watching a different game to me.

03 Nov 2026 17:50:01
I thought it was an even game. Probably should have been a draw. But sure so should the game between us and Brighton the week before so that's just the way it goes. Arsenal did their job well so fair play to them.

03 Nov 2026 18:37:46
Not bothered about stats, I'm bothered about the result but I know if we play that well we'll win most of our games.

We lost the game, we played well, Arsenal were defending like the Alamo.

03 Nov 2026 18:53:49
OP it's used for betting so was fiddled to prevent bookies paying out.

03 Nov 2026 19:19:02
I think saying Arsenal was good for 15 minutes is a little over the top, apart from the mistake for the goal, they done little else in that time. Liverpool were slow to get going. That was just a Neville statement during the game, in which he spent the whole game cheering on Arsenal and running Liverpool down whenever he could. Its almost as if someone reminded him of his prediction on Liverpool and man united at the start of the season just before the game.

I see at least 2 shots on target Mac Allister from outside the box and a Van Dyke header tipped round the post from a corner both in the first half. i'm surprised not much has been done about looking into opta stats as they get a lot wrong. I remember having a bet a few years back for A. Gordon to have 2 shots on target, he had 3 in this game one blocked two yards from the goal line he scored and another blocked around 10 yards out, apparently he only had 1 shot on target argued with the betting company pointing out the minutes of the shots, they said they go by opta only then got in touch with opta no reply from them. It's corruption of some sort going on there. I had similar with fouls Joelinton use to be a favourite he once conceded 5 free kicks in the game yet only listed by opta as 3.

The stats are a load of crap when analysing a game unless for betting as they can mean what ever you want it to. Its the same as when they say a ref had a good game because he never booked anyone and you watch the game back and you see 3 leg breaking challenges and 4 shirt pulls and kicking the ball away which he sees and chooses not to punish. And certain players that not matter how hard they try to get themselves booked the ref just won't book them like Joelington, Gabriel, Caceido.

On another day we would have won that match by 3 - 4 goals the chances we created, plus the 3 penalties we should have received pull back on Isak the holding on Gakpo and the handball where the defender decided to fall over and pick the ball up.

The praise Arsenal are getting is a little over the top we dominated them to the point there only awnser was to spoil the game by falling over in the wind at every opportunity despite there 7 at the back most of the game better finishing would have won the game nothing to do with there last ditch tackles or blocking. Which in my opinion is why they will never go on to win a trophy in Europe to limited going forward, interesting that for all the talk about the big signings there going to make, Isak, Rodgers, Barcola, Vini Junior and being the self proclaimed best team in Europe they can't seem to sign anyone.

I would question the ref for this game, he should be sacked like his brother for being so bad in everygame. Nyoni could easily have been sent off for his challenge, I don't think it was a red but them type of challenges have mostly been red cards this season regardless of how bad or not they've been. But not even a yellow is ridiculous. Arsenal player not getting booked for a blatant shirt pull which he managed to see and then another Arsenal player kicking the ball away and no booking. I suppose getting him was our punishment for complaint about always getting these Manchester refs for games against the Manchester clubs.

Arsenal are a team only a Arsenal fan can enjoy to watch, only ground I've been to champions league games included and had no interest in the match.

03 Nov 2026 23:23:56
Opta stats are largely outdated and their only real customers nowadays are the bookies. As a result, you'll see some questionable stats.