First State Kopites

Welcome dear listener to the podcast of the 2024-25 Champions. I’m Paul and I am joined by Enrique and Daz. We will review the Chelsea game, and continue to reflect on a 20th top flight title. Obviously we will touch on the departure of Trent and the other noises around the squad. We will look ahead to the Arsenal match and we’ll be looking around at what’s happening elsewhere.

Part 1 - Chelsea away - Fotmob xG 3.13 to 1.05 (I saw another call it at 1.96 to 1.36)

Welcome dear listener to the podcast of Champions. I’m Paul and I am joined by Sean and Daz. We will review the Spurs game, probably briefly, reflect on the events surrounding th game as Liverpool celebrated its 20th top flight title. We may look ahead to the Chelsea match and we’ll certainly be looking ahead…. 

Part 0 - the experience

Crowds, songs and joy

Part One  - Liverpool 5, Spurs 1 (xG 2.28 vs 0.46)

Everyone says Spurs were terrible. Are they just perfect for us?

Solanke goal

The Diaz goal bro...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz. We will review the Leicester game, look ahead to the Spurs match and then do our now typical wider view, of where everyone else is and maybe some next season chat..

Part One - Leicester Away - xG 0.27 to 3.03

The numbers tell us it was a walk in park - could have been 2 up in 11 minutes

If this had’ve been 4 or 5 nil no one would’ve raised an eyebrow

Sense of nervousness - due to the...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Sean and Daz. We will review the win over West Ham last weekend, look ahead to the Leicester game and then do our now typical wider view, now that we can be certain that Virg and Mo are sticking around and Liverpool are about to have a big summer.

Part One - West Ham home - xG 1.78 to 1.50 - 1.34 to 0.77 in the first half

Game of 2 halves Brian

First half - as much intensity as we’ve seen for...

Today is the 36th anniversary of Hillsborough where 97 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed. Many lives were changed that day. To help understand the impact on Liverpool, the City, the people and those directly affected, we are airing an episode from Season 2 where we got to hear from 2 Hillsborough Survivors - Ritchie and Damien. It could be much better produced, but it was our most viewed episode when we did the YouTube channel. This is for all of those affected by the tragedy, whose story deserves to be told over and over.

Ritchie and Damien share some really...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Justin and Daz. We will review the defeat at Fulham last weekend, look ahead to the West Ham game and then take a wider view, especially in the light of the news about Mo Salah’s contract.

Part One - Fulham away - xG 1.5 to 0.74 (2H 1.45 to 0.22). ‘Fantastic Fulham win’

First half - terrible performance or a series of individual errors?

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Sean and Daz. We will review the Derby victory in some detail. Then we'll look at the Fulham game and briefly the last 7 games before the 20th title.

Part One - Everton at home xG 1.47 to 0.67 (.53 to .03 in the second half)

First half - not perfect, Curtis was great

Jota blocked shot at 10 minutes - felt like a small sign

Virgil, Ibou, the pitch and the weather and the Beto chance

30 to 45 - Everton lo...

Welcome dear listener to our extra episode. I’m Paul and I am joined once again by Enrique and Daz.

We start up in 14 days at home to Everton.

We will be back after the Everton game. Thanks to Daz and Enrique for joining me, Paul. And most of all...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Enrique and Daz. So the Champions League journey is over for another season after the Reds lose in a penalty shoot out to PSG. Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final is not a game we will want to dwell on much after today.

Part One - a 1-0 loss at home to PSG.

xG 1.59 to 2.63, (Dembele’s goal was 0.95) - 1.51 to 2.13 in normal time (0.10 in the second half). 

A lot of nearly moments - the offside goal, the Quans...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz and Enrique. So the Reds went to Paris for the first time since 2022 and again one of the goalies had a man of the match performance that prevented the dominant team from winning - this time it went in our favor. We are going to review PSG away, and Southampton at home which left us 15 points ahead after this weekend and then look ahead to the return leg and then the Carabao Cup final. 3 finals Slot had said on Friday.

