Rory Fitzgerald

Hey Annie, great to hear from you. How are you and Ste keeping ? In my minds eye, I can remember some of the photos from that day and night but no idea where they are. Was Vic goalkeeper that day? Rest of the team was Ste myself Gordon McLean and I think a guy called Jodus or Jodie. I don’t remember the kick in the a*** bit But we did have a great day, I do remember that.

Batter them ! They've been sh*t for years - Van Gaal, Mourinho, Solskjaer - who's next ? But can you imagine if there is a day in the near future when Liverpool and Utd announce contract extensions simultaneously for Salah and Solskjaer, respectively. Imagine - the best player in the world at Liverpool and the ex-Cardiff boss at Utd. Our equivalent of Roy Hodgson's "Utopia" Bruno 100% Greenwood 100% Ronaldo 95% (this is 3 games in a week) Pogba 95% (LCM as I think Rashford might be injured) McTominay and Fred (90% I think both play but if he has Rashford and Greenwood fit then he might want to shoe horn in Pogba) Rashford - his fitness is the key to his team I think Cavani - if he plays I think Solskjaer is getting serious about being tactically astute.

Matip was brilliant at taking the ball out against City when Grealish wasn't tuned in. I also hope Rashford has a niggle and he puts Pogba LM. Ideally Pogba CM but having him LM is not the same threat as Rashford. All the questions are there for United to answer. 2 DMs or 1 + Pogba. Ronaldo or Cavani. Roles for Sancho or Rashford ? Pressing or sitting. Where to set Maguire and Lindelof. We have started poorly there in the opening 20mins in the last 3 seasons (Lge games) and lost the lead in 2 of them - but United didn't win any of those 3 games. Take their heart in the opening games by giving them f'king nothing. We dont have to win in the opening 20mins but give them nothing in that time to think their gameplan is working. I'm sick of being nervous going into these games, I am enjoying being confident and will be right up until the possible point in the first 10 mins that it looks like might not be showing up. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to breaking their spirit early by giving them nothing and then winning the arm wrestle to the point that it looks like there will only be one winner.

We really did settle well, it was a great dry run for this. Also, we lost our identity first half vs City and got it back quickly. Those 2 very recent games are great for this game - dont do what you did against City (although Utd wont present that challenge as much) and do what you did at Atleti in a hostile away game Dont do what you did in the opening 20mins at Old Trafford last season when we couldnt control a ball, didnt find men with passes and Alisson even gave the ball to Cavani who shanked it wide. On the build up - for any given Utd-LFC game - you can win/lose/draw and you deal with that after the fact. But in the build up, its rare to be this confident (aka less concerned by Utd). Accept that the outcome can go any way, but ride the wave beforehand and buy into the confidence because we all know there are years when the build up has been "Oh, b*ll*x" - let them carry that feeling around all week. Up the reds !

Even at our recent best we’ve struggled to peak at Old Trafford. That’s my only hang up for this game. It’s a legacy thing. Otherwise, I have very little stress heading into this one. In order at LCM, I think it’s; 433 Keita, regular so far 433 Milner, more games than Curtis 433 Jones, hampered by recent injury 424 Jota & Bobby, can play a different style 433 Ox, doesn’t keep ball like 3 other LCMs but without end attacking end product of Bobby/Jota The first 20mins is all about Utd. They have tended to come out swinging and we haven’t settled in the ball when they have. That’s my only worry - us. I just want us to settle well early on. Don’t give them a good opening 10mins by losing balls under pressure. They need a few mistakes from us. If we don’t give them any from their pressure, that’s a big part of their gameplan already failed.

A quick reminder below of United's last few line ups vs Liverpool, A video dissection of Harry Maguire's defending and the pressure it puts on the rest of the team Will Pogba play on Sunday, if he does, will it be LM of a 4-2-3-1 and tracking Trent With Atalanta on Wednesday - the selection (or not) of Ronaldo will be interesting. If he picks Ronaldo vs Atalanta, then can he play 3 games in a week or is he being dropped for the more dynamic Cavani. If he doesn't pick Ronaldo, then its indicative that he starts on Sunday and can he chase the Liverpool defenders as Matip has carried the ball well into midfield this season. 1. Solskjaer's last 4 teams vs Liverpool (top 2 = 2020/21, bottom 2 = 2019/20) He has not played Pogba in a midfield 2. The big question for me is whether Ronaldo plays upfront or Cavani. Cavani has the legs to run & press. Ronaldo does not. Matip took the ball a many occassions against City to run past Grealish and take the ball into midfield. Cavani with Rashford & Greenwood either side is lots of energy to press and run behind. If he picks McTominay & Fred then has only 4 players to pick from the following 7; Ronaldo, Cavani, Greenwood, Rashford, Pogba, Fernandes, Sancho 2. Damien Delaney gives a cutting view of Harry Maguire's impact "I feel sorry for Fred ...... he is put in some awful situations .... the gap behind him vs the gap in front of him is too big .... it all stems from Maguire dropping off because he doesn't have the mobility ...... if you held a bag of sand and cut the bottom then thats what its like when Harry Maguire drops off, it just sucks the whole team down " Contrast that with Klopp after City "Our last line was too passive and it called the midfield line back, so Hendo & Curtis couldn't step out" 3. United's left side against Leicester - Sancho not tracking Pereira If Pogba is given the role of LM in a 4-2-3-1 like at Anfield last season, then he is covering Trent. With the ball on the right for Leicester in all these occasions, you would expect to see Shaw tracking Salah and not leaving him to Maguire. It then asks the question of the LM player to keep an eye on Trent especially if VVD is hitting cross field swtiches. Thats a big question for LM for United - if Pogba is not in CM, is he asked to play the LM role and what that entails when defending.

