They will face Tottenham in the semi-finals.
In the company of failed projects
Tottenham are entering their worst season to date nuclear submarine in over 20 years. Since the 04/05 championship, Spurs have only finished outside the top ten once (11th place at the end of the 07/08 season). They have finished even lower in the 21st century only twice (14th in the 03/04 season and 12th in the 00/01 campaign).
Now, Ange Postecoglou’s team occupies 12th place. A complete failure, no matter how you look at it. Besides, Tottenham have found themselves in the company of other failed projects. Below, Manchester United. The Mancunians regularly invest huge sums of money in strengthening, and now they have also bought for a specific coach, bringing players to Eric ten Hag, who had a disastrous previous season and was only saved by winning the FA Cup. The Red Devils have 23 points. West Ham have scored the same amount. The Hammers do not have a long winning history, but the owners are ready to solve this problem, so they also entered the market and supported the new coach Julen Lopetegui with transfers. It did not work. Tottenham suffers from similar problems.
Spurs know how to bleed the best players
This is the main paradox of Tottenham. The team plays terribly against opponents of lower class. In the first round, we dropped points with Leicester, then against Brighton, Palace, Bournemouth, even Ipswich. There were also draws with Wolves and Fulham. But when it comes to big fights, the Spurs are unrecognizable.
The Londoners became the masters of Manchester, beating City and United, twice each. In September, they simply demolished the Red Devils. Then came the matches with the “citizens”. First a modest 2:1, then a rout (4:0). At the end of December, Londoners celebrated a football festival at home – with Manchester United took the lead 2:0 and 4:2. For the sake of decency, they allowed the guests to score a third.
In addition to them, Chelsea suffered greatly (they led 2:0, but lost the advantage, lost 3:4), Aston Villa (4:1), Liverpool (3:6 – in the end it was 3:5, Spurs “made the Reds nervous). Maybe Postecoglou is just a great motivator, so the team approaches such matches with an incredible attitude.
Arsenal’s round of 16 match postponed
Liverpool are the absolute favorites in the title race. The team found chemistry with Slot and the very strong competitors withered. “Man City” is generally out of the top 5. Arsenal remains in the top three – only the Gunners also suffer from injuries, which affects the results. First they lost Odegaard, and after his return, they lost Saka. As a result, the Merseysiders have a healthy six-point lead (and a game in hand).
In the 20th round, Mikel Arteta’s team made another mistake and lost points against Brighton. The only goal was scored by 17-year-old student Ethan Nwaneri, although the others also had chances. The Seagulls punished the Londoners for implementation problems. At that point, Liverpool could eliminate Arsenal. A gap of eight points with a game in hand (potentially 11 points) is almost impossible to make up for. But the “Reds” themselves stumbled Manchester United. The Mancunians resisted unexpectedly and snatched a draw at Anfield. And at first, I even had to win back.
The Merseysiders want to do what they couldn’t do under Klopp
At the end of January 2024, Klopp announced that he would leave Liverpool at the end of the season. It was the ideal moment: the German brought the club out of the crisis, quickly organized a restructuring and laid the foundations for a new project. Fatigue had built up, so we had to respect the coach’s choice. And finally, we could give a miraculous end to the season. The Merseysiders qualify for the play-offs THE and were favorites, qualified for the League Cup final, were among the FA Cup favorites and top nuclear submarine. Quadrupling last season with the legendary coach is a real fairy tale. Then it was not possible to complete what had been started; there was not enough experience and safety margin. In the spring the team collapsed and in the end they only won the League Cup.
Liverpool’s position now is similar to last year, except things are much better. The leaders have gained experience and knowledge of the championship race, and their competitors have also lost ground. To win the title, you just need to not lose the accumulated advantage. There is solid competition in the League Cup: a semi-final with Tottenham and, in case of victory, a match with one of the Arsenal – Newcastle pairs. But the club still has a good chance. The same can be said of the FA Cup. And above all, the Champions League. Liverpool have not lost once in six rounds and have already secured a place in the playoffs. On current form, the Merseysiders will be favorites.
Londoners are outsiders
The Reds have a total advantage in the last 20 meetings. They have won 13 times, while Tottenham have only won two. Last time, even the walls of the house did not help the Spurs: at the break the scoreboard was 3: 1, then they brought it back to 5: 1. The Spurs only had only one victory since 2018. That already says a lot.
Forecast Soccer.ru: Postecoglou needs the League Cup – the manager himself said that in the second season he would bring a trophy to the club. Furthermore, with the exception of this tournament, Tottenham will not be favorites anywhere. But the chances against Liverpool are slim, since the Reds are in great form. Slot’s team will not be dispersed in the first match and will pragmatically reduce the game to a minimum victory.
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