Always had the potential to be this kind of game. More of the same from Thursday really. The frustration inside the stadium is obvious. Hope #LFC can harness the crowd in the right way in the second half. Season-defining 45 mins no question.
Nobody wants to hear this now but Liverpool were over-achieving staying in the title race this long. Everybody had them 3rd-5th before the season started. Arsenal finished runner-up and spent £200m and City are City so #LFC were always underdogs post-rebuild. Falling away now.
That second half at Old Trafford was Liverpool's version of Arsenal at Anfield last season. It's knocked the stuffing out of them. They don't have the mental energy to sustain the tired legs anymore after a season of injuries.
That stat they mentioned on Sky has boggled my mind. Everton had the fourth-best defensive record in the league before tonight. That's got to be unprecedented for a team in their position this far into a season surely.
Pacers/Bucks match-up should have some added intensity after what happened in the regular season. Remember Haliburton said on OM3 that this could make it a real rivalry. They knew how to exploit some of our biggest problems, but hopefully our experience gives us an edge.
This is why the timing of Klopp's departure feels particularly damaging. LFC could have built themselves into favourites within a couple of years, but Arsenal and City are slightly better teams at this stage.
Can't really put into words how bad that was. We've seen time and again that English favourites have taken their eye off the ball in the Europa League, and that's an extreme example. The nerves around the Palace game will go up a level now.
