MAKING THE HOME UCL GAMES COUNT

“The margins are small, and they were last season. For the second time in a row, we are on the wrong side.”

Who said that? Arne Slot. Liverpool lost their second game in a row, this time in the Champions League to Galatasaray. They conceded a penalty, lost Ekitike and Alisson to injury, and they were pretty average again.

I’m not saying this is the start of a generational collapse as Arne Slot struggles to deal with a team that doesn’t have lady luck on its side, but I am saying this side right now isn’t Klopp’s, it’s his, and the stardust might not be there in the same way it was at every level last season.

Slot has never had to deal with adversity. The first time he did this season, he was slating players in the media. If he’s going to be that guy in the media, imagine what he’s like in the dressing room? Could be delicious.

We can’t get too excited about the decline of Liverpool. We have our own tricky game to navigate this evening against Olympiacos. We have them at home, but you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll have a big travelling contingent topped up with local Greek fans. Can I promise a flare in the crowd? I can’t, but put £5 on it happening and see where it takes you.

Arsenal float into the evening on the warm air of William Saliba putting pen to paper on a five-year deal. That number is important, because the last one was three with an option of one. That means he’s really committed to putting a bulk of his prime here with Arsenal. He needs to win big trophies to stay, but I think we’ve all seen his seriousness when he says he can win them with Arsenal.

Centre-backing isn’t about the individual, it’s about the chemistry of the collective. He has that with Gabriel, but don’t disregard how well he connects with the whole group of players that work around him. He wants to be Mr Arsenal. I saw someone highlighting that when Big Willy is around a goal, his first instinct is to celebrate with the supporters. Arsenal are massive, and a large part of that is driven by how our fans make the players feel like heroes. This kid wants to be a legend at Arsenal and we are very lucky to have him.

Olympiacos are top of the league in Greece this season, they’ve scored 13 goals and won four of five games. Their first Champions League outing this season saw them draw 0-0 with new boys Pafos. This should be the sort of game we deal with as a standard outing, but we have had those thoughts against the Greeks in the past and had our backsides handed to us. The record is six wins and six losses since 2009. Not good.

This is where Arteta really needs to earn his corn this season. We know that we’re off the back of a streak of games that have been brutal to the legs and heavy on emotional output. We have West Ham at the weekend. We know that momentum in the Champions League Super League phase is really important. So we have to find balance with how we set up.

Champions League teams are not very good at deep-block football. It’s not in their DNA, so you tend to find that dominant local teams will come to play some football. That means there are going to be options to rotate and maybe bring some new names into the mixer. MLS might get the nod this evening after sitting out most of the season so far. You’d imagine we could see Martin Odegaard getting some meaningful minutes this evening, perhaps even with Eze, and there could be a chance to bring Ben White into the fold to get his game minutes up a little bit.

Gyökeres has been very good in Champions League football. He’s going to get more space this evening, he won’t have four trolls trying to gouge at his eyes, so I’m expecting a different, more free-flowing game from him this evening. This is a chance for the team to continue to learn his flow, how he moves, and what makes him tick. I know people want to celebrate all the secondary features of this striker, but I’m not going to indulge that this year. I have a one-dimensional view of what I want from a 9… that’s goals, goals, goals. This is a chance to bring some of that flavour to a party that has run low on them.

Final point of interest for me… does Kepa get a game at home? Or is Champions League just for David Raya? Suspect it’s going to be Raya.

Ok, if you want a piece of the On The Whistle later, we’ll be going live right after the game. Enjoy your evening, friends! x