⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Derekfunds]

Salah and Szoboszlai managed to bring Liverpool temporarily won 2-0 over manchester city in the 14th and 38th minute.

The result of today match is not only crucial for both teams, but as you said, the results that occur in the match will also affect the fate of nottingham forest and arsenal, if manchester city wins in today match Nottingham will indeed drop to 4th place, but I think there is still a chance for nottingham to be able to return to third place in their next match later, but not with what will be experienced by arsenal if Liverpool win today, because after their defeat from Westham yesterday and also if Liverpool win today, then we can say if arsenal chances of winning the league this season has been tightly closed because of the large points difference.

Today matches has already decided who the winners of the premiere league is, Liverpool winning Manchester city today has shown that the league this season belongs to them, morespecially arsenal has made it more easier for them by losing to wolves making the point difference to be much and am not seeing the possibility of Liverpool losing matche. As for Nottingham forest the possibility of them retaining third positions till the end of the season is not there because I believe they make lose more matches.

I think you are right, even though Manchester city was not in a good form I doubted if Liverpool will win them but they proved me wrong. Indeed Manchester city is really scattered, winning Newcastle united with that goal difference makes people almost believe they are back to their fit but no and after losing against Real Madrid in the champions league today they lost against Liverpool. Though it's not like Liverpool played better than them, they were possessing Liverpool while Liverpool was busy scoring the goals and what is possession without goal and apparently Liverpool have win the premier league this season but who knows what will happen in next two weeks.

[uchegod-21]

This is an important game that will determine the outcome of the table standings. If Manchester City wins, they will overtake Nottingham Forest on the table and take the 3rd position. Arsenal will be hoping for Liverpool to lose while Nottingham Forest will be praying for Manchester City to lose.

Haaland is not playing because of his injury. Marsmoush will be leading the attack  for Manchester City today. I don’t feel confident about City winning as Haaland is not in the lineup.

Any good football analyst or observer would surely not be confident of Manchester City winning Liverpool. Even before the match, it was so obvious Manchester City was weak and their moral was low after a home and away defeat by Real Madrid in the champions league. It is okay for we to conclude that Liverpool will win the league, even if it is not certain that Liverpool will win the league title this year, it is certain that Manchester City cannot win it.

I don't actually know the problem with Manchester city because they still play fine football but result is no longer in their side.

[Akbarkoe]

.......................

This goes to prove that the players aren't even the problem with Manchester United. If so, how do we explain how these players suddenly become heroes immediately they leave the club to other clubs. At first I thought the problem was with the coaches, but it is very obvious that the problem goes beyond just the coaches but the entire management of Manchester United. Something we ain't seeing and haven't heard of is actually wrong with the club's management. It is not a curse, they know what to do to fix it. I wish they'll stop breaking the hearts of their fans by fixing whatever is wrong with the club.

Enough, Man United fans are very disappointed every season, and this season is the peak, because let alone competing at the top of the standings, it is very difficult for them to win. even now Man United is stuck in 15th position in the standings.

And initially I thought that the players and coaches were the ones who had problems, which made Man United unable to compete every season, but it turned out that it was a wrong speculation and the reality is not like that.

And I agree that for now Man United must immediately fix the management of the club, because if not, Man United will probably stay like this every season. And the latest news I got, that currently Man United is preparing a new coach to replace Ruben Amorin in the next season. LOL

[Alpha Marine]

Since his arrival at Arsenal in 2019, Arteta has yet to make a truly significant impact in terms of winning a major trophy like the Premier League despite coming close in the last two seasons. On the bright side, Arteta has improved Arsenal's style of play and squad depth, his team has maintained a level of consistency in the title race. This season with Liverpool in strong form, it seems unlikely that Arsenal will be able to overtake Liverpool to win the league. Unless Arteta signs a striker, Arsenal may just continue to fall short of the league title.

I do give Arteta his flowers. He managed to revive an almost-dead Arsenal and made them a competitive side in the epl, but I don't think he can do more than he has actually done at the club. Take Xavi at Barcelona for example, he took the Barcelona job when the club was in a mess. They had a financial crisis and couldn't sign players. He managed to lead them to a better place but that was all he could do. He can't take them to be one of the most fearful sides in Europe and that is what Flick is doing. Flick won't be able to do what he's doing without Xavi's work.
This is exactly what Arsenal needs.

Arteta is a good manager, but he doesn't have what it takes to make Arsenal a team that can comfortably win the league. This is his sixth year at Arsenal, and things are not looking good.
The fans love him though and if they're okay with just playing good football and finishing in the top 4 then they can stick with him but if they actually want to win titles and dominate like Manchester City did, I don't think Arteta is that guy.

