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Saturday sees Brendan Rodgers make his first return to Liverpool since being sacked by the club four years ago when his Leicester City side visits the Reds.
It’s going be the blockbuster fixture of the weekend, as the Foxes currently sit third in the table and find themselves with favorable odds (Sky Bet has 7/2) on a top four finish finish.
This is definitely the year for non-big six sides to make their move and get back into Europe by placing themselves in the top four.
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Without a doubt, the headliner fixture of the Premier League weekend is third place Leicester City visiting table-topping Liverpool. This match marks the return of former Reds boss Brendan Rodgers, who came oh so close to guiding Liverpool to the 2013-14 league title.
Behind a strong, fun to watch team led by the S boys (Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling), the Merseyside club came within a Steven Gerrard slip of ending the well documented, elongated league title drought.
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Back on August 31, we saw Liverpool forward Sadio Mane absolutely fuming while being subbed off in the Reds 3-0 victory at Burnley. The reigning co-Golden Boot Award winner was angry at his teammate, one of two people he shared the award with, Mohamed Salah.
Mane was upset over Salah’s decision not to send him a pass while he was in optimal scoring position. Teammates James Milner, Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino all tried to calm down the Senegal international, a player known for staying cool and calm almost all the time.
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Liverpool FC, the reigning European champions, host RB Salzburg tomorrow night in a Champions League group stage contest featuring the Group E table toppers. However, it’s definitely not the team you would expect that currently sits in first place.
RB slashed Genk 6-2 in their Euro opener while Liverpool, six time winners of this competition, lost 2-0 to Napoli. The Reds badly need a result here, and they need to run up the score if possible as well. Let’s take a look at all the match FYIs for this one.
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Sheffield United are back up in the top flight and so far, it’s so good for the Blades. Being +1 in goal differential and sitting in 10th place is pretty good for a newly promoted to the Premier League club and manager Chris Wilder is excited for what’s next.
They’ll host league leading Liverpool and they will do so undaunted, and certainly not star struck. “Playing the European champions at home was always going to be one of those fixtures that you look forward to,” said Wilder.
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Liverpool at Sheffield United kicks off the next set of Premier League fixtures with the Reds optimistic that their stellar winger Sadio Mane will be available. The co-Golden Boot winner suffered a dead leg/minor leg last weekend in a win over Chelsea.
In more positive news, midfielder Naby Keita is fully fit again after making his comeback and starting in the win over MK Dons last night. However, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp cautions against expecting too much from the former RB Leipzig man right away.
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The next round of EFL Cup matches will be played the week of Oct. 28, and there are indeed a couple of ties that jump out at you in there. The round of 16 will feature plenty of lower tier sides as a few Premier League clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United, crashed out of the competition’s third round.
Looking ahead to the round of 16, you have two all-big six clashes to mark on your calendars- Manchester United versus Chelsea and Liverpool vs Arsenal. Chelsea absolutely dominated their competition in the third round while United were fortunate to barely squeak by.
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Wednesday brought another colorful chapter in the book of Liverpool vs. Manchester United’s heated rivalry.
Liverpool CEO Peter Moore, during an interview at the World Football Summit in Madrid, made a not so subtle dig at United, by referencing a phrase that is famously linked to United club patriarch Sir Alex Ferguson.
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Big news for Liverpool FC as they begin their EFL Cup campaign, with a third round tie at MK Dons tomorrow night- Naby Keita is now available for selection again. The midfielder has been out since before the UEFA Super Cup, due to a hip strain, but it remains to be seen if he will feature or not.
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The kit deal/sportswear manufacturer partnership with giant football clubs arms race has escalated. Moving forward, the battle will only escalate with brands bidding bigger numbers from here on out. Liverpool FC are currently partnered with New Balance, which although a fine company in its own right, is definitely not on the same level as Nike or Adidas.
The Liverpool FC -New Balance contract (worth £45 million per year) expires in June, and that reality has sparked a bidding war where the end result could see the Merseyside club hooked up with Nike in what might be the richest kit deal in British history.
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Ahead of the headliner fixture this Premier League weekend, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for his opponents Chelsea. The Reds will travel to Stamford Bridge in search of their first win there since September of 2016.
Klopp said that Frank Lampard’s side is the only club that could handle a transfer ban (the west London side wasn’t allowed to sign players this summer, and will be prohibited again this winter), and that’s because of all their impressive young talent. Klopp said that with highly rated young players like Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount, they have what it takes to cope.
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All-world defender and reigning PFA Player of the Year Virgil van Dijk does not see reason for Liverpool to panic following their first loss (2-0 to Napoli in Champions League on Tuesday night) of the season. He doesn’t see the defeat causing a hangover that could carry over to the next match, at Chelsea on Sunday either.
“It shouldn’t be a wake-up call — we have been performing outstanding since the start of the season so there is no reason to panic,” VVD said.
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