Weekend Football

[Royal Rother]

I'm not sure if I like the price going up so much but arguably they wouldn't have done so if a replay was a possibility

Yes they would have had a replay and mega £££ coming their way if it wasn’t for the big clubs and spineless FA

Agree with the sentiments but I would imagine the "big guns" may well have been brought on earlier and changed the course of the 90 min outcome if a replay was still an option.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Yeh, not to mention they only got through to the 3rd round because of the lack of replays.

[AthleticoSpizz]

…..and our beloved Royals (to add to our woes) would’ve had a ‘glamorous’ midweek trip to Burnley to negotiate

[Sutekh]

When the **** did Forest get a goalkeeper? First time I’ve seen them with one since the days of Chris Woods.

[LUX]

Yet more amazing results for Bournemouth and Brentford. Incredible.

[Sanguine]

When the **** did Forest get a goalkeeper? First time I’ve seen them with one since the days of Chris Woods.

Yeah, where on earth did he come from?! What a keeper. Liverpool only scored because they 'Arsenal-d' a corner and blocked Sels off.

He is the most goalkeeper-looking goalkeeper I've ever seen. Was never going to have any other career.

[Sutekh]

When the **** did Forest get a goalkeeper? First time I’ve seen them with one since the days of Chris Woods.

Yeah, where on earth did he come from?! What a keeper. Liverpool only scored because they 'Arsenal-d' a corner and blocked Sels off.

He is the most goalkeeper-looking goalkeeper I've ever seen. Was never going to have any other career.

Absolutely. This is note the joke Forest that we’re largely used to rocking up in Reading, they’ve managed to bend the rules enough to get them some outstanding players; Elangi, Murillo and Sels who, at the end of the day, earned Forest that point last night. And Santo has worked wonders to get a Chris Wood suddenly looking the part at 33! Think they’re going earn a place in the top 4 this season and will stick spanners into the works of several big teams yet to play them. Had to keep counting them last night as it seemed they always had about 15 players on the field.

[Sanguine]

The number of blocks the defence made was outstanding, Murillo in particular. The City Ground pitch is narrow, and commentary perfectly summed up their approach to defending - which is that opposition can have the ball out wide, and that they will defend their penalty area. And that they did so well - the number of successful crosses Liverpool completed seemed low.

[Silver Fox]

Haven't seen a lot of Forest this season but they were excellent last night. Atkinson and Murillo got in the way of every cross it seemed and once Liverpool stared hitting the target Sels played standing on his head. Think they've got a genuine chance of Champions League but will they or Olympiakos have to drop out?

[Sanguine]

Haven't seen a lot of Forest this season but they were excellent last night. Atkinson and Murillo got in the way of every cross it seemed and once Liverpool stared hitting the target Sels played standing on his head. Think they've got a genuine chance of Champions League but will they or Olympiakos have to drop out?

This appears to be one those rules that will be bent to avoid UEFA having to make an unpopular call. City and Girona are both in this season's CL, on the basis that no player transfers occur between the clubs until the start of next season at the earliest.

Red Bull's Leipzig and Salzburg have competed in the same CL campaign having proven that their management structures saw 'no one individual hold material influence over both clubs'.

Fwiw by UEFA's own rules, it might be Forest that would miss out, as a decision is made based on the finishing position in the league of the clubs involved - with Olympiakos currently leading the Greek Superleague.

[Sutekh]

Haven't seen a lot of Forest this season but they were excellent last night. Atkinson and Murillo got in the way of every cross it seemed and once Liverpool stared hitting the target Sels played standing on his head. Think they've got a genuine chance of Champions League but will they or Olympiakos have to drop out?

This appears to be one those rules that will be bent to avoid UEFA having to make an unpopular call. City and Girona are both in this season's CL, on the basis that no player transfers occur between the clubs until the start of next season at the earliest.

Red Bull's Leipzig and Salzburg have competed in the same CL campaign having proven that their management structures saw 'no one individual hold material influence over both clubs'.

Typical of governing bodies. Put an understandable rule in place then flout it when the issue actually arrises to avoid clubs starting to cry and threaten the inevitable legal action. Sometimes wonder that the **** the point is of having any regulations at all as it seems they’ll only get turned on when the clubs concerned are the small fry.

