It goes without saying that Sunday is a big day versus Manchester City. We want to keep our noses up front and in our hands.
If you want to win the league, you need to make a statement. They are the best team in the league, including us. Arsenal is close. You simply have to complete the work on the day.
Keep a clean sheet, and we’ll probably win the game. With our current quality level, this is easier said than done. But Pep Guardiola knows more than anyone.
Liverpool is his biggest nightmare. He cannot stop talking about Liverpool. It’s constantly on his mind, Liverpool.
He can’t stop thinking about Liverpool, no matter how terrific they are, how good they’ve been, or how good he is. We all know this, and let’s hope we can keep it up on Sunday.
It’s critical to have some players returning from injury now, with Sparta Prague coming up and Manchester City at the weekend. Our midfielders against them will most likely be Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Alexis MacAllister. They are undoubtedly the strongest three right now.
Good timing, but now all we want is Mohamed Salah back for Sunday, hopefully. Whether he’s on the bench or ready to start.
I handled Jason Koumas at Tranmere. I’m made up for Lewis, and Jayden Danns looks like the real deal.
I was compensated for the two youthful strikers against Southampton. I knew Jason Koumas well; I managed him at Tranmere.
He’s a fantastic young man with incredible talent. It’s rubbed off on his son, which is fantastic to witness. A beautiful goal. He just needs to keep working hard at his game.
Danns came on and was just fantastic. The first goal was fantastic for raising awareness, but I preferred the second goal. Anything that comes off the keeper goes bang. Smashed in.
The ability and character he has demonstrated, even when he only appeared for 10-15 minutes on the weekend, held it together, got involved, and gave them difficulties.
Bobby Clark has had a wonderful week as well. He performed effectively in his full-league debut against Forest. He had that one time during the first half.
He came close, and it was a good attempt. He’ll improve with more experience, and his play was impressive.
But, as a striker myself, it’s encouraging to watch young strikers emerge. We’ve had so many potential young strikers over the last 10-15 years, only to see them disappear. They have flitted away.
I’ve observed a few centre-forwards in the academy and thought, ‘Oh, here we go. He looks good. But they’ve flitted away.
I do not want to speak too soon about Danns, but he appears to be the real deal. It is still early days, but from what I have observed.
He just needs to keep improving his game. His finishing is strong, as seen by his performances for the Under-18s and Under-21s in recent seasons. His finishing is incredible, but doing it in front of the Kop is even better. They both did an outstanding job.
And they’ve all contributed significantly to a trip to Manchester United in the FA Cup. You don’t want them to knock you out of anything, including the rivalry between the two clubs.
We now have additional trophies, and it would be great to go all the way. The FA Cup still features some very talented teams. It won’t be easy, but no one wants to draw Liverpool, and that includes Manchester United. They have a difficult time drawing us.