[len01]

Haaland is not playing because of his injury. Marsmoush will be leading the attack  for Manchester City today. I don’t feel confident about City winning as Haaland is not in the lineup.

Haaland is on injury, so he won’t be able to play today, but Haaland performance has dropped this season, so even if Haaland is present in todays match, am not expecting anything special from him.

I have the same assumption as you. While Haaland in the previous season could always work very well with KDB who could create winning scores in every match. However, this season KDB is getting older and his performance is declining, making Haaland lack contribution from the midfield. So I also think that even if Haaland is present in this match, it still won't be able to change Man City's fate. Unless Guardiola understands this decline in performance and immediately finds a way to fix all these bad things.

[Obari]

I have the same assumption as you. While Haaland in the previous season could always work very well with KDB who could create winning scores in every match. However, this season KDB is getting older and his performance is declining, making Haaland lack contribution from the midfield. So I also think that even if Haaland is present in this match, it still won't be able to change Man City's fate. Unless Guardiola understands this decline in performance and immediately finds a way to fix all these bad things.

When the odds arise for the Reds to win the English Premier League title, I gave them the benefits of doubts because they're competent and having the presence of all quality player and high profile coach with experience, what else is stopping them from winning? We could remember vividly how Manchester City dominated last season with streak winnings, they have absolutely no mates that can stand face to face with them, not Arsenal that are popularly regarded as the title bottlers. Liverpool accumulated three points after the clash with Manchester City. It was an easy game for Arne Slot men, he did plan solid tactics that enable him to grab winning.

Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola is confused and frustrated as the same time, he has ideas to explore but he's keen on making extension of his team which is compulsory for him. With the likes of Kelvin De Bruyne, there's zero odds to win games against elite oppositions.

[Stable090]

I'm still doubting City to play better even if they have Haaland in the squad. He has been decreasing so hard since middle of season. I don't even think having him makes squad better.

I don’t know why some people think Haaland will be able to change things in the match today if he was on the field. Haaland have been playing for Manchester City in their previous matches,  and they have been losing, Haaland was available when Manchester City played against Arsenal and Manchester United, but they lost, Haaland couldn’t do anything in those matches, so why do people think Haaland will fix things today?

It's half-time, Liverpool take the lead with 2 goals from Salah and Szobo. I think they can add more on the second half because City's defense looks very shaky.

Manchester city defense was so weak in the match, Liverpool were finding it so easy to penetrate, I was expecting more than 2 goals from Liverpool in the match, but they were able to score just two goals, but that’s not also a bad one, Liverpool were able to secure 3 points in the match.

[Hyphen(-)]

Arsenal loses to West Ham, Nottm Forest loses to Newcastle - what a perfect opportunity for Man City to jump to the 3rd place and get closer to the 2nd place, but things are not quite going their way. After 25 minutes, they are losing to Liverpool 0-1 at home after an early goal from Salah. Man City are dominating in possession and in shots on goal, and there's still plenty of time left to turn things around. Fingers crossed.

If Manchester City have won the match, I will be the happiest person, and as an Arsenal fan, I will be happy to under them than allow Liverpool take the three points from Manchester City.
Now Arsenal are nine points behind Liverpool after failing to take advantage of Liverpool draw against Aston Villa to drop the points difference to five so as to use their next coming match to keep the pressure, but this lost against West Ham United has weaken our moral as fans because it will be very difficult for Arsenal to get another opportunity to go close to Liverpool or take lead in the premier league.

Manchester City on the other hand have no clear chance of the title ambition; although I know that there is still high hope for them based on their goal difference and how experienced the coach is; nevertheless, their current squad is not good enough to fight for the title this season.

[silpersurfer]

Manchester City can't even create a proper attacking organization. What is this I'm watching?    They played like shit in the first half and not much thing changed later on either. I can say that I liked only Doku so far. He is really trying to do something but the rest of the team are just very bad. Haaland's absence is also felt really much. Because there is literally nobody to score now. Marmoush is also playing poorly today unlike his effort against Newcastle previously.

Salah is playing as usual. Just like I said there is nobody to stop him at Manchester City. He got the ball so easily every time and already has a goal and an assist. Pure talent and lovely to watch it...

Previously, Manchester City impressively managed to beat Newcastle with a landslide score of 4-0, even Omar Marmoush was able to score a hat trick in the match. I think Manchester City will return to its best performance and Omar Marmosuh has been able to adapt well with his team. However, after the match between Manchester City and Liverpool took place, Manchester City really lost its consistency, and in this match they were unable to score a single goal against Liverpool. In fact, in this match, if we look at the statistics, Manchester City was quite favored with its dominance and the many attacks they made, but they were unable to maximize every opportunity they got.

