Dan Gleebals

I don't like him, mainly because It's Liverpool. Was great when he arrived in the prem, been a twat last few years. No denying he is one of the best managers though.

Where are people heading for pre-match drinks?

Morgan Gibbs-White.

They also spent over £20M on their academy and first team training facilities to develop their own talent and they have some very promising players coming through...

If Tino does not start at LB againt Salah, I will certainly start to question wtf is going on.

Actually makes me feel a bit ill thinking about this game, the upcoming one and the many before it.

I nearly said that. Doubt it, but he has not been great since he lost the arm band

It's a team game so not going to blame him. However, he looks shot at the moment, so he should never have come on let alone taken the second pen, after that mistake. Howe and co, need to put their hands up on that one. Learning all the time this lot, and its proving to a big lesson for the whole club this season. Injuries aside, a top 4 squad from last season with Dummett and Richie in for starters, is just wrong. As good as they are in the background, we need 4-5 decent player ASAP.

Agree - they would if they win a cup (get into Europe). They have about 3 full squads to choose from as well so pretty sure they will be up for this, irrespective of their league position.

He has proved with Miley he will trust, and play young players. Not that he had much choice.

Really like him and clearly has a lot of potential. Where do people think his best position will be, hard to say because I think he could be one of those players that could be utilised in any position in the middle.

Back to tonight though - we have to leave it all on the pitch later - from the stands and from the players Then hoping PSG fuck it up. Then hope we get Madrid.

Ah, makes sense now :). Absolutely. Winning something would trump it all, however you get there!

I agree, given the choice at the beginning of the season, I would take a cup win, and still would this season if dropping out of Europe helps us achieve that. I was at the final last season, to have won it would have been incredible and geting to another final and winning would be incredible - absolutelly no doubts about that. Reality is though, the biggest clubs with the resources they have, historically win the cups. Whilst we might be the richest club on paper, we all know the constraints we are under. So if CL or European football allow us to accellerate the growth of the team, it is hard to ignore the benefits of being in the competition, even if that impacts our ability to win the cup this season.

Strange as we are already in the CL but get the question. For me we were never going to with the CL, so it was all about elevating the club to this level, bring in much needed additional revenue (FFP), and ultimately attract higher level players as we move forwards and grow. Hence, getting to the last 16 or further, in either the CL or Europa will still be a massive outcome for us on all these levels. Yes, it has come at a cost, as we were not ready for it squad wise, but that is also a good lesson for us, and will most likely shape our thinking in terms of tranfers over the next 2 windows. We really need more elite players and the likes of Almiron need a serious upgrade, and more strength in depth. As for winning a cup, definately needed as well - more for the fans, the players and club - to know we can do it. The first one after so long, will always be the hardest and the most important. In terms of this season (as it stands) the League Cup could be an easier run to Wembley and success given who we have alread knocked out, just got to get past Chelsea and see who we get. Sunderland in the FA is a great way to kick that one off! Bring it on.

Fancy us today. We have done really well against the top sides, less so the shite. Howe and players will want a response, if they have any energy!

Spurs loss, or draw and 3 points for us would be incredible. 1 point of 4th as well!!!!!

7 games until the window opens, so plenty of time to see how Dubs is getting on. I would personally stick with what we have unless he is having a howler. Somehow I think he will really want to step up and prove himself again. The whole team is really playing for each other, so think he will give a good account of himself.

He has not played for a while no? Would take him a while to get up to speed. Really not sure on him personally.

Great news. Is it me, or have players who were recently "back in training" then been back in the match day squad pretty quickly (i.e. what seems like only a few days for some). Clearly these guys do a lot of work behind the scenes before they even get back with the players, so should we assume the baseline fitness is there and the injury is healed before they do? I ask because we seem to have had a few recurring injuries or breakdowns pretty quickly after a returns recently. Hence, is this bad luck or are we bringing players back to soon (needs must)?

Hard to see Burn or Targett getting back in the team now, bar injuries. This lad is unbelievably good.

Got a feeling he is going to slot one tonight. Dream week for the kid that would be.

Very hard to predict where we will end up. Injuries and then any business we might be able to do in January, will have a massive impact, as will the additional game in the CL and Cup. We could be well out of it with further injuries. December and January are monumental months in terms of Fixtures. By the end Jan we will have played Villa, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man U and City at Home. Away - City, BHA, West Ham, Spurs, Liverpool and Villa. That equates to 50% of our first 22 games being against the top 7 from last year. So, going into Feb, our remaining 16 games look far easier than the first 22. IF we can win our next 3 home games against Manu, Fulham and Forrest and any kind of result against City - win against Everton and Luton away - and get any kind of result at Spurs, Liverpool and Villa, we should be in with a very good shout of top 5 this season... The next 2 months are massive really.

Easy story that for the press. Not sure I would go anywhere him now. He seems more concerned about his image than his football. Thinks he has made it, when he still has a long way to go. I might be wrong, but he does not seem to have the EH attitude or mindset to do well here.

Hopefully we held a bit back for a least one deal if needed.