⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Finebone]

I think Arne Slot is facing a dilemma. He knows very well that Mo Salah was one of the key players last season and also a symbol of the club, but on the other hand, he should not be able to deny the fact that Mo Salah's performance is currently declining. If he is wise, then he should treat everyone fairly, which means the best will get a place in the starting lineup. So if there is a player who is better than Mo Salah, then that player should be on the pitch and Mo Salah should be put on the bench.

It might be painful for Mo Salah, but from there, he can do some introspection, and if he can improve (or even return to his form last season), then there is no reason for Arne Slot not to pick him again.

The bitter truth is that football is all about the present, and current form. Truly you may be praised or adored based on how efficient and effective you were in the past, but if you are no longer performing up to standard, you are more likely to be dropped, and that is what's happening to mo salah now.
 So even though mo salah will feel bad, he just have to accept reality if he is relegated to the bench because he is not performing up to the standard or even close the level he was last year, so if anyone is available that can do better than him, he just have to make way and watch from the stands because everyone has their time and by the look of things, he is close to the end of his best days at Liverpool.

[topbitcoin]

The injury problems affecting several key players as well as the slight issues associated with Pep's rapid rejuvenation of some players with younger players were indeed quite disruptive. Even at the beginning of the season they were still feeling the effects. However as time goes by Pep's efforts are starting to be felt.

In the end, nothing is instant as there are bound to be some issues that can eventually spiral out of control as was the case at Manchester City last season and at the start of this season.
But over time the progress is becoming more noticeable. Manchester City are now starting to find their feet again and their playing style has improved compared to last season especially now that Haaland is starting to feel comfortable again and is getting the supplies he's been hoping for.

Manchester City may have struggled last season but it seems this season they don't want to lose their trophy chasing potential after being overtaken by Liverpool.

The problem is, Pep really relies on young players, because several senior players were injured that make Pep racking his mind to maximize them, but due to lack of playing time that make the young player vulnerable to friction with other players. I think Pep should be the thing to recruit another seasoned player, or make the rotation for crucial position like center midfielder. Rodri is still his main focus, but he got injured again, and could be dejavu like previous session.

There's nothing more to expect for this season. The city will be the same club as last season.

Pep's initiative for the future was actually quite good. He wanted to accelerate the long term development of young players but this situation seemed rushed when Pep made several extreme rotations of his core players.

From the start, we knew that the heart of Manchester City lay in KDB and several strong defensive players such as Ake and even Kyle formed a strong foundation. However these hasty decisions made the situation difficult.
But now that the chemistry is starting to rebuild I think it's getting a little betterm as Manchester City is slowly finding a new rhythm.
Tijani in attack as a playmaker is starting to gel with several players including Haaland which at least makes the current situation more connected.

[Rockson1]

Just some close to what I thought. The Aston Vs Manchester city game is surely a BTTS game but I have plans on expanding it for a BTTS and over 2.5 goals. Just to increase the odds more which to me it might play.

For the second game on the list, it's looking like a draw game from my end. True that their encounters has usually produced much goals but this season is looking different from me. Perhaps double chancing one of the sides but not expecting goals would be safer.

Dude there is nothing sure in the prediction of football match although I understand why you said that, i match, but I will prefer to bet on 0v1.5 here, we know how Manchester city match use to be sometimes, they might end up scoring just 2 goals and that ends it but the BTTS can stil be possible because Aston may not want to prove that they are not easy to crack so they might score, both of us have the same view on the second match on the list, Everton will not want to be stopped easily, the same thing goes to Tottenham and even if any of them is to win, it might just be 1 or 2goals but the game looks like a potential draw just as you viewed to be.

[M47AK16]

Aston Villa got a bad result against Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League. A 2-1 loss... When I compared the starting lineups between this and their previous game, I saw there were many rotations.

But man even with these changes technically their squad is much better. And considering the rotation level, can we say Emery wants to focus on the Premier League more? Or is it just because they have a tough game ahead against Manchester City?

