Ketsbaia

Injuries are the main worry. Although I was thinking on Saturday that I'm surprised how often our predictable Plan A works - press, press, give it to Trippier. Give us the ball and force creation and I don't think we have answers. Dortmund figured this out easily & ensured we created very little - therefore you'd back them to do it again in two weeks. Although it's more of a buzzkill feeling than devastation. Putting perspective on things, finishing third would also be class because we could go deep in the Europa - maybe out best shot of UCL qualification? Ah whey, let's pray Isak isn't too bad.

I need to sort myself out - feeling more nervous than excited, which isn't how it should be! Gonna get back to usual buzzing levels by kick-off Will predict a 1-1 draw

4 of the next 5 are Luton, Forest, Fulham, Bournemouth so I think that's long enough to define a 'run'

Scary to think that Villa are only now about to enter a great run of fixtures. As if they weren't already having a great time.

And Dortmund already have one of Europe's most famous atmospheres, so it shouldn't blow them away like it did to PSG.

We're back to being 3pts up on last season's equivalent matches. Get 3 or 4 from the new few, then there's a nice improvement heading into the seven-win streak.

"Steve, how will you back him?" "How's the bacon, did you say?" "No, because that'd make no sense. Does Sandro have the club's full support?" "Bacon."

I'm just going to pretend it's our 3rd/4th best midfielder suffering a year-long injury.

I'll guess 12 months. Can't see it being any shorter and I'm gonna spend the next week fearing longer.

A league-high four clean sheets, along with Arsenal.

A lot of self-confidence in winning that pre-match coin toss, then

Another thing is that - with this all progressing fast in public - surely this has been whispered for at least a few months underneath the surface. The rumours don't simply start last week and get punished this week. Dodgy as fuck.

It's a shame that the Tonali case didn't drag out for a few months like Toney's did. Hopefully it's a returning Willock, more Anderson minutes and Hall's versatility to help us reach January, when we loan somebody.

Gut feeling says to believe the bad news. His arrival felt dodgy from day one, with Milan being willing and him agreeing. We entered the summer needing a DM, LB, CB and RW but instead bought a LW, two back-up full-backs and a not-quite-right CM. Think our only hope is to find reasons to sue Milan.... should make the final group match interesting.

Fair point - he says that while his client is at the prosecutor's office, so there must be some level of confidence that it's not football-related.

We've had English sources say he has and hasn't bet on football, plus Italian sources say he has and hasn't bet on football. Contradictory reports every hour or so. The only real clue is that he's very quickly come out with the 'I'm addicted and need help' line, which maybe people do when they know a big punishment is around the corner.

That Hope piece says nowt. "The exact nature of the allegations against him are not yet known."

Our lot will cheer him and get the Tonali banners out, probably

https://www.getfootballnewsitaly.com/2023/serie-a-betting-no-sporting-fraud-expected-for-nicolo-zaniolo-and-sandro-tonali/ No evidence of Nicolo Zaniolo and Sandro Tonali being involved in sporting fraud has been found so far in the betting case. Tonali and Zaniolo were accused of being involved in the sporting fraud case after their names popped up in the Nicolo Fagioli case, with the midfielder’s phone having been investigated and scanned. The duo had admitted that they had indeed been involved in poker and blackjack, but didn’t know that the facilities were illegal. Despite that, investigations were ongoing. But Sky Italia report that no evidence of sporting fraud has been found and the expectation is that this will remain the case. Having said that, chats will be analysed and this will be followed by the Prosecutor and the two players and it could take place in the next few days. So far, it does seem as if the two players only involved themselves in poker and blackjack but investigations will remain ongoing. Not that repeatedly posting Italian media is a good idea, but whatever

Looking ahead a year or two, the €100m was already looking low. And now this?!?! We've lost out a bit.

Would've taken a draw pre-match and certainly at half-time. Sad to be pulled back so late but it felt a bit flukey that we'd gotten in front. A nice break, time to get some players back from injury

Spurs are annoying, like. Was pretty chuffed when Kane left because that at least removed one competitor.... but no. Still, a 6th-placed finish would be canny.

Those four scorers were perfect. Told the lass early on that I'd love it if Almiron got our first CL goal. And of course the local lads joined in, before this generation's Philippe Albert goal from the practically perfect Schar. He's unreal, honestly.

Seems more manageable