And regarding the defense targeted by Manchester City in this match, although their defense was quite tight, their defense line was not well accommodated, so Liverpool players were still able to find gaps to score goals. and instead of their tight defense being able to prevent attacks from Liverpool, the Man City defenders only blocked the goalkeeper's view from being able to secure the ball.

[Adbitco]

Enough, Man United fans are very disappointed every season, and this season is the peak, because let alone competing at the top of the standings, it is very difficult for them to win. even now Man United is stuck in 15th position in the standings.

And initially I thought that the players and coaches were the ones who had problems, which made Man United unable to compete every season, but it turned out that it was a wrong speculation and the reality is not like that.

And I agree that for now Man United must immediately fix the management of the club, because if not, Man United will probably stay like this every season. And the latest news I got, that currently Man United is preparing a new coach to replace Ruben Amorin in the next season. LOL

But few years ago, one of your legends came out and talked about Manchester United's problems which was centered on the club's management but most Manchester United fans blasted him instead called him all sorts of names as if they love the club more than him. He left the club came back after 13 or 14 years later and the club was still the same way it was when he left. Meaning that the club management made little or no improvement.
Manchester United's problems is goes beyond players and coaches alone.

[_BlackStar]

-snip-

Any good football analyst or observer would surely not be confident of Manchester City winning Liverpool. Even before the match, it was so obvious Manchester City was weak and their moral was low after a home and away defeat by Real Madrid in the champions league. It is okay for we to conclude that Liverpool will win the league, even if it is not certain that Liverpool will win the league title this year, it is certain that Manchester City cannot win it.

As a fan - I am 100% sure Liverpool will win the Premier League title this season.
I haven't found any signs that Liverpool will fail - of course one of them is when you see several competitors such as Arsenal falling behind with a large gap in points. If Arsenal were better and the points gap wasn't that big - then anything is possible, but so far it hasn't. So what are you worried about?

I don't actually know the problem with Manchester city because they still play fine football but result is no longer in their side.

Their squad depth is not as good as before - especially in defence. Savinho is not very good as a winger - while City also lack balance in midfield without a good defensive midfielder. Pep Guardiola can't force De Bruyne to perform like he used to - Foden isn't at his best either. Haaland was less than optimal due to a lack of creativity on the wings and midfield - so everything changed compared to the previous season.

[justinlamode]

Haaland is not in the squad for the Liverpool game. De Bruyne is getting old and slow after coming back from injury but he starts. Liverpool are winning Mohamed Salah just scored!

Entering the time, so far, Moh Salah has managed to score 29 goals from a total of 37 matches, in all leagues, and has even contributed 20 assists. And he is the top scorer in the Premier League so far, leaving Haaland behind.

I'm still doubting City to play better even if they have Haaland in the squad. He has been decreasing so hard since middle of season. I don't even think having him makes squad better.

It's half-time, Liverpool take the lead with 2 goals from Salah and Szobo. I think they can add more on the second half because City's defense looks very shaky.

It feels like City is just taking very long just to transform from attack to the defense, and this gap always gives Liverpool big chances.

I think the presence of Haaland in the squad would have made better impact in the team and maybe made Manchester City to score at least one goal in the match. This is because there are some players whose influence in the game is so visible such that two players may be dedicated to mark such player thereby creating some loopholes that other players can exploit. Fortunately, Haaland belong to that category of players that their presence in the match changes everything,

[TelolettOm]

Truly, as it stands, Newcastle is slaughtering Nottingham Forest and it isn't even Second half yet 4 - 1 on the score board.

Wow, quite cool actually Nottm Forest. After seeing the final result, in the second half, Nottm Forest tried very hard to be able to catch up. and that, almost, Newcastle almost lost the victory after they really left Nottm Forest 4 - 1 in the beginning. But in the end, the final result was 4 - 3. This is a very tight match.

As a fan - I am 100% sure Liverpool will win the Premier League title this season.

Honestly, although I am not a fan of both of them, but for this season, Liverpool is the most likely to become the EPL champion. No doubt. Even look, from rank 1 - 4, only Liverpool won the full 3 points so that for now, the gap between Liverpool and Arsenal in second place is 11 points, quite large and difficult to be surpassed. So, this season is Liverpool's season and Moh Salah as its top scorer. Moreover, LFC's victory over Man City this time is also very satisfying.