Welcome dear listener to this bonus episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz and Justin. So the Reds are 13 points clear with 67 points and 10 games to play in the League. We are going use Liverpool’s weekend off to take a broader view of the season - looking back and looking ahead to the last 3 months of the season:

Part One - looking back - 20 wins in the League, seeded first in the UCL draw (for what that is worth) and a Carabao Cup Final (with one really decent performance):

Two highlights each...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz. The Reds beat City last weekend, and in similar fashion outplayed Newcastle this midweek. Top of the Premier League by 13 from Arsenal (game in hand), 19 from Forest, and 20 from City and 21 from Chelsea. We’ll review the City and Newcastle games and then look ahead to the PSG round of 16 away leg and maybe Southampton at home. Part One - finally we win a league game at the Etihad

Was this a case of them revisiting the need for control or Man C...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Sean and Daz. The Reds beat Wolves, and play out an interesting one at Villa. Still top of the Premier League - 8 from Arsenal, 14 from Forest, and 17 from City. We’ll review the Wolves and Villa games and then look ahead to City away and Newcastle at home. After that we can take a breath.Part One - how nervous were you about the Wolves game?

First half wasn’t perfect but 1.76 xG vs Wolves 0.25 (including penalty)

Second half felt really...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz. The Reds draw against Everton. Still top of the Premier League - 7 from Arsenal, 10 from Forest, 14 from Chelsea and 16 from City and Newcastle. We’ll review the game and then look at Plymouth away and Spurs at home in the Carabao, with a look ahead to Wolves and Villa away.

League win at Everton - oh never mind:

Seven points clear - have that dickheads says John Gibbons

The referee conversation has dominated how we’ve looked...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Sean and Daz. The Reds win at Bournemouth. Still top of the Premier League with a game in hand - 6 from Arsenal, 9 from Forest and 13 from Chelsea and 15 from City and Newcastle. We’ll review the PSV game and mostly look at Bournemouth, with a look ahead at the next 2 weeks.

Part One - PSV Eindhoven: xG 1.32 to 1.61 (0.76 penalty)

Frustrating, because a draw would put them in the mix for the round of 16 tie against us. Conceding in the 6th m...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Sean and Daz. The Reds win against Lille and Ipswich. Still top of the Premier League with a game in hand - 6 from Arsenal, 9 from Forest and 12 from City and Bournemouth. We’ll review Lille and Ipswich and then talk about the upcoming Champions League game against PSV and the Premier League away against Bournemouth plus a look around.

Part One - 7 wins out of 7. Lille’s 21 game unbeaten run comes to an end - xG 2.46 v 0.49

Some rotation - Bradle...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Justin and Daz. The Reds win at Brentford with the Darwin Nunez late show. Big win especially after Arsenal dropped points. Top of the Premier League with a game in hand - 6 from Arsenal and Forest and 10 from Chelsea, 12 from surging Newcastle and reborn City. We’ll review Brentford and then talk about the upcoming Champions League game against Lille and the Premier League home against Ipswich plus a look around.

Part One - Brentford away - xG 3.43 vs. 0.77, although shot quality (37) wasn...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz. The Reds drew with Forest 1-1 last Tuesday after dropping points against Man Utd a week and a half ago in the League. Still the top of the Premier League with a game in hand - 12 points clear of City, 4 from Arsenal (same games) and 10 from Chelsea. We’ll review those games and then talk about the upcoming Premier League game against Brentford plus a look around the league. 

United - xG 2.82 including penalty, 1.05 (Martinez shot was 0.55?)

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz. The Reds beat Leicester 3-1 last Thursday and played another tough one against West Ham on Sunday - just the 5 goals this time. We are at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand - 14 points clear of City, 9 from Arsenal (same games) and 10 from Chelsea. We’ll review those games and then talk about the upcoming Premier League game against Man United plus a look around the league. 

Part One - Leicester City at home - xG 1.91 vs 0...

We so enjoyed the conversation after the win at Spurs on Sunday, we came back to chat about the next few games:

Looking ahead:

We will be back in 2 weeks with a review of those four or five games, and maybe some previews. Thanks to Daz and Sean for joining me, Paul. And most of all, thank you dear listener for joining us.

If you enjoyed the p...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. Look out for the bonus episode coming soon previewing our upcoming games.

I’m Paul and I am joined by Sean and Daz. The Reds drew 2-2 with Fulham last weekend, beat Southampton 2-1 last Wednesday in the Carabao Cup and played a tough one against Spurs today - well OK, a game we dominated. We are at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand - 12 points clear of City, 6 from Arsenal and 4 from Chelsea. We’ll review those games and then talk about the upcoming Prem...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz. The Reds drew with Newcastle away 3-3 a week ago, had the Merseyside Derby postponed, and beat Girona 1-0 on Tuesday in the Champions league. Net result is we are 3 points clear at the top of the Champions League table and still the top of the Premier League with a game in hand - 8 points clear of City, 6 from Arsenal and 4 ahead of Chelsea. We’ll review those games and then talk about Fulham in the Premier League and maybe Southampton in the Cara...

details to follow

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz and Justin. The Reds beat Southampton 3-2 on Sunday and went 8 points clear at the top of the Premier League. Given the proximity of the Real Madrid and Man City games, we’ll focus on the last game and consider how we should be reacting to this lead after almost 32% of the season. Maybe a word more on contract chat.

