FourFourTwo UK – September 2019

FFTVERDICT

FourFourTwo Season Preview 2019-20 23

VIRGILVANDIJK

Whoelse?WhentheRedswerewithouttheir

totemicDutchman,thedefencelookedlikeyour

nandesperatelysearchingforherbetablockers.

Wraphimincottonwool: anylong-terminjury

tothe28-year-oldreallywouldbecatastrophic.

KEY PLAYER

2

n D

Another nearly season,

but if the Reds finish like

last term, who knows?

VIEW FROM THE STAn DS

PAUL MACHIN @THEPAULMACHIN

The big talking point among the

fans is number six! Past that, how

to win the league when 97 points

might not be enough.

This season will be different

because we’ve got the trophy

monkey off our back.

Our most underrated player is

Jordan Henderson, criminally

slated by portions of the fanbase.

The best away fans are German.

Or Palace. Or English fans who

don’t sing ‘sign on’.

The best away ground is Aston

Villa's: old-school and not far away.

Look out for Rhian Brewster.

A star in England’s Under-17 World

Cup win, he has been training with

the first-team squad and was on

the bench against Barcelona. He

could be the wonderkid we have

lacked since Michael Owen.

The opposition player I secretly

admire is Son Heung-Min.

The pantomime villain will be

Ed Woodward.

The one change I’d make to the

club would be to bring in safe

standing. Liverpool’s voice would

add real weight to the cause.

The fan’s opinion of the gaffer is

that he’s the best manager we’ve

had since Bob Paisley; the best fit

in terms of character since Bill

Shankly; and a highly underrated

tactician. He can be too emotional:

running onto the pitch is great; less

so if it earns a ban. Fans adore him.

If he left, he should be replaced

by assistant Pep Lijnders, in the

short term. Stevie Gerrard would

be the dream, but it’s too soon.

Save the date for City vs Liverpool

on April 4. The title decider?

We’ll finish 1st.

FIVE-POIn T PLAn

1

GO TO THE END

Liverpool scored 25 of their 89
league goals in the last 15 minutes
of matches last season. Hitting
more than a quarter of your goals in
the dying stages, often when it matters
most, is a credit to Klopp’s physical and
mental preparation for every game and
a pretty useful habit to maintain, as is
conceding just five during those periods.

2

DEFEND, DEFEND, DEFEND

You have to go back to Chelsea in
2004-05 to find the last team to
let in fewer goals than the Reds’
22 last term. They kept a clean sheet
in 55 per cent of league games. Even
one goal almost guarantees a win, and
that’s without considering Liverpool’s
lethal front three – so remain stingy.

3

FIND A PLAN B

Salah (27), Mané (26) and Roberto
Firmino (16) scored 69 of the Reds’
115 goals in all competitions last
term – bang on 60 per cent. Divock Origi
managed seven, as did penalty-taker
James Milner, while Virgil van Dijk and
Xherdan Shaqiri got six. There are times
when the front three look tired, not least
Firmino as the catalyst for the team’s
high press. Klopp has given Origi a new
contract; now he must trust him on the
pitch, after the Belgian chipped in with
a goal every 96 minutes last season.

4

THE YEAR OF THE OX

It’s been 18 months since Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain last started
a football match. He ruptured his
cruciate knee ligament in the 2017-18
Champions League semi-final against
Roma, just as his form was picking up.
With a full pre-season under his belt,
the 25-year-old offers a dynamism to
an occasionally one-paced midfield.

5

IMPROVE ON THE ROAD

Yes, Liverpool beat every team in
the Premier League’s bottom half
home and away last season, but
there’s definite room for improvement
on the road against better teams. The
Merseysiders won three away matches
against top-half outfits in 2018-19,
picking up 14 of a possible 27 points.
Manchester City, meanwhile, won five
times against the same opposition,
picking up 17 points. On such slender
margins are league titles won and lost.

SEASOn PREVIEW

TheArklesis the

go-to watering hole,

but it gets very busy,

very early. With

separate areas for

home and away

fans, The Flat Iron

is an alternative.

Supporterchannel

@TheRedmenTV

does a decent line in

video content, while

@TheAnfieldWrap

has expanded from

podcasting to video

and written pieces.

Liverpooldidn’t

adopt their all-red

kit until 1964 –

on Bill Shankly’s

insistence, before

a European game.

WashdownyourScouse[see

p18] with a WetNelly. Settle

down at the back – it’s a moist

fruitcake native to Liverpool.

NotriptoLiverpoolis complete

without a wander around the

Albert Dock and Beatles Museum,

nor a drink in the Cavern Club.

MATCHDAY PACK

AWAY PUB

SIGn ATURE DISH WHILE YOU’RE HERE...

DID YOU MUST FOLLOW

K nOW...?

AUGUST

9 Norwich (h)

17 Southampton (a)

24 Arsenal (h)

31 Burnley (a)

SEPTEMBER

14 Newcastle (h)

22 Chelsea (a)

28 Sheffield United (a)

OCTOBER

5 Leicester (h)

19 Man United (a)

26 Tottenham (h)

NOVEMBER

2 Aston Villa (a)

9 Man City (h)

23 Crystal Palace (a)

30 Brighton (h)

DECEMBER

4 Everton (h)

7 Bournemouth (a)

14 Watford (h)

21 West Ham (a)

26 Leicester (a)

28 Wolves (h)

JANUARY

1 Sheffield United (h)

11 Tottenham (a)

18 Man United (h)

21 Wolves (a)

FEBRUARY

1 Southampton (h)

8 Norwich (a)

22 West Ham (h)

29 Watford (a)

MARCH

7 Bournemouth (h)

14 Everton (a)

21 Crystal Palace (h)

APRIL

4 Man City (a)

11 Aston Villa (h)

18 Brighton (a)

25 Burnley (h)

MAY

2 Arsenal (a)

9 Chelsea (h)

17 Newcastle (a)

FIXTURES