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The 2025-2026 Football Thread

Lord Blackadder said:
I expect Liverpool to be unceremoniously brushed aside by Man City. If current form is anything to go by.
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Liverpool seem to be inconsistent in the PL, but when playing teams, who are prepared to play football, Liverpool seem to shine. 3-2 to Liverpool. On the prediction front, Southampton beat Arsenal in a penalty shootout PortVale win 1-0 , and West Ham put 3 past Leeds. 😜
 
Madonepro said:
Liverpool seem to be inconsistent in the PL, but when playing teams, who are prepared to play football, Liverpool seem to shine. 3-2 to Liverpool. On the prediction front, Southampton beat Arsenal in a penalty shootout PortVale win 1-0 , and West Ham put 3 past Leeds. 😜
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I’ll take your West Ham prediction! But with Summerville sidelined I think that’s optimistic. Mind you do is Calvert Lewis apparently, so I suspect goals will be hard to come by.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I expect Liverpool to be unceremoniously brushed aside by Man City. If current form is anything to go by.
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I think it could be a good game, as long as Pep doesn’t play the low block with Haaland up front. I suspect Man City will get the better of them, there are few Liverpool players in good form right now while Cherki, Doku and Marmoush seem to be showing some good stuff.

I finally caught up with the Bosnia v Italy game in the World Cup qualifiers, and I have to say Italy did miss some good chances to win that game in regulation time, rather than losing on penalties as they did. Now 12 years without Italy at a World Cup.
 
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As I expected. Man City deserved the win but the scoreline flatters them.

Slot’s case for hanging around is getting trickier. I think there are plenty of mitigating factors but the Slot Out lobby will be substantial this summer.

Ugh, between Liverpool’s struggles, my apathy with MLS, and the state of the WC, I genuinely don’t know when I’ll next actually look forward to watching football.
 
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Slot had a good plan when he came to the Premiership, but arguably it was only one plan, and he is now having to adapt and learn to be a complete manager. I suspect he’ll get another year beyond this one, but UCL football will be the minimum that’s expected.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
As I expected. Man City deserved the win but the scoreline flatters them.

Slot’s case for hanging around is getting trickier. I think there are plenty of mitigating factors but the Slot Out lobby will be substantial this summer.

Ugh, between Liverpool’s struggles, my apathy with MLS, and the state of the WC, I genuinely don’t know when I’ll next actually look forward to watching football.
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The scoreline may flatter them, but Liverpool failed to convert any of their chances, including a penalty.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
The scoreline may flatter them, but Liverpool failed to convert any of their chances, including a penalty.
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the Salah / Jota / Diaz frontline was dynamite. You can’t replace that in one season. We’ve let a lot of points on the field as a result. That’s not Slot’s fault, nor was losing Isak to a broken leg or Gakpo and Salah’s loss of form.

But it’s not been a good season, and the trajectory looks fairly flat. It’s a rebuilding year, so I expected little, but there will be plenty of voices calling for Slot to go. Which doesn’t guarantee improvement, but there it is.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
the Salah / Jota / Diaz frontline was dynamite.
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Agreed.
Lord Blackadder said:
You can’t replace that in one season.
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Of course not.
Lord Blackadder said:
We’ve let a lot of points on the field as a result.
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Indeed.
Lord Blackadder said:
That’s not Slot’s fault,
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No, agreed, absolutely it is not Slot's fault, and it is cheap, easy, and intellectually lazy to try to blame him.
Lord Blackadder said:
nor was losing Isak to a broken leg or Gakpo and Salah’s loss of form.
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True.
Lord Blackadder said:
But it’s not been a good season, and the trajectory looks fairly flat. It’s a rebuilding year, so I expected little, but there will be plenty of voices calling for Slot to go. Which doesn’t guarantee improvement, but there it is.
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Improbably, Slot won the Premier League last year, having inherited a team in transition, and following in the footsteps of - stepping into the shoes of - an exceptionally popular (and successful) manager.

I think that this has led to a sense of false confidence among some Liverpool fans, who expect, against all of the evidence, this improbable success to be repeated.

There are a number of reasons for Liverpool's decline: Jota's tragic death is one, as is the loss of form of Salah (which has been widely discussed). However, to my mind, the striking loss of form of Virgil van Dijk - who has been a giant, a key player, a linchpin and leader of Liverpool's defence, is of even greater importance when one looks for causes that seek to explain the reasons for the team's relatively poor form this season.
 
daneoni said:
Looks like Arsenal will suffer a giant killing.
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Sigh.
daneoni said:
Season seems to be unraveling for them.
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Not for the first, second, or third time.

Arsenal not only cannot "brush" Southampton aside, but they haven't, not for a single, solitary second, looked as though they could actually win this match.

Even when they clawed a goal back, it was nothing but a brief reprieve.

They are embarrassing in their skilled - but strangely toothless (and this is not a new problem) tactical ineptitude.
 
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The sad part is it’s (probably) another Man City trophy they should never have been allowed to win. They should have been relegated for breaching th rules several seasons ago now… Ill gotten gains.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
I’ll take your West Ham prediction! But with Summerville sidelined I think that’s optimistic. Mind you do is Calvert Lewis apparently, so I suspect goals will be hard to come by.
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Fingers crossed for tonight! 1 out 3 right so far (and hideously wrong with 2 of them)
 
Southampton played well today, and we simply didn't know how to pass the ball. And, for that matter, we don't seem to remember how to do the one touch passing that we used to do so well 😳

Too many touches...

But, seriously, if we're not careful, we could end up empty handed this season. Yes, we've had a lot of injuries, but, we also have a larger (or more depth) squad now. 🤦‍♂️
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
The sad part is it’s (probably) another Man City trophy they should never have been allowed to win. They should have been relegated for breaching th rules several seasons ago now… Ill gotten gains.
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Unfortunately, there is simply too much money in the Premier League, for the likes of City to relegated, or even simply got points deducted.

What's the saying, "money begets money", or something like that...
 
Oh I don’t know, does anyone remember what happened to Marseille a few years ago in the French league? They were set back not one but several divisions for financial irregularities, and it took them quite a few years to reappear in Ligue 1.
 
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Madonepro said:
Has anyone read this article?

www.sportbible.com

Journalist drops bombshell on Man City's 60-point deduction claim

The update comes as City await a decision regarding the ongoing Premier League financial charges case.
www.sportbible.com www.sportbible.com

This would be huge, and also concerning for Chelsea FC too.
Might be the only thing that saves Tottenham/West Ham.
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As nice as that would be I don’t see it. Any punishment handed out will be appealed against. I don’t even see this being dealt with before the end of the season
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Oh dear.

Why am I not surprised, not even remotely, surprised?

Congratulations to Southampton, they were worthy winners.
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To be fair they were. That’s always the problem when you are the favourite in a cup game. Everyone expects Southampton to lose. So they have nothing to fear. They came with a game plan and it paid off.

Now just hoping we can edge out Leeds.
 
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