09 Aug 2019 18:11:23
My own personal take on the liverpool v Manchester city debate.

For me it comes down to rodri. I no he's a good player but my thoughts are what are his concentration levels like. We saw with mignolet moving from a team Sunderland to liverpool that he had much less shots to deal with and he switched off because of inactivity. City will have a lot of the ball so will rodri be able to stay focused with not having a lot to deal with defensively. Fernandinho could but can rodri.

I also agree they have not replaced kompany and that will tell in the 2nd half of the season when tired legs kick in. Who's going to pick the lads up to keep going rather than let fatigue win. Not to mention his experience and quality at the back.

Pep also was showing signs of frustration in the community game. And that won't send a good message to his players. Abit like when spurs lose their heads when Leicester won the league. They came 3rd in a 2 horse race.

Liverpool have kept their best players. However they are also relying on origi to continue his good form and young players to fill in too. This could end up with another trent situation of being excellent or could be the difference in 1st and 2nd. Either way I think both teams have it in them to both win the league but also fade away.

1.) 09 Aug 2019
09 Aug 2019 18:23:57
I think Keita and Firmino are key. If they have good seasons we win it for me.

2.) 09 Aug 2019
09 Aug 2019 18:32:14
I can't see Rodri being the be all end all for City. In my opinion Sane may be a huge blow to their season. I watched a lot of City games towards the back end of last season, praying they would slip up with a draw to give us that point lead we were all dribbling over. My observation was for a number of games, teams held City whether that was missed chances or defensively sound. Around the 60-70 minute mark, Sane would join their attack and teams simply could not handle the width and pace of City.
With Sane out, I wonder whether City will cope with stalemate situations.
That being said, they were without De Bruyne who is a beast at changing games.
Enjoy the opponionated rant and 3 points tonight lads and ladies!

3.) 10 Aug 2019
10 Aug 2019 04:21:03
I think rodri is a good player and a sensible signing but he's clearly the one who will be tasked with taking fernandinhos role. Fernandinho has been so crucial in city's recent success that it's hard to see rodri offering much more improvement in that area, if he can match the quality of fernandinho that would be great for city but there's realistically a chance he may be a downgrade in that role. Losing kompany has weakened them and sane is a big loss too. They are 1 man weaker in CB and 1 man weaker in attack. Cancelo and angelino aren't much more than danilo and delph. They are strong as ever in midfield but the loss of 2 imoortant players in defence and attack have reduced their quality I feel. Fernandinho, d. silva, aguero getting into mid 30s can't be guaranteed to offer the top class performances of the last 5+ years. Hard to see where city can show any improvement this year.