Stottie

So long as its 1-0, Brentford are in this.

Gundogan missed in the end, but that was a comically shit penalty conceded by Leeds. Foden was allowed in between two of them after a clumsy poke forward and then another one came in and took him out. Rank defending.

I had a look and West Brom conceded 27 goals in his first 8 games in charge there.

Didn't know Maxi was in with a shout, but yeah, fingers crossed he'll be able to take some part. Maxi is likely our third choice at striker now, so his return may also ease concerns about no backup if Wilson and Isak play together. They're both on red hot form and have combined nicely in the short bursts we've seen of them together. Just on the "no backup issue" but I suspect Joelinton could do much more at striker now than when he was played there. He shoots with new-found confidence and has five in 16 (1450 minutes) since the World Cup.

Red card alert for Ollie Watkins and Jacob Ramsey.

Only one home defeat for us all season, and that was a really weird game. My recent reference point for Arsenal away is the Anfield game where they were gifted a two goal lead by really poor defending. However, they couldn't manage the game and were somewhat lucky to emerge with a point. They've gone on to lose leads in other games, and with it their title challenge, even before they played Man City. This suggests they have the same inner weakness we saw at SJP last season. Pep mixed it up against them with some long ball stuff up to Haaland with KDB running off, almost PFM big man little man, just with world class players. Arsenal couldn't handle either. Their forwards are great, especially out wide, so they'll get in a couple of times. Our lads in the middle will have to be on their toes. I expect us to win the midfield battle, even with Bruno on one leg. Form says it has to be Isak wide and Wilson up the middle, but I suspect we'll set up with more defensive wide players tracking back to lower the threat of Martinelli and Saka. I think we'll start with Wilson and see Isak later.

We're very likely to finish above last year's finalist with the above players. That's over a 38 game season, not what you can pull out of the bag in two legged cup games.

On a hypothetical level, wouldn't Almiron fetch a fair bit if sold? Based on age, skillset and likely effectiveness in the future when we no longer have Trippier at RB, I think you can make a case for upgrading sooner while he would still command a healthy fee. Everyone seems dead set on us signing a new RW anyway.

We won yesterday and objectively made it more likely, yet the number of "oh but Liverpool" comments has exponentially increased. We also won our game convincingly with wave after wave of attack. Liverpool shipped three goals and had their woodwork hit at least twice, by a team with a temporary manager, in a game played at home.

Did well I thought, and we finally got to see some of that fabled speed. Still settling in, so he gets a pass on not taking that chance. The long ball for the third aside, most of Southampton's last ditch defending was actually pretty good, and we ultimately had to swamp them with wave after wave.

One goal every 105 minutes this season. Only Haaland is scoring at a better rate. Isak is one per 108 minutes.

65 points!

I didn't see conclusive proof that it was Almiron who touched it.

Liverpool struggled to score two against West Ham, something we and Palace managed with ease. They had to be bailed out by handball call to win the game. Spurs will probably give them more of a game than Liverpool's reputation might suggest.

Great graphic. I think we need a Bruno deputy in the summer, or a plan B not involving Bruno. If, as desired, we get a top class DM capable of tempo setting, then plan B will be much easier. We already have defensively capable #8s.

I'm surprised (but delighted) that NUFC TV (i.e., the club itself) has a match cam showing so many interesting hand gestures in the crowd. There are multiple crowd shots taken at interesting timing. I would normally expect them to be edited out by corporate sanitisation. That video actually celebrates them.

Clear dive.

Milner's only played 800 mins or so this season. No big injuries listed on Transfermarkt, and given Liverpool's midfield struggles, he probably should have played more. His stats suggest he's still got it, so no big reason for them to let him go. Their midfield is in transition (or should be), and TAA is being moved from right back, so transition at the other position they use Milner. It doesn't really make sense.

Haha, thanks! My knowledge of ice hockey comes from a 1980s game console called a Mattel Intellivision. On its game, the only way to score was a rebound. You had hit an initial shot that knocked over the goalkeeper, sorry goal tender isn't it. Only then could you score. Getting back to Joelinton, but him, Bruno, and Willock would probably all start for Liverpool. A team that was chasing a quadruple just twelve months ago. They missed the league title by one point and outplayed Real in the CL final.

I'm sure it'll be decided by final day, but still....

This must be a record signing for Brighton. If this being done is true, for Watford to agree this early, the fee must be more than we offered last summer. This also suggests we have moved onto another target, so I wonder who it is.

Isak looking very good at wide forward there. He was our best player at #10 in the league cup final. We normally don't play a #10 and have many who can play in a wide berth. With Isak and Wilson managing fewer minutes between them than Harry Kane, I think we need forward who is better than a stopgap at CF more than a big name wide forward. We could have 55 or more games to play next season. Buying the kind of dream midfielder, for me DMish but capable of deputising for Bruno, will push Joelinton down the pecking order, which is another reason to not buy an automatic starter at wide forward. Bruno out for a long period is the easiest way to derail a season, so we need an understudy. Anyone good enough to do it will be good enough for lots of game time at the expense of others. Add an attacking LB and a learner RCB and its job done with four players.

I like stats and post them quite often, but it's a joke isn't it. He didn't get an assist for our first against Spurs either. He forces a save and Murphy buries the rebound. Does anyone know if that's an assist in ice hockey? Lots of goals in that sport from rebounds. Football has stats for "big chances" and "key passes", so it must be capable of doing nuanced judgements, just not for assists. With assists being an oft-quoted, high-profile stat, its poor and only encourages folk to think stats are bollocks (they are not).

A goal resulting from where Isak receives the ball with that many defenders in place is Messi level. Maybe he'll never do it again, but wow, jaw dropping stuff.