Mo Salah’s brief return S5 E28

It’s February 20th - welcome dear listener to the latest edition of the pod. I’m joined by Daz and Justin. Reds won away at Brentford at the weekend but at some cost - we’ll review. We’ll then look ahead to Luton tomorrow night and Chelsea in the League Cup Final at the weekend and do the usual wider perspective before we are done. Part One - Brentford 1, Liverpool 4 (Understat 1.7 to 3.09; statsbomb 1.14 to 2.43) Predictions First Half - Brentford dominance! First 20 minutes, they should probably have scored was the narrative (Toney had a chance at 14 and 19 - Ibou steered him away from goal for the 2nd) In practice, Bradley had an effort turned away at 9 minutes, Jota manhandled at 12 (Jensen challenge was 50/50), Jota shot turned away at 20. 35 - Darwin finish - if he scores in the next 13 games we are right in this Refereeing again; Oliver doing the same stuff we’ve seen increasingly - players go down with minimal contact and it always seems to be a foul against us. 9 fouls against us and 1 for? Not one given for the 2 Noorgard challenges that caused serious injuries. Toney - what a diver… Second Half - controlled large portions of this: xG of over 2 again - this is quite exceptional. Played with a swagger after 2-0. Klopp reaction to the dangerous tackle on Bradley 54 - Endo to Gravenberch to Mo to Macca 67 - Mo goal - more Route 1 football :() 71 - Could have conceded a pen (Robbo on Toney), they score on 74 Didn’t get much of a sniff until the very end 82 - possible Diaz penalty 86 - Gakpo’s 10th of the season - be good to him going Finished 15 fouls to 3 (the Arsenal game with Taylor was 11-11). Lots of shout outs: Kelleher, the defence, the midfield, whichever Front 3 was on the pitch. Post Jones midfield looked good, and then Elliott had a nice cameo. Part Two - looking ahead: Luton at home - 13 games left Luton - thoughts? The injuries Team selection, predictions Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday Chelsea - can’t be as dominant as we were a few weeks ago, can we? Chelsea appeared to play a back 6 at City, and ran out of gas at 70. Team selection, predictions Part Three - looking wider: Arsenal (2.2 xG and 5 goals); City will go on a run to everyone is going to drop points - did have an xG of over 3 against Chelsea). Ollie Watkins….. Only Mo Salah Most goals by a Liverpool sub - 13 from 27. Jurgen and the Dinosaurs! How many teams chant You Scouse Bastard and have an intro song written by a couple of Scousers? We will be back with a review of the Luton and Chelsea games. Thanks to Daz and justin. And thank you dear listener for joining us. If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on Twitter  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic