Stottie

Could easily be two or more, so not a bad result in the end. Started well but ceded control and allowed a number of great chances. Eddie will sort them, settle it down and then have a go with Maxi. Arsenal collapsed second half at Anfield, so this is not over.

My main fear is nervousness in the stands reaching the pitch and the players doing something stupid. That is how it felt with Bruno in the cup semi. We were two goals up with time running out in the tie, so it was completely unnecessary. I hope the lesson was learned. I am far more afraid of what we could do to ourselves than any of the teams in the remaining fixtures. If we play with our regular mindset, we'll be fine. We bounced back immediately from Villa, so the evidence says we will bounce back from any bad result and not slip into someone's death spiral fantasy.

Twelve months ago, this Liverpool outplayed Real in the CL final and missed the PL title by one point. Unthinkable watching this.

Sexy as hell from Toney.

We should try to sign him, not an RW.

Konate's third foul?

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.