{"id":12582,"date":"2026-01-07T15:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12582"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:15:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:15:26","slug":"just-another-must-win-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12582","title":{"rendered":"Just Another ‘Must Win’ Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Happy New Year to all Holics everywhere, wishing you health, happiness and silverware in 2026. This year has begun rather well for the boys in red and white who, at the time of writing, sit 6 points clear at the top of the table thanks to the last minute equaliser that a joke football club managed to squeeze over the line at the Emptihad to take two points off our major title rivals. A further New Year bonus was another last minute goal from Fulham who deservedly snatched two points from the grasp of the team that most pundits viewed as our main rivals pre-season. Only Villa kept pace with us last weekend as we continue to stride forward, brushing aside the obstacles of clusters of injuries and hostile officials. Before this match kicks off, the Manc Creative Accountants will very probably have picked up a routine 3 points at home against Brighton so we must win this game to preserve that healthy 6 point gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In truth, nearly every game so far this season has felt like a \u2018must win\u2019 game but this match against the current League Champions feels one of the most deserving of that label. Moreover, as has often been the case over many years, this match is a pretty reliable barometer of our title credentials. Last season, the Scousers achieved a second league title in five years in part due to the derailing of Arsenal\u2019s challenge through an epidemic of serious injuries combined with multiple interventions by PGMO apparatchiks inflicting bizarre, never to be repeated elsewhere, sanctions against Arsenal players which directly impacted our points total. With their main challengers handicapped, the Scousers, in contrast, benefitted from many generous decisions and Salah won them the title with an astonishing goalscoring rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last season, Slott made only minor tactical tweaks to Klopp\u2019s team and after some early issues that affected performances rather than results, the second half of the season saw them function as a pretty smooth outfit. This season has been different. Slott decided to build his own team this summer. TAA and Luis Diaz chose to leave along with Nunez, Quansah, Tsimikas, Kelleher and Elliot while they also suffered a tragic loss with the death of Jota. Liverpool then spent \u00a3450m, predominantly on the three most expensive transfers of the summer in Isaak (\u00a3125m), Wirtz (\u00a3109m) and Ekitike (\u00a383m). In addition, they bought Frimpong (\u00a329.5m) to replace TAA, Kerkez (\u00a340m) to supplant the aging Robertson and Mamardashvili (\u00a329m) to replace Kelleher. They also added 18\u00a0 year old defender Leoni (\u00a329m), 20 year old goalkeeper Pecsi (\u00a31.5m), 17 year old striker Wright (\u00a3400k) and experienced back-up keeper Woodman (free transfer). Despite this expenditure they have not pushed on this season and the player they really needed, they didn\u2019t get\u2026..Palace declined to part with Guehi on the last day of the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of these signings, only Ekitike has hit the ground running, scoring 11 goals. Liverpool\u2019s early attempts to blend new with old were compounded by the absence of TAA which left them with clunky transitions from deep and poor supply to Salah. The intensity and co-ordination of their press also declined significantly. Frimpong proved to be more right winger than right back and Bradley has retained that position. Kerkez had a nightmare start and, as a result, Robertson has featured more than expected – rumours of a departure to Celtic were put on ice. Szoboszlai, their most creative midfielder, was repurposed as a right back several times, sadly not preventing him scoring a superb free kick to deny us a deserved point at Anfield (N.B. revenge required). Wirtz struggled for several months to adapt to Slott\u2019s system and the demands of the Premiership but in recent games has scored twice and provided assists that suggest that he may have settled. Surprisingly, Isaak also struggled to adapt to Liverpool\u2019s system, looking a shadow of the Magpies’ player, only to break a leg while scoring against the Marshdwellers and he will now miss a chunk of this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of Klopp’s former players also had a patchy start to the season. Alison remains a top keeper but has missed games due to injury, Konate has looked very vulnerable all season, Van Dyke is showing the effects of age but remains a danger offensively at corners. Robertson cannot play for a full 90 minutes anymore. But Szoboszlai remains a class act and has scored 5 goals this season, Gravenberch has become a very solid holding midfielder, MacAllister provides further midfield muscle plus Argentinian thuggery (who me, ref?), Jones is a willing runner, links play well and bags an occasional goal – while Endo is a willing worker but offers little more. Up front, Salah was a shadow of his former self and clearly has issues with Slott – his absence at the ACN has had less impact than originally anticipated; on the left, Gakpo hasn\u2019t replicated Diaz’s energy or pressing but does have 6 goals this season; Chiesa hasn\u2019t been as good as they’d hoped, has generally joined from the bench, but does have 2 goals to his credit; the young striker, Ngumoha occasionally joins from the bench and has one goal to his credit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Ekitike didn\u2019t travel with the Liverpool squad to Fulham on