As Hass says, good to see you back mate

Oh my god, I am shocked. I played in a 5-a-side tournament with him around 2002 in Ireland and had a great night on the beer with him. A lovely guy, devastating news and it hurts to think of what he was going through to make that decision.

I have wondered similarly in general - without picking the players - but I do feel someone from the front 3 is being rested ahead of Old Trafford given this is our toughest CL game and we are in a good position already. I'd back us to win in Madrid with our best team if we needed to win but as we don't, have United next week, then I can see something plans that all of the main XI doesnt have to play 270 mins in 1 week. Although Mane against Savic and Trippier on that side is appealing

I've seen a team with Adrian in it Edit Nope !

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Massive balls today. That City team battered Chelsea last week, Chelsea were weak and had no answer. City were clearly the better team in the 1st half with some of our passing and control being very poor. To turn that around in the 2nd half took alot of character and I don't think that can be sniffed at. We turned up for 1 half of football and still nearly had this City team on the brink of defeat. I am glad the Chelsea game was last week, it really shows what this City team can do if you cannot stand toe-to-toe with them. We shouldn't be able to take a draw from a game against them when we don't perform for 50% of it.

I agree, Klopp has always tried to beat Man City by taking the game to them. That "output/ceiling" is lowered on the right if you put Gomez in there over Milner. Looking at the stats on the Palace game, we had 60% possession with Milner having 117 touches - the next most was Tsimikas on 73. In the 1-4 game last season, we had 56% possession of the ball against City. So I think he will be looking at Milner and thinking about us being on the ball.

Haven't seen enough of them mate. I try get a sense of the basics of what we might confront especially with a team new to the league. The Fulham away game was a real surprise last year with how they stepped up their energy and ran us ragged in the 1st half with us being well below par. So just try to understand if these would put it up to us or take a more cautious approach

Some basic numbers in one tweet and a snapshot to show who their regular players are and their formation etc

His hold up play is excellent too. Alisson pinged him from 60 yards and he kept the defender at bay but still killed it with his studs and kept the ball under pressure to find a man. If Lukaku does some of that stuff then its great "target-man play". His touch is so good that when his body is in front of a defender then he's very unlikely to lose that one-on-one and its just a case of a team mate making himself available. I am convinced he will forgo the wing and play through the middle and I thought we would sign a wider/younger player to let him do that. Maybe if we can nail down that contract then we can make a meaningful signing in January. The alternative is - if he is not signing then we need a big decision for the front line.

The picture used by on the FA's website is is highlighting a player coming through from behind - again whilst the outstretched leg is winning the ball adjacent to the player, the controlling leg is connecting with the player. Right leg wins the ball, left leg catches the man. I never really thought about these tackles too deeply but would be interesting if it was put as a "poll" to the players - how do they want the game played, what are the main tackles they want outlawed and which ones are fair game.

Agree with this, his right leg was looking to wrap around the ball but to do that, his left knee clattered the left leg of Elliott. Because Elliott's foot was planted at the time, it caused alot of damage. Its a tackle from behind with both feet off the ground and lunging, with a serious injury caused. If Elliott's left foot isn't planted, then the tackle has "muscled" him off the ball and its called a "great" tackle. That's the grey area to be considered, should a ref overlook a player tackling from behind, at speed, with both feet off the ground even if he wins the ball and without causing an injury

Big game for Thiago on that left side of midfield - Leeds will likely have Ayling, Dallas and Raphinha all working that channel and they tend to favour their right side more than their left

It's a game that Klopp's philosophy is not intimidated by. Alisson/Kelleher and Firmino/Jota should not impact the style too much - for style its Fabinho that is the bigger impact but we can cope (I think, of course). For Leeds, with no Raphinha - they might play Daniel James down the right with Ayling where they have been more active. After the United defeat, they have gone 3 at the back vs Everton and Burnley. I still think that a high energy, man-on-man game will suit us

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Just checked it - yep you are right. The foul count was 13 fouls Liverpool committed against 4 for Chelsea. In the 2nd half it was 6-0 for fouls

There is no getting away from it - we drew 1-1 against a title rival that played with 10 men for 45mins. My read of the 2nd half was; - no drive from 45-48 which was fine, we tried to see where they were - a few long shots from 50-60(ish) from Fabinho, VVD, Hendo and Robbo's effort from the corner - trying intricate play from 50-70 (overlapping with the long shots) to try the narrow passes, when we lost it on the edge of their box then we tended to get it back fast. - 80 to 90, a mix of crosses and probing I think its fair to say that we tried, mixed it up, used different approaches and could not break them down. Its 2 points dropped though

But can we keep doing it Last season the question mark was over Pogba and unbalancing them, he was put out on the left of midfield to give balance with 2 CMs and Fernandes ahead of them. Sancho and Ronaldo have now come in which reduces the scope for him to play further forward and now McTominay is out. Pogba is looking like he's probably going into a midfield 2 soon - a position where you get more of his erratic games like the start of last season when it took a while to win at home - before finding a position on the left. They might give out a few bloody noses but then still be susceptible to a few dodgy results - streakiness rather than a resiliency. That's a hope, not a prediction.

I'll take the positives out of a draw if that is the case - them predominantly being; still unbeaten, big game done, others have already dropped points so not losing ground to anyone, Chelsea don't get the boost of 9pts from 9pts with 2 big away wins and we don't go into the international break with a defeat. But otherwise, we have a full squad, a full stadium, an evening game. We have what we need to play a really good game and when we do play a good game, the opponents do have a difficult time against us.