Stats

He is controlling the game too. Not just winning the ball. He is taken on a lot more responsibility being that person to receive the ball and move it, especially since Enzo has been injured.

You only have to see the comments on our game yesterday from Villa fans alone to know we got robbed. There own fans have said the decision was poor and compare the upvotes to the downvotes. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68862601 Look at Trossard's goal against Wolves last week. Wolves wanted a foul as Jesus nudged player in the back, however as foul was not given in normal time, VAR did not intervene which is correct. Same should have been done yesterday. This VAR is total bullshit. Not a fan of it. I feel the people sitting in their little lobby making decisions have their own agenda. Does that goal get ruled out if it is the other way? Never... Don't really trust the lines thing as well. Think it is too inconsistent and on another day that Jackson offside is ruled on side. We did well in circumstances to get a point with injuries and lack of options on bench and against a team who had a whole week's rest but annoyingly feels like a loss after being robbed from the fraud of VAR team.

We were robbed. How the hell they saw enough in that to overturn the original decision is ridiculous. Anyway proud of the team. Honestly was expecting a battering with the team we had out and the lack of experience on bench. Madueke was my MOTM. He terrorised Digne all game. Caicedo was excellent second half. Gallagher top performance too but I felt the pundits didn't give Madueke enough credit. He was sensational. Hopefully he can do the same against Spurs on Thursday night.

I genuinely would have him in the first team fold. He can play for a better team than Ipswich imo. They will struggle in the PL. Can see the pros of him staying there if they go up, however his talent is one we should utilize. Same way we did with Mount and Tomori after their Championship spells, I would like to see us do same with Hutchinson.

Yep, that is true but perfect scenario for us was the game last night going into ET. Would not be surprising to see one of KDB or Haaland, if not both on bench, especially considering they asked to come off so they will be physically exhausted. So they defo will make changes. Walker who is normally used against us to cut off our wingers pace, I don't see him starting after just returning from injury and playing the whole 120 mins yesterday. A lot of reasons to feel more confident than I did previously.

In recent games, he has recovered a lot of balls, made interceptions and made good passes also. The positioning I blame on Poch. All the players are over the place and sometimes he is left exposed. Enzo is frequently moving around the pitch. Yes I go to Stamford Bridge quite frequently and I have seen improvements from him. The transfer fee was a lot, but this is his first season at us and he is only recently turned 22. So give him some time and support as he has definitely improved and making comments such as 'Cashito' is quite silly. Maybe give one of our players support and recognise his improvements.`

I don't get why people make these kind of schoolboy comments. Caicedo has not set the world alight, however he has definitely improved last few games. He is still very young as well and I am hopeful and think he will be a very stellar signing for years to come.

Should of had another assist today, however Sterling messed up the shot.

This is what I don't understand. How can we afford all these players we are linked with, unless we have a continuous plan to get rid of several HG players? Some of the players bought have not made sense also. Real, risky situation. Completely set the club back. Utterly bizarre.

Jota, Jones, Nunez all injured in today's game. Jota will definitely be out. Looks potentially serious. Feeling more optimistic. They also have a game in the week.

As the poster said above, Liverpool have fitness issues on the right. Yes, of course a fit Salah will give Chilwell or whoever is LB issues, however on their LB, is where I see us being exposed increasingly if we don't give Gusto protection. Robertson and Diaz combining will be difficult for Palmer to deal with defensively which is why I am saying on that side we need a lot more protection because he can be outrun defensively. TAA doesn't necessarily charge forward, whereas Robertson does. Trent will keep coming inside playing the inverted role assuming he plays.

My only worry when Palmer plays on the right against high pressing teams is that it leaves us vulnerable on the right hand side. Palmer when attacking is brilliant to watch, however when defending he is not the fastest. I remember in the Luton game, Doughty and Chong kept overloading the left hand side in the second half and we struggled. Now with Liverpool with Diaz and Robertson, I do worry the times when we are defending, that we are going to struggle to contain them two if Palmer is on the right. I am pretty sure that will be the team, but may be worth Gallagher shifting over to right in defence to help out our defence contain their attacking threat on the left.

I thought u were referring to Conor sorry. I wanted Conor off for the resumption of second half but he came up with goods. It is funny how he is done the same thing against Palace two seasons running now. Needs to target to score against more PL teams other than the one he really wants to prove a point against. That will be great.

I love how he shut us all up but love it. Rose to the challenge 😄 Anyway, to the game itself, I called for Gallagher to come off but fair enough he made me eat my words. We got really lucky though. That game could of swung anyway and before Gallagher got the winning goal, I thought Palace were just on top. Gusto was magnificent once again. He was our best player even though Gallagher will get MOTM for the 2 goals. Shame about his injury and hopefully nothing serious because he looks to get better and better every game. Tries a bit too many tricks but I really like him. Not convincing at all but at least it brings us into the top half 😄 because I am sure after next weekend we will be back in the bottom half. Palmer with another key contribution. 2 good assists. Honestly though Poch, need to work on the balance and progressive play. We had our first shot after 43mins. That is not good enough. Imagine if they had Eze and Olise playing.... Thought Caicedo was a lot better second half too. Although the win shows 3-1, I don't think anyone is surprised how difficult we made it for ourselves 😄

Taking Maudeke off is the easy way out. Should of taken of Gallagher imo. Madueke was at fault for the goal but offensively he probably did more than most of our attackers. But not surprised.

