Pre Match Pre Match - PSV (A) - Wed 20:00

[Modo]

Slot wants to keep the momentum. So I understand why he doesn't want to rotate the entire team.

 

[Glen C]

To play a full strength would be insane. Both teams only need a draw so both teams aren't going to go all out and happy to accept a draw. Players like salah, gravy and konate, need to be rested.

 

[Modo]

To play a full strength would be insane. Both teams only need a draw so both teams aren't going to go all out and happy to accept a draw. Players like salah, gravy and konate, need to be rested.

I agree, especially with us playing 3 days later.

 

[Fabio]

Can someone explain if being second instead of first makes a big difference?

Money, changes who we play in the last 16

 

[Fabio]

Think the only guarantees are ibou gets a day off and nunez starts.
the questions are do bradley, tsimi and ellitt start. And i only say elliott as szob might get rested

I can't see huge rotations

 

[Buddha]

Kelleher, Quansah, Bradley, Endo, Elliott, Chiesa and Nunez should all be getting either starts or significant minutes here…

 

[Dreambeliever]

Jesus Christ what the fuck is it you're getting hung up on?
A draw secures a group win. That's all that needs to be said.

Ha ha ha. It’s ok to be corrected and just say my bad instead of losing your shite.

If thats all that needed to be said you should have just said that.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Can someone explain if being second instead of first makes a big difference?

You get more money the higher up you finish.
It will also give us a mental edge in the knock out games being the team who topped the group and are favourites.
Hopefully we win the game and have a 100% record.
Confidence matters.

 

[Modo]

Ha ha ha. It’s ok to be corrected and just say my bad instead of losing your shite.

If thats all that needed to be said you should have just said that.

Well that's what I was trying to say. But someone got hung up on my wording.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Well that's what I was trying to say. But someone got hung up on my wording.

Fair enough 🤝

 

[peterhague]

See whilst we have a gap, I do feel like it's a must win. Week by week it must be demoralising for arsenal to see us pick up points after points. The longer it goes on the better.
Add in they're playing a resurgent man city, this is the chance to expand the gap.

We've got fucking nasty fixtures at the end of the season, and I'd rather not arsenal come to anfield knowing a win makes us catchable.

I think this next month is massive. We've got Bournemouth away, the game in hand at Everton, City away, as well as Newcastle at home. Wolves at Anfield is the only easy fixture.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Huge huge huge week. The game in hand has been spoken about for a long time. We need to win it!
We had a massive run of 10 fixtures earlier in the season where everyone was waiting to see us fail. The next 10 are hugely important in finding out if we are going to win the league again.

 

[Hyena]

Gakpo spent an amazing 18 years of his life at PSV.

To celebrate, that's the number of minutes he should play this Wednesday.

 

[Modo]

The match thread on the PSV forum:

PSV - Liverpool | Woensdag 29 januari | Aanvang 21:00 uur

forum.psv.nl

Tip: use Google translate.

 

[ibromurph]

Absolute zero difference.

All comes down to luck who 1st and 2nd play.

Heck even 3rd/4th might end up playing easier teams, the whole format is based on how well teams should be doing......it's shaping up to be anything but.

I saw a good suggestion online where they said if you finish top, you should have the ability to choose your opponents in the next round.

Imagine Arne Slot coming up first on that UEFA stage and calling out (for example) Feyenoord, WWE-style in the knockout round.

Then Barcelona go up next and choose their opponent and bracket.

 

[ibromurph]

You get more money the higher up you finish.
It will also give us a mental edge in the knock out games being the team who topped the group and are favourites.
Hopefully we win the game and have a 100% record.
Confidence matters.

I think it's also nice to say, in this format, we were the first ever team to top the CL table.

 

[StevieM]

I think it's also nice to say, in this format, we were the first ever team to top the CL table.

Also, is we win all the group games we’ll be the first to do that too.

 

[binomial]

I saw a good suggestion online where they said if you finish top, you should have the ability to choose your opponents in the next round.

Imagine Arne Slot coming up first on that UEFA stage and calling out (for example) Feyenoord, WWE-style in the knockout round. 😒

Then Barcelona go up next and choose their opponent and bracket.

I'd hate that.

"choosing your opponents"

Nah, no way. Don't sit right with me.

Nope.

Absolute not.

Absolutely fucking not.

Give us whoever, we'll wipe the floor with any of these fuckers.

 

[moron]

Do we have to send a squad to the game - how about we just not bother turning up, we could save a lot on the travel expenses and could go into our transfer budget.

 

[ibromurph]

I'd hate that.

"choosing your opponents"

Nah, no way. Don't sit right with me.

Nope.

Absolute not.

Absolutely fucking not.

Give us whoever, we'll wipe the floor with any of these fuckers.

What other benefit is there to finishing TOP then? Randomly drawing Bayern/Real/PSG/City feels a bit unfair.

 

[My_Blood_Bleeds_Red]

Surely there's some monetary incentives for finishing top.

 

[Brizzle]

Surely there's some monetary incentives for finishing top.

Do they outweight the benefits of having a fit squad with no injury risks? This is a classic game where our team won't give AF about winning, will likely avoid lots of 50/50s, and find themselves at greater risk of injury from this.

Take the piss Slot, you've earned it.

 

[My_Blood_Bleeds_Red]

For sure. Hope Slot learns from Klopp's mistakes.

But if we're short of 5M quid to replace Nunez with a top striker, and finishing top will get you that money, i say we risk it and go all out.

 

[binomial]

What other benefit is there to finishing TOP then? Randomly drawing Bayern/Real/PSG/City feels a bit unfair.

There is none.

Think of it like old CL groups. If you finished top and somehow you ended up drawing the runners up in another group who so happened to be the strongest in that group. That would feel unfair too. It’s why it matters what everyone else does, everything after that comes down to the luck of the draw.

The main objective of the league phase was reaching the last 16, so we’re set.

 

[Brizzle]

I think the benefits of finishong top 8 are clear - and maybe some teams who don't manage that will realise this next season onwards when their either a) lose a play off or b) see the benefit from 2 game weeks of non commitments

 

[KopRed]

If a team finishes first or second, they will skip the knockout playoffs and play one of the winners of the matches between the 17th/18th and 15th/16th seeds in the round of 16.

If a team finishes seventh or eighth, they will skip the knockout playoffs and play one of the winners of the matches between the 9th/10th and 23rd/24th seeds in the round of 16.

Wait, so Liverpool finishing first or second doesn't make a difference?​

Not significantly. With teams grouped in this way, both first and second will be seeded and then drawn against teams that have finished 15th-18th and progress from their playoff. Both first and second will get to play the second leg of that last-16 tie at home.

And we won't meet Barcelona till the FINALS.

Champions League 2024/25: Knockout round, last 16 draw explained, league table seedings and who plays who next

Liverpool have qualified for the Champions League last 16; The new 36-team format features a single league; the top eight sides will qualify automatically for the last 16

www.skysports.com

 

[Hyena]

Well there you go. The main incentive for finishing in the top two is that you don't have to face this Arne Slot Super Liverpool team until the finals.

 

[Frogfish]

Also, is we win all the group games we’ll be the first to do that too.

A record that can never be beaten 🤭😜

 

[rubans]

We done the hard work of going into the final game top, might as well see it through and try and finish top.