Source: Liverpool's 2️⃣-0️⃣ victory over Man City

[Docnaster]

This is an important game that will determine the outcome of the table standings. If Manchester City wins, they will overtake Nottingham Forest on the table and take the 3rd position. Arsenal will be hoping for Liverpool to lose while Nottingham Forest will be praying for Manchester City to lose.

Haaland is not playing because of his injury. Marsmoush will be leading the attack  for Manchester City today. I don’t feel confident about City winning as Haaland is not in the lineup.

Any good football analyst or observer would surely not be confident of Manchester City winning Liverpool. Even before the match, it was so obvious Manchester City was weak and their moral was low after a home and away defeat by Real Madrid in the champions league. It is okay for we to conclude that Liverpool will win the league, even if it is not certain that Liverpool will win the league title this year, it is certain that Manchester City cannot win it.

I don't actually know the problem with Manchester city because they still play fine football but result is no longer in their side.

To be honest, I was actually expecting Manchester City to win the game in front of their home fans not because they've been better than Liverpool this season but because of their recent results in the league and for the bragging rights of city fans but surprisingly, things didn't go as I thought. Liverpool outclassed Manchester City like they were playing an average team in the league. It ended 2:0 in favour of the away team but had Liverpool converted their chances, they would've won the game with better margin. I can't remember the last time a Pep Guardiola team is underperforming as the current Manchester City team.

[Zaguru12]

But few years ago, one of your legends came out and talked about Manchester United's problems which was centered on the club's management but most Manchester United fans blasted him instead called him all sorts of names as if they love the club more than him. He left the club came back after 13 or 14 years later and the club was still the same way it was when he left. Meaning that the club management made little or no improvement.
Manchester United's problems is goes beyond players and coaches alone.

Yes there is no one on earth who absolutely doesn’t know that Manchester United Started having problems since the inception of the Glazers and this was definitely widely known that even Ferguson actually did hear his view about. I see many people actually throwing the Ronaldo debate into every Manchester United crisis even if what is said was the truth Ronaldo only later said all of these after a fallout with the then Manager Erik Ten Hag, they were never interviews of him that I know where he called the club out before that incidence with Ten Hag. He decided to say that in a public interview after the club had actually stood with their manager during the crisis. It might have been sad for the fans to lose someone like Ronaldo but there is no one bigger than the club no matter it’s difficult state, Ferguson who was well respected instilled that principle and the club stood by it. The club management are still bad but it still doesn’t justify anything with what Ronaldo said

Their squad depth is not as good as before - especially in defence. Savinho is not very good as a winger - while City also lack balance in midfield without a good defensive midfielder. Pep Guardiola can't force De Bruyne to perform like he used to - Foden isn't at his best either. Haaland was less than optimal due to a lack of creativity on the wings and midfield - so everything changed compared to the previous season.

As they say not everything stays as the same, Manchester city dominated the English football for the past six years with almost same players so I am not quite surprised to see them actually playing this way afterwards because there is certainly no reason that things will stay the same. The players mostly are suffering from fatigue and the wearing of this is telling on the pitch. Next transfer I think Manchester City will have a very long list of departures and arrivals to actually get back to winning ways

[Floxynice]

.......................

This goes to prove that the players aren't even the problem with Manchester United. If so, how do we explain how these players suddenly become heroes immediately they leave the club to other clubs. At first I thought the problem was with the coaches, but it is very obvious that the problem goes beyond just the coaches but the entire management of Manchester United. Something we ain't seeing and haven't heard of is actually wrong with the club's management. It is not a curse, they know what to do to fix it. I wish they'll stop breaking the hearts of their fans by fixing whatever is wrong with the club.

Enough, Man United fans are very disappointed every season, and this season is the peak, because let alone competing at the top of the standings, it is very difficult for them to win. even now Man United is stuck in 15th position in the standings.

And initially I thought that the players and coaches were the ones who had problems, which made Man United unable to compete every season, but it turned out that it was a wrong speculation and the reality is not like that.

And I agree that for now Man United must immediately fix the management of the club, because if not, Man United will probably stay like this every season. And the latest news I got, that currently Man United is preparing a new coach to replace Ruben Amorin in the next season. LOL

Do you think the management is ready to fix anything? Everytime they try to take decisions on how to fix the lapses in the club,all they could come up with is changing the coach. After that is done, nothing still gets better yet the players do better with other clubs. Everyone who is a stakeholder in Manchester United needs to be given a different kind of motivation and reorientation because it is painful seeing a once glorious club like Man United going down down the table each season. We need a real change, an all round change. Not the kind of change that ends with changing coaches, buying or selling off players. No, Manchester United needs a total revamping.

