Apart from saying their are a couple of exceptions, I have to agree with you kiwi. I think it’s too simplistic to list all Liverpool’s players and claim none of ours compare. There are rumours Liverpool want to buy Saka, and Klopp has talked glowingly of Martinelli more than once. Under Klopp would they get plenty of games at Liverpool? I bet they would. Ødegaard at Liverpool under Klopp would I’m sure be even better than the outstanding player he is fast becoming at Arsenal.

Who are your exceptions? Because would Xhaka or Partey under Klopp still be making the errors of judgment some accuse them of here? I bet he’d sort it out pretty damn quickly.

Ok, but having every one of your 11 best players as ‘not too inferior’ to Liverpool’s does add up to quite a gap when you look at the whole team, a gap that is currently represented in the table.
Klopp took a few years to get this team he has now, he turned over pretty much the entire squad and had the golden goose of Coutinho’s transfer- and for a while Liverpool were just getting hit after hit in the transfer market.
They are the best team for us to compare ourselves to in terms of where they were, where we were, where they are and where we want to be.

I agree that you could put Saka or Martinelli in to Liverpool’s best 11 and they wouldn’t look out of place but that’s also a lot to do with the quality they are surrounded by as well as their own quality.

So do we want a draw between Man U and West Ham? And Chelsea to beat Spurs, even though Chelsea could be dragged in to the top 4 race, I think in the long run they’ll have too much quality so better to knock spurs down

West Ham win. I'd rather fight for a 4th spot with West Ham and their much more limited resources compared to Man Utd. Second, its Man Utd. I hate them.

MU & WHU draw, Chelsea win

Chelsea win or draw is fine by me.

Interesting take on Kroenke and Usmanov. Quite plausible, especially as things have turned out.

https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/ ... qK3N1lFCCE

A draw? I don't think so. Put me down for Chelsea 8, Tottenham 1. With a late dubious penalty converted by Kane: no-one likes to see a team completely humiliated. Especially one without a trophy for a decade and a half, and a cheese room that never was.

Some may see Everton's woes as vindication Kroenke was the right choice. I don't.
First, two different clubs with two different situations and starting points. We've always had more collective talent than Everton.

Anyway, neither Usmanov or Kroenke are acceptable to me but it is what it is. I've already beaten that horse about Dein bringing both into the club as a choice. Unforgivable and self serving. Fortunately, we have seen things improve in terms of the league this season. But it didn't happen over night. To be fair, we won some silverware as well.

The whole game (industry) has moved on so much as to be unrecognisable. I no longer have any idea about what a good owner is. I certainly can’t see many role models.

Imagine ending up like Derby County.

Draw or West Ham win for me. Just like the point you make about Chelsea (which I agree with) we should have enough quality to finish ahead of West Ham in the long run. Man Utd are more likely than West Ham to overtake us, if they get their act together.

Everton starting with two strikers I wouldn't mind seeing at Arsenal, Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin.

With Calvert-Lewin, there's obviously the question of the price tag with him being young and English. His injury record is a little shaky as well, but I like him as a player - good target man, physical, but with some skill and not as slow as many other players of his ilk.

Richarlison I really like, versatile, can play in several positions but has been used mainly as a central striker this season. Skillful, hard working and tenacious. It's ridiculous that a starting striker for Brazil is playing in an Everton side fighting just above the relegation line.

But it was Fiszman who facilitated Kroenke’s control of the club, not Dein. Kroenke had less than 10% of the shares before Fiszman decided to sell his entire holding to Stan on his deathbed.

I'm not familiar with most of the owners in the PL these days. Who would be regarded as a good one? Leicester City maybe? I don't know.

I was initially proud of our ownership when I first became a fan. From what I know they were well respected men in and out the league.

Richarlison is a weird one. He has buckets of talent. Sometimes I look at him and wonder why he isn't playing for Real Madrid. Then on other occasions he looks like a pub league player. A move to a bigger club could benefit him. I definitely wouldn't complain if we signed him.

