EPL: Klopp confirms additional injury doubts ahead of Liverpool against Manchester City.
The only negative aspect of the game was Konate’s appearance after the hosts took a little break. Konate was forced to withdraw, and Virgil van Dijk replaced him. Joe Gomez was also substituted at halftime, and while his absence was merely precautionary, Klopp has stated they will be cautious to see if Konate can play this weekend.
Klopp told TNT Sports after the game: “With Joe, it should be good. Joe wasn’t planned, but it was an option, so we did it during halftime.And Ibou, we’ll see. He stated that if he continued, he risked injuring himself. But I am confident we will find something there. So, let’s see.
Alexander-Arnold: Is Pep’s Liverpool team speaking for him now that This Means More means even more?
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s This Means More rant inspired Rio Ferdinand to make machine gun sounds at the Etihad Stadium, providing Manchester City with all the incentive they need ahead of Sunday.
On TNT Sports, Rio Ferdinand exclaimed, “Shots fired!” as Laura Woods read Trent Alexander-Arnold’s words after Manchester City advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday.
It was a teenage YouTuber’s reaction to something that should have raised the eyebrows of adult humans, most of whom we assume weren’t making machine-gun sounds and actions in their living rooms, as Ferdinand was genuinely on the pitch at the Etihad, upon learning that Trent Alexander-Arnold had written Pep Guardiola’s team talk for him ahead of the crucial clash at Anfield.
“It’s challenging. We’re up against a machine designed to win, which is the simplest way to characterize a city and its structure. Looking back on this era, while they may have won more titles and been more successful, our trophies will mean more to us and our fans due to the financial situations at both teams. How both clubs created their teams, and the way we did it, certainly meant more to our fans.”
Pin that on the dressing room wall on Sunday, and Pep won’t have to say anything, but he may opt to explain why Alexander-Arnold’s claims are complete rubbish.
The ‘This Means More’ marketing b*ollocks appear to be more widespread now than ever before, with Jurgen Klopp’s imminent departure further kidding the fanbase that trophies this season will mean even more than trophies in any other campaign.
Alexander-Arnold is explicitly referring to the value of gongs for Liverpool against Manchester City, whose players and fans, he believes, care less about achievement due to team finances.
Phil Foden and his Stockport schoolmates wish they hadn’t spent £80 million on a centre-back this summer and instead spent £85 million on a striker like poor, struggling Liverpool the previous year. In any case, Josko Gvardiol does not care as much as Darwin Nunez does.
He could legitimately claim that winning the Premier League would feel more special to them, but only because City has won it so many times that they may be getting tired of it all, which is an attack on the professionalism of a group of players who uncared their way to a treble last season.
Unless, of course, they weren’t around yet, like the flops signed in the summer, who are undoubtedly hoping for a trophy or three this season.
Levels of concern have nothing to do with how much money has been spent, or even “how both clubs have built their teams,” which has essentially seen Manchester City and Liverpool buy very good footballers and put them on the pitch together.
For every Alexander-Arnold and Conor Bradley, there are Foden and Rico Lewis, and the two clubs are separated by 0.1 in the Premier League average age ranking this season.
So maybe wind your neck in Trent, or don’t, and keep giving psychological boosts to your Premier League competitors with your disrespectful, false claims.