Absolutely shocking. And worst thing, despite facing a depleted Palace side without their 3 best players, I am not surprised. Turgid, awful. Poch WTF are you instructing our players to do out there. All this sideway passing then backwards is just not it. We had out first shot on target in the 43rd minute right???? Absolute joke. Now Palace have got the one thing they would of looked to do and now it will be really difficult breaking them down. Again the team looks out of sorts. Enzo keeps pushing up to the forward position and then Caicedo is isolated. I don't get the sense of what we are trying to do. Please no team talk and hoping this team will produce second half. Make a change. Bring on Nkunku immediately. A game where we should be looking to set dominance, we can't even imagine one shot on target. Unbelievable!

Top player. Getting better and better and delivering in final third. Is really strong on either foot and his strength/balance is brilliant. I genuinely think him and Olise have it in their locker to play at the very top soon.

While I think the rumour is nonsense, the stats is misleading. 3/4 of those games he has been a sub. I am not sure if he has even started a league game this season but did score a brilliant goal for Villa in one of their league games this season against Palace and when he comes on it is usually very late during the game. FWIW I think he will be a really good striker in future. Has the physical ability and has good pace. Villa wouldn't let him go anyway as he is the back up to Watkins.

It was way too early to do that move. Especially against a team you are looking to kill off the game. I know Sterling is criticised by many on here but imo we should have kept him on. Or even bring on Mudryk. Once again it was a move that invited pressure. He was very good in the reverse fixture at LB too and it was his assist that provided Mudryk with his first league goal.

Not the pretties but a win nonetheless and I am pretty sure for the first time this season that is 3 league wins on the trot. Will take it. Slowly picking things up. I thought knowing our luck, Gusto was going to get that card upgraded to a red. He needs to be more careful. You would think he would learn his lesson after being sent off against Villa or an identical challenge. I thought Enzo was better today but I am surprised the pundits on TNT Sports gave him MOTM. For me MOTM was definitely Palmer or Colwill. Palmer is a joy to watch. Just doing the same things on a regular basis. Nothing new. Colwill was excellent going forward and had a real burst of pace and energy today. Was solid defensively but surprisingly he was more of a threat offensively today. Much improved from Tuesday's game and for me was my choice of MOTM. I thought he brought Madueke on at the right time. One criticism was although it was nice to Chilwell back after so many months out, I thought he brought him on at the wrong stage. 2-0 I understand but at the time of the game, we should be looking to kill the game off with our offensive players. Missed a trick there and think Sterling would of got more space on the counter if he stayed on. Anyway, just happy about another 3 points now. A good break we have now until our next league game. Focus now for the 2nd leg of the semis. Next game in league Liverpool who for once we have a rival who have almost identical absentees for the game.

I literally was going to mention before that penalty is that we should maybe take off one of the CM and put Palmer in the central AM role and Madueke on the right. We looked exposed when Robinson and Willian are attacking because Palmer is not electric fast to catch up with them. We need to give Gusto more protection because they keep getting in down there. If I had my way, I personally would take of Enzo or Gallagher and put Madueke on the right. It probably would help us more on counter too.

And spending the amount of money we do on a player without much proven experience is utterly shambolic. He looks no way near ready and Poch clearly thinks the same. Just under £20m on a player we are hesitant to bring on is completely shameful.

Good to see Liverpool beat Arsenal. More humble pie for Arsenal fan and also ensures on the last weekend of January, Liverpool have a fixture just before we play them in the week in the league. So no more additional rest for them than us.

Currently on AFCON duty too. A late bloomer and does look good but again question marks is, he has never really scored consistently in his career bar this and last season, nor has he played for a big team. But for the reported fee, a low risk gamble.

Anyone stating Rice for Arsenal being worse clearly has an agenda. He has been class this season and been their outstanding player. What this season shows is that Xhaka was really under-appreciated. He made them tick and Arsenal would of been a lot better with Rice and Xhaka compared to fitting Havertz in there. Havertz will give them an additional goal threat but he has made their play worse. Rice though bar the games against West Ham and Fulham, has been exceptional this season. No denying it. But as a team, they are playing worse than last season. Too young and risky. Ferguson's goals has dried up. Can't remember the last time he scored. He is only 19 but you can see he is not fully ready yet. Will be at Brighton for a while unless someone pays over £100m for him. Gimenez is class but again big difference between the two leagues. Boniface only joined Leverkusen in the summer and is spearheading their title charge. Will not leave and is on AFCON duty. Sesko doesn't get into Leipzig's starting 11 and they play with 2 up front. Gyokeres been brilliant and looks all round striker. Think he made 3 assists on Friday but again is playing in an inferior league and the fee wanted is too risky.