Sunday, apparently primarily due to DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness, a reaction to intense exercise that settles in 72 hours) though Slott also suggested that an MRI scan might have identified a hamstring issue. Despite Slott’s evasion in his press conference and late social media rumours to the contrary, I confidently expect Ekitike to start against us. Wirtz played false nine gainst Fulham, until he was hooked, with Gakpo to his left and Szoboszlai mainly on his right but with freedom to roam. The midfield base comprised Gravenberch and McAllister with Jones roving ahead of them, linking with the attack. If Ekitike is fit, either Wirtz or Jones will likely drop out against us, probably the latter given the German\u2019s upturn in form. I expect Robertson to start in place of Kerkez due to his greater physicality and defensive reliability, to be replaced by the Hungarian when he runs out of steam. Bradley will certainly start at right back with Frimpong likely to come on later in the game for a midfielder to add pace. Konate and Van Dyke will be in the centre of their defence and remain pretty competent though not as imperious as they once were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we play to form, we should beat this Liverpool team, as indeed Fulham should have done, were it not for a bizarre VAR decision on Wirtz\u2019s offside goal. The favours to Liverpool from PGMO continue to accrue as the referee also added an inexplicable 7 minutes then played well beyond that time as if to ensure Liverpool had time to find a winner. Sadly for the Scouse fans in PGMO and the media, Harrison Reed popped up with a worldy to spoil the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most important consideration for Arsenal is the state of Declan Rice\u2019s knee. Declan was colossal against Bournemouth, as he was when he played at right back against Brighton just a week ago. Hopefully his knee hasn\u2019t blown up again in reaction to Saturday’s bravura performance. His absence against Villa was clearly therapeutic but with \u2018must-win\u2019 games coming thick and fast it\u2019s hard to see when he\u2019ll get another rest and, if fit, he\u2019s essential for this match. Mikel also partially rested Saka and Trossard for three quarters of the game against Bournemouth and he subbed an exhausted \u00d8degaard at 80 minutes to facilitate his readiness for this game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, Gy\u00f6keres hasn\u2019t been as prolific as we would all like but he has contributed significantly to the outcome of several games and his performance against Bournemouth was an improvement on his first few games back from injury. I think Gy\u00f6keres will start this game as, while he was outshone by Jes\u00f9s in other games recently, that was not the case on Saturday. I hope that the Swedish battering ram will soon surprise his critics. Havertz is clearly not yet ready to start but may make the bench. The rest of the team selects itself. That’s tough on Madueke, Martinelli, Merino, White, Eze, MLS and Nwaneri but that\u2019s the challenge for top players in a top team. Calafiori and Mosquera remain crocked. Thus, I expect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapi\u00e9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8degaard, Zubimendi, Rice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka, Gy\u00f6keres, Trossard <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool were awful in the first half against Fulham and didn\u2019t have a shot on target. Although they had a better second half and threatened to steal all three points in added time they didn’t look like a title-winning side. I hope we see that first half Liverpool performance again, but for 90 minutes, and that Arsenal dominate and control the game and win 2-0. Ekitike is their major threat and the only opposition player that I would add to our squad but on form, Saliba and Gabriel should be able to neutralise him. I believe that we are the stronger team and have better players in every other position. Earlier this week, Adrian Clarke predicted that Slott is very likely to set up his team defensively to kill the game to frustrate us as he did at Anfield. I think he’s right. However, if we can make an early breakthrough, it’s a great opportunity to show our quality and strength in depth and I expect us to win this game convincingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his pre-match press conference Mikel asserted that we have a point to prove and urged the fans to raise the roof and lift the whole team throughout the match. “The level of energy, commitment, confidence, desire that we can show in every action is transmitted by them, and we need them tomorrow in every ball.” The club have prepared a prematch firework display and are unveiling a prematch tifo. Fans attending the game are encouraged to get into their seats 20 minutes before kick-off and get behind the team throughout the game. Get in there early, chaps and make as much noise as you can! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go win, Gunners!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy the game, Holics, near and far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COYG<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy New Year to all Holics everywhere, wishing you health, happiness and silverware in 2026. This year has begun rather well for the boys in red and white who, at the time of writing, sit 6 points clear at the top of the table thanks to the last minute equaliser that a joke football club […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12582"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12582"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12613,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12582\/revisions\/12613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}