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Both Liverpool and Manchester United won chaotic 3-2 matches in the Champions League competition during midweek. Now the two longtime rivals will shift their focus upon each other in Sunday matinee Premier League action.
Liverpool currently sit second in the table on 18 points after eight matches, just one behind Chelsea. United sit in sixth place, five off the pace of Chelsea. With nearly everyone healthy, Liverpool should line up similarly to their match in midweek.
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Liverpool FC won a roller coaster 3-2 match over Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night. They blew a two-goal lead, but salvaged the win via a Mo Salah penalty.
Now they turn their focus to their longtime rivals, Manchester United, and the biggest annual match in England. Coming into this game, Liverpool are getting much healthier, which is a good sign for Jurgen Klopp as they head into a very tough stretch.
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A lot has been written and said about Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored six goals in eight games in his return to Manchester United, being just a passenger lately. Critics have hit out at how much less running he’s doing, in comparison to the rest of his teammates, game to game.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, himself taking a lot of heat right now, came to his defense.
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It goes without saying that the matches against Liverpool are the most “circle the date” of the entire calendar for Manchester United fans. The first of the two fixtures arrives with United in turmoil, as they often have been since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
There have been numerous calls for the sacking of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and talk that he has lost the dressing room. Team Captain Bruno Fernandes says that’s simply not true.
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Nuno Espirito Santo’s side travels to the Netherlands hoping to keep their perfect October run going. The London club is looking for their fourth win on the bounce in all competitions as they look to banish a run of terrible performances that threatened to derail their season last month.
Against Vitesse, Tottenham will look to take control of Group G to ensure their place in the knockout phases of the inaugural UEFA Conference League. Will we see another Harry Kane hattrick?
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Tottenham Hotspur will hope to keep the momentum going as they travel to Holland to take on Vitesse in the not-so-glamorous, third-tier UEFA competition – the Europa Conference League.
Spirits are high in the ‘Spurs camp as they have won 3 out of 3 matches in October since their chastening defeat at the hands of fellow North London strugglers Arsenal. Add to that Harry Kane scored his first Premier League goal at the weekend, and generally looked more like the Harry Kane of seasons past and Tottenham fans could be forgiven for thinking their season is turning a corner.
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Christian Pulisic is Chelsea’s only injury absentee tomorrow night, as the Champions League holders continue their title defense with Group H match against Swedish side Malmo.
Pulisic was recovering from an ankle injury he suffered in a World Cup qualifier versus Honduras, but Blues boss Thomas Tuchel revealed today that the American has suffered an injury setback. He’s only featured for Chelsea twice this season, both in mid-August.
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West Ham switches their focus from Premier League to Europa League as they look to consolidate their place at the top of Group H. They face their easiest opponent of the group stage in KRC Genk. The Belgian side currently sits in sixth spot in the Belgian League and, on paper at least, seem no match for the high-flying EastLondoners.
The Europa League is traditionally used by Premier League sides as an opportunity to rotate their squad, and West Ham is no different in that regard. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how they might line up against Genk at the Olympic Stadium
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West Ham United will be looking to continue their tremendous start to the season when they face Belgian side KRC Genk in the Europa League this week. David Moyes’ men orchestrated a 1-0 victory over Everton in the Premier League, last time out, in a match I called ‘The Best Of The Rest Trophy.’
Star midfielder Tomas Soucek had to get a couple of stitches after a horrible-looking boot to the face from Salomon Rondon in the Premier League at the weekend. He said with more than a hint of sarcasm that he is “still alive” after the match. Despite him still being alive, I think he might get a rest for this one.
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While pontificating on Sky Sports Monday Night football, former Liverpool defender and current pundit Jamie Carragher opined that Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer simply wasn’t good enough to ever win a big, major trophies at Old Trafford.
That’s not exactly a hot take, as many people in the global football community, from all walks of life and corners of the Earth, seem to also feel that Solskjaer is out of his depth in his current gig. The 48-year-old Norwegian responded to Carragher’s remarks today, at his pre-UCL group stage match presser.
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Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel should probably use the next UEFA Champions League group stage match, against Malmo, as an opportunity to do a small bit of squad rotation. While he still should and will field a very strong side, some of the guys who haven’t played much lately will likely get a run here.
On paper, this shapes up to be their easiest European match that they’ll have, so it might be an opportune time to handle some of the reserves a first team assignment. Emphasis on some, because again, the German will likely go with a very strong starting lineup here.
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Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed- Christian Pulisic is the only absentee for tomorrow night’s Champions League Group H match versus Malmo. That now means Pulisic will be absent for 11/13 Blues matches this season.
Still recovering from an ankle injury he suffered while on international duty, in a World Cup qualifier versus Honduras, he has not featured for club since mid-August. We covered that all in detail over at this link.
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