It’s the Derby day and it couldn’t have been anymore important than this. We are sitting on 6th position, tied up on points with Chelsea and whoever wins today at Stamford Bridge goes to third position behind Liverpool and City, with only 2 points difference to the latter. Liverpool are on a brilliant run but they will have their bad moments at some point, all we can do is play our best, accumulate as much points as possible and hope for the best.
Right, so what has happened which is favoring us? Man City lost to Brighton even after scoring first – that’s 3 very important points lost for them. Forest, which sits above us just lost to Newcastle. Aston Villa lost. And not that it’s important to talk about other small clubs but Tottenham just lost at home to Ipswich Town. All we have to do is win and we are back in the mix.
Line up is out. Odegaard is back and we have our strongest playing XI on the pitch against Chelsea. Timber and White on either side with Gabriel and Saliba in the center, a midfield of Partey, Rice and Odegaard with Martinelli, Havertz and Saka up top. That’s our best line up, may be Calafiori in place of White but there isn’t much drop in quality.
We will have to see whether Odegaard picks up his form after being side-lined with injury for couple of months now. We need him at his best though.
The only thing that’s wrong about today is Michael Oliver. After gifting City 9 extra minutes and a win against 10-men Arsenal, he has been rewarded to referee a London Derby which features Arsenal. Stay prepared to see some silly decisions.
Chelsea have improved massively under Maresca. Mikel, after our Champions League loss, said in the press conference that we can go and win at Stamford Bridge if we play the way we played against Inter Milan. I think it’s foolish to commit such statement against a rival for a Derby and when you are a visiting side. It just puts some un-needed pressure on the players, managers and everyone around the club. UNLESS you walk the talk.
Most importantly, we need to fix our basics and get back to the attacking football. That 10-men game against City has dented our confidence and we need to get out of it. We have failed to score against Inter, against Bournemouth and Newcastle and that’s not a good thing. Frankly, I love Marti but he should force his way to the middle and start contributing in terms of goals and assists. It’s not like he hasn’t got chances.
Right, a short one today. Game’s in 15 odd minutes and hopefully we paint the bridge red today. See you during the game.
Cheers
Tony
I think both managers are treating this as a must not lose rather than a must win game.
And then Martinelli scores so I’ll shut the fuck up!
Ethan or Tross, who seems more effective coming off the bench
as I’m writing this Marts puts us up by one…let’s hope he’s onside
Smash and grab what a big goal for us.
Sanchez bad positioning leaving too big a near post gap
Odegaard made the difference. He saw Martinelli totally uncovered which also speaks a lot about Chelsea coach
What will Enzo do now?
Tony—Rice wouldn’t be a set piece specialist on any other team…too much loft and not enough pace, just like his crossfield passes…he did look good a few games back, but as a general rule he’s a bang average set piece option
Enzo will likely bring his namesake on, plus some wide side pace, maybe Mudryk
🇳🇴 to 🇧🇷=gooooooool
so happy we didn’t overextend ourselves to get Neto…interesting how he’s not had a injury since arriving in London considering his paper mache past…of course now that I’ve mentioned his name he’ll surely punish us
a serious inury
That Timber run and shot was giving me Winterburn and Silvinho vibes.
Bang on TRVL mudflaps is on with Fernandez.
He’s a gobshite though Neto isn’t he.
RVL
Like an order in an Indian tea shop.
Ekh Enzo delivery !
Here we go again how many times do we give up a lead. Stunning strike, though.
fuck me I’m good at that jinxing shit…I should stick to just picking subs
Wish Havertz could do that
Soft goal. Everyone of the right side switches off.
What a swing and miss
Chelsea GK is a real crap, must say
Hoopah
He flaps more than a Democrat on election night and we just haven’t put him under enough pressure.
I wouldn’t be opposed to having Ethan come on up top for Havertz, playing more as a false 9, but that would never happen…after all we already have Merino in the middle of the box playing the Havertz role
Does anyone know (or actually remember) the last time Jesus scored in the PL?
based on the ooportunties that are arising, this match could have more than one goal left in it
Marc—last January?
TRVL
Last January as in 2024 or 2023?
that ought ot keep Saka out of the asshole break
we need 3 far more than their little upstart
Jesus Christ Tross…Jesus was likely offside anyways
if only Ode could shoot even half as well as he passes
Cucurela is a real cheating c–t. Should be a good fit at Barca
Marc
November 10, 2024, 6:10 pm
TRVL
Last January as in 2024 or 2023?
2022!
we’re fucking pathetic in front of goal…so much so that I miss the clinical finishing of Eddie LOL
Marc
The last time Jesus scored – I’ll ask my Grandad.
Ambarish—I meant the one before his most recent score…I think last January
I don’t agree with Wrighty.. I don’t take this result and we were sh*t for most part of the game.
Trossard has lost his spark, Martinelli is not his self.. ode will take his time to pick things up.. our defence is penetrable now.
Not good enough.
International break coming up.. sad way to get into the break.
Guys,
Just a gentle reminder.. there’s a ‘subscribe’ option between the post. I would love to see you in the email subscription list.
I have been trying to get into mediavine, a much better ads serving utility and it has very stringent criteria… Blogs 10x bigger than LiR hasn’t broken into it, but I’m trying and with all your help, I could do it in a year..
Appreciate your help.
Ambarish
Are you serious?
Jesus hasn’t scored in the PL since 2022?