As Liverpool’s season winds to a close, Rival Recon returns ahead of the Reds trip to Villa Park, to take on Unai Emery’s high flying side.
With Champions League qualification still yet to be secured, Monday evening’s game promises to be a challenging affair. Can Klopp’s side put in one more heroic display on the road?
Joining Hari to discuss Villa’s wonderful season to date, we welcome back Gregg Evans from The Athletic and @The1874Podcast
Jim Boardman and Jay Reid are back with the latest on LFC from Liverpool, and with the realisation that the next time they do a Scouser Tommies, Jurgen Klopp will have had his last game as Reds boss and every bit of output about LFC will be entitled “Auf Wiedersehen”.
Last time out Liverpool beat Spurs 4-2, a convincing win – if you ignore the last twenty minutes or so – and a maybe the last ‘normal’ game at Anfield for the ‘normal one’. It’s all pretty academic now, but Jay and Jim were glad to see a return to using the full width of the pitch as the boss went for a nostalgic approach, making the most of the two full backs who played such a huge role In the Reds success under Klopp. Whether Trent should start in midfield, nip there during games or stick out wide as a full-back is a worry for another manager now.
With Klopp’s penultimate home game out of the way he’s now got his penultimate game overall to come next week against Villa. Technically Villa can still lose their place in the Champions League, but Liverpool can also technically still win the league so let’s be realistic – it’s not exactly going to be the hardest fought game of the season at Villa Park.
In the press conference ahead of that game, Klopp spoke about his regrets over not playing Harvey Elliott more, praising him for his performances over the season, whether on the wing or right midfield, maybe sensing that the youngster is finally at that point now where he’s no longer to be thought of as a youngster. Something for the next boss to think about, and if LFC get Arne Slot as expected maybe young players will be given even more of a look in.
The boss was also asked about the speculation about Darwin Nunez’s future, speculation he knew nothing about, a reminder once again not to believe everything you read, especially when other agendas might be at play. Klopp admitted he’s no longer involved in what happens to Reds players, but you know he’d know if something was planned.
If Darwin was unhappy, it wouldn’t be helped by the blerts on social media who decided they could send him abuse in the comments, leaving him to delete all his recent posts relating to Liverpool FC. Abuse on social media is one thing, but you’d expect ex-players, working as pundits, to show a bit more respect to current players, rather than hurling abuse of a different kind, from the safety of retirement, acting like they believe players deliberately miss chances or misplace passes.
After the Villa game the inevitable fixture will be here, Klopp’s very last match stood on the touchline as Liverpool manager, against Wolves at Anfield. Well, that’s if he doesn’t get a yellow card against Villa, because then he’d get a touchline ban. As Jim and Jay point out, the PGMOL have lined up a selection of their finest for that game, so maybe Klopp will have to watch from the Kop.
Also coming up is a night with Klopp at the Echo Arena, or whatever it’s called these days. Upwards of £37 a ticket, with a 9,000 capacity, not to mention the sales of beer and merchandise, there’ll be a few quid coming out of the pockets of LFC fans that night, and as Jay and Jim discuss, it doesn’t really feel like it’s the right thing to do. Not yet.
As always, there’s something from the neighbours to raise a smile.
On the latest Molby On The Spot, Trev Downey speaks to Jan Molby about the evolution of LFC under Arne Slot, the last days of the Klopp era, celebrating the gaffer's legacy, the remaining two games and the joy of a day out with John Barnes.
Dave Davis reviews Jurgen Klopp’s second to last ever pre Aston Villa presser and covers:
- Q&A’s for Klopp
- Spurs Lessons
- Thoughts on Gakpo, Elliott and Nunez
- Villa Threats
- Predicted Line-Ups and Scoreline
Dave & Karl look at the Champions League semi finals with Dortmund and Real Madrid now set to meet at Wembley. They then go on to discuss Liverpool's next game as the reds have to wait until Monday to take-on Unai Emery's Villa side.
On today's episode Dave looks through today's LFC related news, as Stephen Warnock has let his feelings known on Rafa Benitez after being left out of the squad for Istanbul.
On today's episode Dave looks through today's LFC related news, Dave reacts to an article from This Is Anfield on ranking all the players signed in the Klopp era.
Si is still away so Darth hosts Hamzah and Dr Barts to review the Premier League win over Spurs. The lads discuss:
* Team Selections and Gameplans
* Match summary and key stats: Possession, XG, XT, Big Chances, Shots, Shot Quality, Win%.
* Discussion on Spurs season similarities with LFC
* How do you analyse a game like this when its a dead rubber and the pressure is off?
* Intensity is back!
* Trent role and discussion
* High quality LFC goals
* Was this game a microcosm of the season?
* Impact of Spurs and LFC subs
* Harvey Elliott - match analysis and future role discussion
Stats pack: https://drbarts.quarto.pub/match-day-36/