No way, the Europa League is a great opportunity for them to win, big support for Aston Villa to get the Europa League this season, they are one of the strong candidates, I see the optimism of the forum people about it, it is more likely that they are careless in this round, both goals were scored by Go Ahead Eagles due to a failed offside trap, so it was very difficult for Aston Villa players to anticipate, here lies their mistake, Moreover, the English league is much more difficult to compete, for the current situation it is very difficult to get a much better position than the previous season for Aston Villa.

They already only won three games at the league so far, they are not looking great at all at premier league, and doubtful that they will finish top seven or eight. Even famously terrible team United recovered and doing better than Aston Villa at the moment. This goes to show, they are having a bad season.

It's fine to lose to go ahead eagles, while that wasn't expected and they should have easily won, the reality is that they won the first two games against Bologna and Feyenoord which means that they are doing a fine job and won't be really getting a bad result at all. We should be considering how they could end up with a bad result here and that's bad but at the same time they should be fine on the long run too.

[yudi09]

Leeds United vs West Ham United

These two teams will be aiming to defeat each other in order to secure their position in the standings. Leeds United is currently in 16th place with 8 points. Meanwhile, West Ham United is in 19th place, second from the bottom of the standings.

Can we say that Leeds United is better than West Ham given the circumstances they have faced in their 8 matches this season?
Additionally, Nuno has not secured a win for West Ham United since September or in his 3 matches in London following the end of his collaboration with Nottingham.

Bets with different odds are now available. May your bets be successful.

[lixer]

Fortunately, his injury isn't serious, so he'll only need to recover for a few matches. In the meantime, there might be further changes to the starting lineup. Speaking of Liverpool's starting lineup, we've seen Salah on the bench for a while, so player rotation is necessary to maintain his optimal performance.

However, according to one Liverpool legend this season, Salah does need rotation to keep the game running smoothly, as his performance hasn't been as optimal as when he started. Well, if we look at the last few matches, before this win, hasn't the performance of almost all Liverpool players been dropping? This includes their attacking play.

Do you agree with him?

This is what I dislike about players getting the best performance of their career on contract years. Salah was the best player in Liverpool last year, he has scored and assisted like crazy , he was looking like a new found man and looked like he still has bunch of years at the top.

Then after being that great, Liverpool gave him a contract, and months of negotiations too, he wanted more and more, eventually he got what he wanted, or at least got what was more than what Liverpool initially offered. Then what happened? He sucks now, because he is guaranteed to get paid, he sucks now, I hate it when players start being much worse after they get their contract, that is a sneaky terrible thing to do and shows who you are as a character.

[Alonso_]

Fortunately, his injury isn't serious, so he'll only need to recover for a few matches. In the meantime, there might be further changes to the starting lineup. Speaking of Liverpool's starting lineup, we've seen Salah on the bench for a while, so player rotation is necessary to maintain his optimal performance.

However, according to one Liverpool legend this season, Salah does need rotation to keep the game running smoothly, as his performance hasn't been as optimal as when he started. Well, if we look at the last few matches, before this win, hasn't the performance of almost all Liverpool players been dropping? This includes their attacking play.

Do you agree with him?

This is what I dislike about players getting the best performance of their career on contract years. Salah was the best player in Liverpool last year, he has scored and assisted like crazy , he was looking like a new found man and looked like he still has bunch of years at the top.

Then after being that great, Liverpool gave him a contract, and months of negotiations too, he wanted more and more, eventually he got what he wanted, or at least got what was more than what Liverpool initially offered. Then what happened? He sucks now, because he is guaranteed to get paid, he sucks now, I hate it when players start being much worse after they get their contract, that is a sneaky terrible thing to do and shows who you are as a character.

I share your sentiment sometimes players usually don’t understand what it takes for clubs to pay such huge amounts of money for their wages, last season Salah was playing like a player who is on a mission, but currently this season his been awful in scoring goals after he has gotten the contract and big money that he wants, he misses a lot of clear chances, and when he is supposed to pass to a teammate to score he is trying to play himself, this was part of the reason they lost to Manchester United, sometimes you have to pass to a teammate to score goals.

Salah should stop trying to be the main man because it’s putting more pressure on him, if I was him I would prefer to play a more free football, instead of trying to be the main man for the club, he should also understand he isn’t getting any younger, and I think the manager should start keeping him on the bench.