[Sanguine]

Alisson copping some flak on X. Apparently since he has returned from injury Liverpool's defensive line has been decent, allowing just 15 shots on target, but Alisson has let in nine of them. Good finish from Wood last night, but could argue that Alisson was slow to move, his hand certain goes over the ball.

[Sutekh]

Alisson copping some flak on X. Apparently since he has returned from injury Liverpool's defensive line has been decent, allowing just 15 shots on target, but Alisson has let in nine of them. Good finish from Wood last night, but could argue that Alisson was slow to move, his hand certain goes over the ball.

I reckon Liverpool may well sell Allison in the summer as they have Mamardashvili arriving then and will have at least one of Kelleher and Jaros remaining for competition. Allison’s contract I think is up in 2026 (plus he does get a good few injury niggles) and Liverpool’s owners seem to have a thing about not wanting to offer old people contracts and he will be 33 in October

[WestYorksRoyal]

Finding it quite tedious how the media is trying to create a title race this season when there clearly isn't one. Latest BBC column today is whether Newcastle are contenders. No. They are not, they're 9 points behind having played a game more. Forest are 6 behind having played a game more. There is no title race this season. Liverpool will win.

2016 was a freak of nature that none of the big teams really turned up and so Leicester pulled off the impossible. This year only one has, and they will win. Forest may well make top 4 which would still be exceptional.

[Sanguine]

Finding it quite tedious how the media is trying to create a title race this season when there clearly isn't one. Latest BBC column today is whether Newcastle are contenders. No. They are not, they're 9 points behind having played a game more. Forest are 6 behind having played a game more. There is no title race this season. Liverpool will win.

2016 was a freak of nature that none of the big teams really turned up and so Leicester pulled off the impossible. This year only one has, and they will win. Forest may well make top 4 which would still be exceptional.

I actually think they will win it too - but let's not pretend there 'is no title race'. Liverpool still need to go to City, Chelsea, Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth and Villa. Lots of tricky away games to navigate. On the flip side, they play six of the current bottom eight at home.

Strong position, but this far from over. A clinical Liverpool would have won at the City Ground on Tuesday night.

[Royal Rother]

Personally, I'd be more confident of Forest NOT making CL than Liverpool winning the title.

Liverpool have been brilliant for large parts of the 1st half of the season, whereas Arsenal have been rather underwhelming - yet they sit only 4 points behind, are (maybe) about to sign a much-needed striker, plus, to me, Salah looks to be going off the boil like he did for much of last season....

No foregone conclusion by any stretch of the (well, MY) imagination.

[Winston Biscuit]

Agreed. I think Liverpool will win, but they are only a couple of losses of potentially seeing the chasing pack right behind them

[Winston Biscuit]

Personally, I'd be more confident of Forest NOT making CL than Liverpool winning the title.

PL looking quite good right now for 5th place getting a champions league place

[Vision]

Personally, I'd be more confident of Forest NOT making CL than Liverpool winning the title.

Liverpool have been brilliant for large parts of the 1st half of the season, whereas Arsenal have been rather underwhelming - yet they sit only 4 points behind, are (maybe) about to sign a much-needed striker, plus, to me, Salah looks to be going off the boil like he did for much of last season....

No foregone conclusion by any stretch of the (well, MY) imagination.

Also think chasing will benefit Arsenal more than being the target for everyone else.

Striker or no striker I can't help but think the main stumbling block, as it has in the last two seasons, will be Arteta's negativity particularly in the crucial games. His team doesn't seem to believe they can win the big games when in reality they have best squad in the league.

[URZZZZ]

Personally, I'd be more confident of Forest NOT making CL than Liverpool winning the title.

Liverpool have been brilliant for large parts of the 1st half of the season, whereas Arsenal have been rather underwhelming - yet they sit only 4 points behind, are (maybe) about to sign a much-needed striker, plus, to me, Salah looks to be going off the boil like he did for much of last season....

No foregone conclusion by any stretch of the (well, MY) imagination.

Also think chasing will benefit Arsenal more than being the target for everyone else.

Striker or no striker I can't help but think the main stumbling block, as it has in the last two seasons, will be Arteta's negativity particularly in the crucial games. His team doesn't seem to believe they can win the big games when in reality they have best squad in the league.

Not sure I agree, their record in the “crucial” games is fairly strong. On the other hand they lose too many points to teams like Fulham, Brighton etc whereas Liverpool and the City of old were a lot more ruthless against these sides

Last season alone, I think City’s record against the bottom 14 teams stood at 26-1-1