Watford face Liverpool at Anfield this Wednesday 27th Feb, kick off 20:00. Liverpool have enjoyed an incredible season so far, their fans on the ride of their lives and dreaming that their club can replicate Leicester's amazing achievement of 2015/16. Whilst there are many superficial parallels to be made between Leicester and Liverpool's title challenges, it is only when one looks in more detail that stark differences come to light and make Liverpool's success so much less likely. The most glaring is the mind-boggling amount of offside goals, dodgy red cards and other bizarre refereeing decisions that have benefitted them this season, not to mention the astonishing amount of injury ravaged or woefully out of form sides they've faced already. Leicester had no such fortune and won the league purely on merit, whereas Liverpool's run of luck defies the science of probability and can't possibly continue... can it? Famously, Liverpool are no strangers to luck. Their Champions League victory came after they qualified for the competition in 4th place (begging the question 'Champions of what?'), and limped through each stage of the competition before finding themselves 3-0 down at halftime in the final. It's hard to imagine that rest wasn't murky history, a swirling story of betting syndicates and back handed payments to shadowy men, pulling the strings of the puppets on the highest footballing stages. It's probably only a matter of time before the true story is told, but that is hardly any concern of Liverpool and their fans who benefitted from the unlikely events of that strange evening in Istanbul. Liverpool have their sights set on their first domestic league trophy in the modern era, and whilst it seems churlish to wish the fairytale to end, football purists view Man City as most likely to retain the crown and it's hard to disagree with this being the best outcome for the Beautiful Game. Watford go into this match in good form, and (barring any last minute injuries to key personnel) can be confident of another away win to add to our impressive total. Whilst Javi (ever the gentleman) will undoubtedly speak eloquently and politely about respecting opponents, Liverpool's false position will not be lost on him and I fully expect us to rest some regulars in readiness for sterner opposition. Happily, the risk of such an approach is fairly low. Our youngsters proved their value away at Woking, and can be trusted to replicate that performance on Wednesday night. COYH
Need a score prediction. I think with our form ( 1 loss in 11) and Liverpool falling off I’ll go for a standard 3-0 win to us against our top 4 rivals. Their defence is wafer thin, thought that when we were playing awfully and put 3 past then easily, they did reply with 3, 1 a fluke and 2 undisputed errors on the refs part
Deulofeu will take the pi$$ if he's played. Wouldn't at all be surprised at another hatrick. Unfortunately I really feel that Javi will make wholesale changes for this, so I'll go for a slender victory - can't see them scoring TBH. 0-2.
Scousers obsess about their traditions but with little foundation. Not only are they are the junior club in this fixture, they are also the junior club in Liverpool. Actually, they are newer than Tranmere & Southport. The MK Dons of the NW.
Pathetic thread. Why are we even bothering talking about this nothing team who are bottling the league game by game? Can't wait for City to win the league. I actually hope we throw the game against them so this mob don't win the title.
My thoughts precisely- but we should at least acknowledge the fixture, and no one else seemed bothered enough to do it. I needed something to do whilst sitting on the toilet.
Massive game for the Pool who still harbour hopes of a top 4 finish despite their indifferent form. Little to play for for us, wanting to avoid the distraction of a European mickey-mouse cup distraction. Must not win game. 0-7 GD 2,6,12, 41, TD 88,89,90.
As a watford fan with a lot of Liverpool supporting friends would love us to **** up their title race If everybody is on form we could get something 1:3 Watford If it’s cold and we are not interested 4:1 Liverpool If we do get something might just start believing we could end up 7th
Actually you're not far wrong. But more like Chelsea. Both clubs were set up to play at existing major sports facilities that didn't have a home club. I'm sure there are other examples but those are the ones that spring to mind.
Everyone has Liverpool supporting friends. Each comes complete with Liverbird tattoo and a programme from that time they went to a game. Have you noticed how they all have the same story about how their mum's sister's next door-but-one's brother supported Liverpool, and that's why they do, instead of supporting their local team? Really strange how I've heard that story thousands of times, and it's always been Liverpool or Man Utd they ended up supporting, but never Colchester Utd or Port Vale. But they're all genuine fans. I refuse point blank to discuss football with any Liverpool fan unless they actually come from Liverpool. Really tough to do, as any genuine football fan from Liverpool supports Everton.
Salah subbed off with 15 minutes left so he's fresher to face us. Klopp knows we will compete and decided to save his best player. Bless him.
Last time we went there we were abysmal losing 6-0. Whilst I'm not expecting us to turn up and win, I am expecting a better performance than last season! With anything gained a bonus!
I read that Liverpool was created by splitters from Everton which was already well established by then. This explains why New Everton based themselves to Original Everton.
Salah has been hesitant & ineffectual for the last 2-3 matches; Mané for longer than that; & Firmino for most of the season. Press them, keep it tight & Salah will soon start his diving antics.
Great thread. A strong 4 tin hats out of 5. I'm prepared to award the full 5 if a Liverpool fan signs up to comment.
Mr HH's contributions to this forum tend to be limited to "top tips" for Cheltenham. However, I did ask him for a prediction. 3-1 he says. Needless to say, we will be spending Wednesday evening following the match in different rooms.
Me and my mates are planning to sing "Everton, Everton, Everton" and "Man City, Man City" when we go on Wednesday. Will be fuggin hilarious
Hahaha, exactly this! Even though Everton destroyed my boyhood footballing dreams in the FA Cup final, behaved horribly in their dealings with Silva and took my favourite player from last season, I still admire them as a proper football club with a genuine fanbase. As others have said, Liverpool are nothing more than a glorified MK Dons.
Not yet but I suspect the "quality" of the tips provided by him to those on here (including me) may depend on Wednesday's result....