[KingsDen]

In the UCL match against Eintracht Frankfurt, Liverpool scored five goals, but none came from Isak. In fact, Isak suffered a groin injury and was withdrawn around the 46th minute.

Do you agree with him?

Source: Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher on Salah

If there is something more than being a hypocrite and ungrateful fellow I will say it is what is happening here. Even if we know that if a player does not give his best for a long period of time, he would probably be benched but we should not pronounce it this way especially from the legends of Liverpool.

Mo Salah has given his best in Liverpool season in - season out. He has done this consistently for a good number of seasons and won Liverpool a good number of trophies. Just his season of poor performance either because of age or whatever thing that is happening in Liverpool that he needed support and encouragement, the coach is being advised to bench him.Football can be cruel also

[JoyMarsha]

I think Arne Slot is facing a dilemma. He knows very well that Mo Salah was one of the key players last season and also a symbol of the club, but on the other hand, he should not be able to deny the fact that Mo Salah's performance is currently declining. If he is wise, then he should treat everyone fairly, which means the best will get a place in the starting lineup. So if there is a player who is better than Mo Salah, then that player should be on the pitch and Mo Salah should be put on the bench.

It might be painful for Mo Salah, but from there, he can do some introspection, and if he can improve (or even return to his form last season), then there is no reason for Arne Slot not to pick him again.

No player is bigger than the coach to place him on the bench for another player to be on the pitch. A coach wouldn't be sticking with and condoning a player's bad moments in some matches when he knows that his job as a coach can be at stake if his team doesn't deliver in matches.

However, Mo Salah has been a great player for Liverpool, Arne Slot respects that, but that doesn't mean he can't be kept on the bench for some time if he's performance has declined. He was on the bench in the Liverpool Champions League match against Frankfurt. Although he came in at 74 minutes into the match when the scoreline is 1-5(Liverpool winning already)

[JiiBs]

Leeds United vs West Ham United

These two teams will be aiming to defeat each other in order to secure their position in the standings. Leeds United is currently in 16th place with 8 points. Meanwhile, West Ham United is in 19th place, second from the bottom of the standings.

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Leeds United have shown so much improvement in their performance, they took the lead way early in the match and added to it with a second goal. West Ham United had a goal but, was cancelled by the VAR.
West Ham United doesn’t seem as though they could come back from this, there isn’t much hope for a come back from them in this one, Leeds would be sure to secure all 3 points here.

[IceLincoln]

Fortunately, his injury isn't serious, so he'll only need to recover for a few matches. In the meantime, there might be further changes to the starting lineup. Speaking of Liverpool's starting lineup, we've seen Salah on the bench for a while, so player rotation is necessary to maintain his optimal performance.

However, according to one Liverpool legend this season, Salah does need rotation to keep the game running smoothly, as his performance hasn't been as optimal as when he started. Well, if we look at the last few matches, before this win, hasn't the performance of almost all Liverpool players been dropping? This includes their attacking play.

Do you agree with him?

Source: Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher on Salah

I don’t agree with him one bit, Mo Salah might not be having his moments but he’s not playing entirely bad, just that he’s raised the standards and now he’s underperforming it feels like he’s not playing anything. They should keep him on the field the goals and assists will come. There are some players that have attained a certain level where no matter their current form should always be on your team and Mo Salah is one of those, it’s like having Messi on your team and because he’s having some bad days you want to bench him, that’s wrong na. These are guys who can just change games in a twinkle of an eye. Mo Salah has done things Jamie Carragher can’t imagine or do in his dreams. How many times do you see those who were great players come back to talk shit about active players always the mediocre and low level guys coming to spew disrespectful stuffs in the name of punditry.
It’s Disrespectful and an insult to keep a player like Salah on the bench, no matter the form; you can maybe reduce his time but NEVER keep him on the bench.

[slapper]

I think Arne Slot is facing a dilemma. He knows very well that Mo Salah was one of the key players last season and also a symbol of the club, but on the other hand, he should not be able to deny the fact that Mo Salah's performance is currently declining. If he is wise, then he should treat everyone fairly, which means the best will get a place in the starting lineup. So if there is a player who is better than Mo Salah, then that player should be on the pitch and Mo Salah should be put on the bench.