[blue Snow]

Their squad depth is not as good as before - especially in defence. Savinho is not very good as a winger - while City also lack balance in midfield without a good defensive midfielder. Pep Guardiola can't force De Bruyne to perform like he used to - Foden isn't at his best either. Haaland was less than optimal due to a lack of creativity on the wings and midfield - so everything changed compared to the previous season.

In addition to the decline in performance, Pep's strategy can actually be read perfectly by Arni Slot. He understands very well how Pep implements the strategy, especially on 1st half. As we can see how the 1st goal created, Mohammed Salah was unguarded at the moment, even Salah is a top scorer but he is not separated from the defender's observation. It's the same on 2nd goal, the city defender repeats the same thing, Salah, and Szoboszlai still missed their surveillance, and create a nice collaboration on front for 2nd goal. That strange strategy Arni implemented 4-2-2-2, this making mess The city player when Luiz Diaz, and Jones looming them on the other side.

[tusandii]

Their squad depth is not as good as before - especially in defence. Savinho is not very good as a winger - while City also lack balance in midfield without a good defensive midfielder. Pep Guardiola can't force De Bruyne to perform like he used to - Foden isn't at his best either. Haaland was less than optimal due to a lack of creativity on the wings and midfield - so everything changed compared to the previous season.

In addition to the decline in performance, Pep's strategy can actually be read perfectly by Arni Slot. He understands very well how Pep implements the strategy, especially on 1st half. As we can see how the 1st goal created, Mohammed Salah was unguarded at the moment, even Salah is a top scorer but he is not separated from the defender's observation. It's the same on 2nd goal, the city defender repeats the same thing, Salah, and Szoboszlai still missed their surveillance, and create a nice collaboration on front for 2nd goal. That strange strategy Arni implemented 4-2-2-2, this making mess The city player when Luiz Diaz, and Jones looming them on the other side.

Pep Guardiola has coached Man City for years and of course every strategy used by Pep Guardiola is monitored by has been monitored by many other clubs so I also feel that Pep Guardiola has run out of ideas to build a new strategy and that's what makes Arne Slot feel at an advantage because this coach is still fresh because he has many strategies that may not have been applied to his club so when facing several strong clubs in the EPL Liverpool is still very strong and difficult to stop, with this victory I am increasingly convinced that Liverpool can definitely win the EPL title because this club continues to perform consistently until now.

[TastyChillySauce00]

Their squad depth is not as good as before - especially in defence. Savinho is not very good as a winger - while City also lack balance in midfield without a good defensive midfielder. Pep Guardiola can't force De Bruyne to perform like he used to - Foden isn't at his best either. Haaland was less than optimal due to a lack of creativity on the wings and midfield - so everything changed compared to the previous season.

In addition to the decline in performance, Pep's strategy can actually be read perfectly by Arni Slot. He understands very well how Pep implements the strategy, especially on 1st half. As we can see how the 1st goal created, Mohammed Salah was unguarded at the moment, even Salah is a top scorer but he is not separated from the defender's observation. It's the same on 2nd goal, the city defender repeats the same thing, Salah, and Szoboszlai still missed their surveillance, and create a nice collaboration on front for 2nd goal. That strange strategy Arni implemented 4-2-2-2, this making mess The city player when Luiz Diaz, and Jones looming them on the other side.

I don't think it was about the strategy. In fact, Pep did use inverted RB tonight. Their main problem is that in how long them to do transition. This creates a space for your opponent when only focusing on defending, then counter attacking.

I often saw how Pep always struggled against a parking bus strategy like what his club did against Liverpool. This has to be the most important puzzle he needs to solve. Once he can solve it, i believe his club may back to the winning the title when he settle it all.

[Swordsoffreedom]

In addition to the decline in performance, Pep's strategy can actually be read perfectly by Arni Slot. He understands very well how Pep implements the strategy, especially on 1st half. As we can see how the 1st goal created, Mohammed Salah was unguarded at the moment, even Salah is a top scorer but he is not separated from the defender's observation. It's the same on 2nd goal, the city defender repeats the same thing, Salah, and Szoboszlai still missed their surveillance, and create a nice collaboration on front for 2nd goal. That strange strategy Arni implemented 4-2-2-2, this making mess The city player when Luiz Diaz, and Jones looming them on the other side.

I completely agree with you. Arne Slot understood Guardiola's match strategy very well. That's why it was quite easy for Liverpool to win this match.

It cannot be denied that Manchester City tried to dominate their home match. But at the end of the day, although Liverpool managed to score two goals, Manchester City could not score a single goal.



If we look at the match statistics, we can understand that Manchester City dominated the match. Manchester City had 66% ball possession and had 16 shots. On the other hand, Liverpool players had 8 shots.