Yeah, I don't know if it's his temper that scares teams off because he's really talented. Could see both him and Calvert-Lewin score more in a better, more attack minded side, playing along the likes of Saka, Martinelli and Ødegaard.

I could see both of them angling for a move if there are clubs interested.
On the other side of today’s game is Ollie Watkins who I rate. Quick, full of energy, presses well, good off the ball runs, can link play and run the channels and play wide and gets in the box to score ‘classic’ striker goals.

Watkins and DCL is all about the price though.

'Ammers started lively. They may get something out of this.

Just to wind up Top Gun.

The view from Xhaka (with lots of sense really).

https://www.skysports.com/share/12521125

Moyes should be a serious contender for Manager of the Year if there is any fairness.

Each week that goes by I ask myself how on earth we managed to be the one team to lose to Everton.

Man Utd wins the game in the 94th minute after their first good attack of the game.

Gutted, close to the perfect result for us. Spurs and Man U winning games in the last second 3 times in a row between them, and we lost to everton and Man City with last minute goals. Huge points swing.

What spurs and Man U are doing right now is winning marginal games. Two evenly matched teams and they’re sneaking the wins and winning when playing poorly time and time again. If we play poorly we don’t win, nearly all of our victories this season have been us playing really well.

Stuttgart are second from bottom in Germany. If they get relegated their obligation to purchase Mavropanos for about £3m becomes an option to purchase him for that price. Which means Arsenal can refuse and either bring him back or more likely sell him to a higher bidder

Doesn't the option to buy mean we can't refuse the bid if it's for the right amount?

Seen the replay for the Man Utd goal a couple of times now, and it still looks offside to me. They did a VAR check so I assume they got it right, but...

Are you Rich in disguise?

Match resumed. Ref also had a communication equipment failure that got fixed.

You be the judge!

I didn’t watch the game but had a look at the stats for the Manchester United (MU) vs West Ham (WH) game, and BBC Sport (a site I trust and rate very highly) give this.

Possession
MU 57% - WH 43%

Shots
MU 18 - WH 6

Shots on target
MU 3 - WH 1

Corners
MU 3 - WH 3

Fouls
MU 9 - WH 8

Nothing material between the corners and fouls, but on the stuff that arguably give a better guide as to who deserved to win, to me it looks like MU.

As I said, I didn’t watch the match and MOTD will no doubt provide the expected goals stat, which the BBC Sports website didn’t. But unless MU’s 15 off target shots (18 in total less 3 on target) were from miles out or so wide and high they went nearer the nets at the Etihad than Old Trafford while WH’s 5 off target (6 in total less 1 on target) were terrible misses from a few yards out, with the same sort of principles applying to the on target shots, then I anticipate MU’s expected goal stat to be higher.

I honestly feel MU win so many games with late goals that it’s a positive characteristic that deserves respect, even if it’s annoying.

So regular that it can hardly be regarded as mere luck.

Communicating with the betting agency ?

Exactly.

Here we go

Your telling me the staff at Stockley park where the VAR decisions are made don’t have what’s app and online betting apps on their phones….. purlease.

Ref has hotline to William Hill.

I wouldn't say it's necessarily 'luck', but in terms of ways to win a game it's certainly not as sustainable over a long period of time compared to generally outplaying your opponents.

They have released the actual lines and he’s well inside. The angle of the freeze frame is always deceptive when seen like that. Defenders toe is quite a way behind Cavani’s shoulder.

It was only their second late winner in the league this year. Away to West Ham was the other, they’ve had 3 or so in the champions league to win or save a game.
But they also lost to an 89th minute goal 1-0 to Villa, conceded two late ones to Villa away to draw 2-2 and lost late to wolves at home 1-0.

The last minute wins stick in the mind more because of the annoyance of them.

With Man Utd, I think it's the fact that they have so many first halves where they are second best but still come out on top in the end. I view them as a team that is well short of winning the league but have enough good players to win plenty of games.