It might be painful for Mo Salah, but from there, he can do some introspection, and if he can improve (or even return to his form last season), then there is no reason for Arne Slot not to pick him again.

The bitter truth is that football is all about the present, and current form. Truly you may be praised or adored based on how efficient and effective you were in the past, but if you are no longer performing up to standard, you are more likely to be dropped, and that is what's happening to mo salah now.
 So even though mo salah will feel bad, he just have to accept reality if he is relegated to the bench because he is not performing up to the standard or even close the level he was last year, so if anyone is available that can do better than him, he just have to make way and watch from the stands because everyone has their time and by the look of things, he is close to the end of his best days at Liverpool.

I actually agree with a large portion of what you're saying: nobody deserves a starting spot forever. Slot will play Gakpo / Wirtz / Ekitike, in case he thinks they are what he wants at the moment. That is football and Salah is not an exception. But I don't think it is as easy as "he fell off, take the bench". They literally transformed the entire attack. He used to be the main weapon. The system is now constructed around other guys and he is basically becoming the support act. That hits your ego. You had it with that Frankfurt moment

Personally I would ask: how do you use him now without going to war? Fewer minutes, nearer to goal, allow him to finish rather than run like a 23-year-old winger 90. You do not put down legends when you are intelligent. You phase them

[HajiBagi]

Will be interesting to see what happens with Arsenal vs Crystal Palace. In the past Crystal Palace does well against the biggest teams in the PL but I have to wonder will playing in Europe hamper them this season. Can their squad cope with the extra games? I mean they lost at home to AEK Larnaca last night which isn’t great. I think these teams like Crystal Palace can only perform well with one game a week. We have seen many times that the extra games kills teams like this. Arsenal to win comfortably I predict.

With the current performance of Crystal Palace, Arsenal will defeat them, Arsenal will comfortably beat Crystal Palace because Crystal Palace is not having a good performance in their last games, although I don’t expect many goals in their match because both teams can defend well, Crystal Palace know how to play against big teams in the Premier League that is why whenever they meet a team like Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City they always find a way to end the game draw or score a late winning goal.

Arsenal are currently the favourite to win the Premier League title this season, although the league just started but if we look at the team with most complete players this season, it is Arsenal and they have shown that against many big clubs, Arsenal been at the top of the league will motivate them to keep playing well and fight for the league title till the end of the season.

[MorganaX]

Just some close to what I thought. The Aston Vs Manchester city game is surely a BTTS game but I have plans on expanding it for a BTTS and over 2.5 goals. Just to increase the odds more which to me it might play.

For the second game on the list, it's looking like a draw game from my end. True that their encounters has usually produced much goals but this season is looking different from me. Perhaps double chancing one of the sides but not expecting goals would be safer.

Dude there is nothing sure in the prediction of football match although I understand why you said that, i match, but I will prefer to bet on 0v1.5 here, we know how Manchester city match use to be sometimes, they might end up scoring just 2 goals and that ends it but the BTTS can stil be possible because Aston may not want to prove that they are not easy to crack so they might score, both of us have the same view on the second match on the list, Everton will not want to be stopped easily, the same thing goes to Tottenham and even if any of them is to win, it might just be 1 or 2goals but the game looks like a potential draw just as you viewed to be.

I don't know for anyone but I will play Manchester City to win because there are currently in their winning form and with the way they are going there are trying to replicate the winning spree they had few seasons ago that led them in securing the league. It was too bad that last season they struggled to win games and this season guadiola is looking like he gave clicked back the winning formula and they are no longer losing games as before so I feel even this Aston Villa match they will win it.

[PokerDiceMan]

Leeds United vs West Ham United

These two teams will be aiming to defeat each other in order to secure their position in the standings. Leeds United is currently in 16th place with 8 points. Meanwhile, West Ham United is in 19th place, second from the bottom of the standings.

Can we say that Leeds United is better than West Ham given the circumstances they have faced in their 8 matches this season?
Additionally, Nuno has not secured a win for West Ham United since September or in his 3 matches in London following the end of his collaboration with Nottingham.

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In terms of material, West Ham players are actually better than Leeds United. However, at the beginning of the season, they struggled and had poor results. Even after changing coaches, they were unable to improve the situation, only managing one draw and losing the rest. In this match as well, West Ham had difficulties and ended up losing 2-1.

