Pizy

So for the second match in a row after playing the best game of their season and beating us, Palace are losing badly against one of the worst sides in the league. 🖕🏼🖕🏼🖕🏼

So...not like Willian, then?

I'm jealous of the way City approach each game. They look to dominate from the first minute and have their foot on the gas right away. Against sides like this we usually allow the small teams to bully us and stick around. We get out fought. We don't look to impose our will on them. Part of it is personnel, yes, but mostly about mentality.

Embarrassing defending from Dier at this point in such a big game.

Think Kante could probably play this if we were desperate but glad Conte is being cautious and patient. Really hope for a midfield 3 tomorrow. Please!

Yikes. This next month or so will really show us how our season will go. We'll probably know right before the Liverpool match whether it'll be a good season or a horror show.

Same. Especially when it's Hazard and Cesc taking them because they're so unpredictable with the ball. Less likely for the ball to bounce in a freakish way off someone's head and launching our opponents into a counter attack. Most importantly, it immedietly puts the ball at the feet of our most dangerous players rather than hoping a cross connects with one of our guys.

Although Conte says Kante is probably ready, I would save him for Roma. I would love to see a midfield 3 of Baka, Cesc, and Drinkwater for this one with that front 2 of Morata and Hazard that we've seen before. Think it could work very well. We really need to control and dominate the middle of the pitch for us to play our best and we simply cannot do so with a Baka/Cesc pairing alone.

He's intelligent beyond his years. Nearly always makes the correct decisions. He's an absolute diamond who should be starting all of our PL games.

We'll get City or Arsenal. Bet on it.

What a dreadful 2nd half that was! We just took our foot completely off the gas and coasted. Oh, well. A win and good minutes for Drinkwater, Ampadu, etc.

Zappacosta, Rüdiger, Christensen 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Rüdiger may very well be our best overall CB at this moment in time. He's got it all. Our whole defense was great that half, even Cahill. Batshuayi held it up brilliantly and looked dangerous. Willian was Willian. Did well everywhere but when it mattered which is the final ball. The youngsters Musonda and Ampadu struggled. Ampadu was decent but Charly lost the ball about 6 times. Drinkwater was clearly rusty but good still.

Everton playing a much stronger team than I expected. Only two of their regular XI on the bench.

Very intriguing team. Will probably be a bit of a struggle in midfield with DD making his first appearence and a 17 year old kid beside him. Hopefully a big performance from Charly to give Conte more to think about in the PL.

Would be very surprised if DD starts and even more surprised if he and Cesc can play in a partnership. Be great if he can come on for 45-60 minutes.

The one player I hope gets rested most is Bakayoko. We cannot afford an injury to him with Kante and Drinkwater out and he's at risk of being run into the ground early in the season.

Couldn't hurt, true. Hope he starts picking up where he left off before the injury so at least his confidence remains high while he gets used to the league.

Yep. I hope he starts today against what may be a weakened Everton side. Would be great for his confidence and to round himself back into form.

I don't think he's got any issues physically at all. I think he's still got that La Liga/Real Madrid mentality where they get preferential treatment and get a whistle with every niggling touch. Its abundantly clear that referes have been briefed that Morata goes down really easily to try to get whistles. He's got to learn this and adapt mentally rather than physically.

It's just so typical and I predicted as much before and after that match. They'd put in their best performance up until that point of their season and then revert to type immedietly afterwards. Still makes me angry a week later how embarrassing our players were.

Just thinking about it, it's crazy that he still hasn't made a single appearence for us yet and it doesn't seem like he will for a while. I mean, did he tear his calf muscle completely off or something?

My thoughts exactly. Would be nice to see Musonda etc play well and win but I wouldn't be bothered at all of we went out and had fewer fixtures to deal with.

Does any PL side really play their best XI in these earlier rounds of the League Cup? I doubt a team in the relegation zone will risk injury and fatigue here. They'll probably be fielding a bunch of young players just like us.

Bought some utter shit, you're right.

Like I said, he can't really attract top class players, can he? I think if Klopp were here for a few seasons we'd be much better off than Liverpool are.