[Oluwa-btc]

Do you agree with him?

Source: Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher on Salah

One thing I will not do is rate people and football fans who rate Jamie Carragher. You all shouldn't forget how he disrespected the AFCON competition, all because he wanted brushing Mohamed Salah off the nominees for the Ballon d'Or and shit. Well, whatever Arne Slot see to be worthwhile, he should go on with. Brentford next, we all know they've been a tough side to crack. The Champions League against Frankfurt was a good response.

[Zaguru12]

With the current performance of Crystal Palace, Arsenal will defeat them, Arsenal will comfortably beat Crystal Palace because Crystal Palace is not having a good performance in their last games, although I don’t expect many goals in their match because both teams can defend well, Crystal Palace know how to play against big teams in the Premier League that is why whenever they meet a team like Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City they always find a way to end the game draw or score a late winning goal.

Arsenal are currently the favourite to win the Premier League title this season, although the league just started but if we look at the team with most complete players this season, it is Arsenal and they have shown that against many big clubs, Arsenal been at the top of the league will motivate them to keep playing well and fight for the league title till the end of the season.

Another big game for Arsenal to actually show their intent of winning the league yet again, this game would have been interesting right from the build if it was played two match week away from today because then The Eagles were seriously on high spirit then and were looking like they can actually go head to head with any team and triumph. But since the last two games it has take a different form because there last two games haven’t recorded any win with their first loss of the season even coming

This Current form and also the head to head actually favours Arsenal to win this game, for like how many seasons now Arsenal have only recorded a single draw against Crystal palace and it was the frustrating one they did last season I think they will be actually looking to get a better revenge this time around.

[pawel7777]

So I'm just learning about the drama relating to Mo Salah. Apparently, he removed all references to Liverpool from his X account, or at least that's what the local media are reporting:
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mohamed-salah-liverpool-champions-league-32737626

There are speculations about Liverpool selling him in the January window, or at the end of the season.

Salah's performance was a bit of a rollercoaster over the last years, but he did really well in the last season. Despite that, Arne Slot doesn't see him as a crucial player, despite saying positive things about him recently.
Do you think we will see Salah in the starting 11 in the next game against Brentford tomorrow?

[Issa56]

In terms of material, West Ham players are actually better than Leeds United. However, at the beginning of the season, they struggled and had poor results. Even after changing coaches, they were unable to improve the situation, only managing one draw and losing the rest. In this match as well, West Ham had difficulties and ended up losing 2-1.

I was thinking west ham would be getting a win in the match today, but they ended up losing, I never believed west ham will be losing today, because I feel Leeds isn’t a strong team also, so west ham will do everything possible to get a win. I don’t know what’s wrong with west ham this season, their performance has been so terrible, and they are currently in relegation zone, I don’t even know how west ham are going to avoid relegation this season, because  their performance is so terrible, every club is now winning west ham. Out of 9 matches played, west ham were able to win just a match, thats really a bad one for them, and the coach should just work on the team’s performance.

[red4slash]

Fortunately, his injury isn't serious, so he'll only need to recover for a few matches. In the meantime, there might be further changes to the starting lineup. Speaking of Liverpool's starting lineup, we've seen Salah on the bench for a while, so player rotation is necessary to maintain his optimal performance.

However, according to one Liverpool legend this season, Salah does need rotation to keep the game running smoothly, as his performance hasn't been as optimal as when he started. Well, if we look at the last few matches, before this win, hasn't the performance of almost all Liverpool players been dropping? This includes their attacking play.

Do you agree with him?

I think he does need that. It doesn't mean he's bad, but now that he's getting older and Liverpool's reliance on Salah is making things a little less manageable, so a bit of rotation is needed so the younger players can also show their potential in the squad.

Relying on one player is natural, especially since Salah is currently one of our most productive players. But relying too much on Salah, making him almost indispensable, is clearly a bit of a mistake for Liverpool, so they need to take some action here.
Salah needs to slightly change their attacking style, not just relying on Salah. He was actually very good in yesterday's Champions League match, so I don't think there's any harm in implementing a similar system in the EPL.