Part One - Reds make hard work of beating the bottom team OR another game that we were alwa...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz and Sean. The Reds beat Aston Villa 2-0 last Saturday and went 5 points clear at the top of the Premier League. Given the international break, we will review the first part of the season, and look ahead to Southampton and Real Madrid .

Part One - Villa - xG (2.02 to 1.38 - Villa 0.73 set play xG in the first half). Villa 2 big chances in the second half?:

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz. The Reds had a win away at Brighton last week, followed by 2 very big wins. We will look ahead to Villa at home - the last game before the 3rd international break.

Part One - 2 games against Brighton:

The Reds had a difficult away trip to the Emirates on Sunday, improving on last year’s performance with a draw against Arsenal. We will look ahead to Brighton at home (after we’ve played Brighton away) and Leverkusen in the Champions league. If we have time we will look at what else is happening in the footy world - including the sad departure of our favorite Man Utd manager (maybe even more than Olly). 

Part One - Arsenal 2, Liverpool 2:

The Reds just keep on winning and we are not getting tired of that. We will talk about the Chelsea and RB Leipzig wins and look ahead to the games we will face beyond the international break.. If we have time we will look at what else is happening in the footy world. 

Part One: 2 more wins

Chelsea home - 2-1; xG 1.94 to .99 (0.73 in the second half)

Dom and the dirty work

Injuries - Diogo?

Chelsea practicing facial expressions

Lepizig away:

Arnie - not setting o...

Good news is that the Reds keep winning. We will talk about the Palace and Bologna wins and look ahead to the games we will face beyond the international break.. If we have time we will look at what else is happening in the footy world. 

Part One - Palace away

60 minutes of control - second goal would have been great, but actually winning 1-0 might be OK

xG of 1.39 to 0.64 (.76 to .57 in the second half). Touches in the box 28 to 9. But too many shots off target - 4 of 16 on target. We scored o...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode of the 6th season of the pod. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz. Reds return to winning ways. We will talk about the Wolves win, pass over the Bologna game because it’s probably happened by the time you are hearing this, and we will preview Palace away. If we have time we will look at what else is happening in the footy world. 

Part One - Wolves away

First 20 minutes

Overall, defending looks very solid - xG of .24 for Wolves if you take...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode of the 6th season of the pod. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz and Justin. Reds return to winning ways. We will talk about the Bournemouth win, the EFL cup tie win, and we will preview Wolves away and Bologna at home games. If we have time we will look at what else is happening in the footy world. 

Part One - Bournemouth home:

The team that Richard Hughes built…..

Hesitant start - Semenyo again. 

xG in our favor - 2.06 to 1.08  (0.46 at half...

Arne Slot’s perfect start takes a hit. We will talk about the Forest game, the victory in Milan and we will preview the Bournemouth and West Ham League Cup games. If we have time we will look at what else is happening in the footy world. 

Part One - Forest home:

xG still favored us but Forest game plan worked - 0.9 to 0.6 (0.0 at half time)

First half wasn't terrible. Mo and Szobo are not great. Forwards lost a lot of duels

Diaz on 15. Jota on 25, MacAllister 37 - what if….

Oli...

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode of the 6th season of the pod. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz, and Justin. And we are 3 for 3, as the Reds went to Old Trafford win 3-0 and we looked good. We will go into detail on the game, we will preview the United game and will look elsewhere at the weekend and what else is happening in the footy world.

Part One - United away:

xG might not be the most useful:

United 1.38 total, - Statsbomb - .98? - 0.08 at half time

Welcome dear listener to the latest episode of the 6th season of the pod. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz, and Justin. And we are 2 for 2, as the Reds return home and collect another 2-0 win over Brentford. We will go into detail on the game, we will preview the United game and will look elsewhere at the weekend and what else is happening in the footy world.

Part One - Brentford home:

Similar Xg to last week::

Xg - Ipswich, 0.45 total, Liverpool 2.65.

Brentford 2.65 vs 0.36 (.27 set plays)

...

Welcome dear listener to the third episode of the 6th season of the pod. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz, and Enrique. And we are away for 2024-5 - on the 50th anniversary of Bob Paisley’s first game as Liverpool manager, Reds go to Portman Road and win 2-0. We will go into detail on the game, we will preview Brentford and we will look elsewhere at the weekend and what else is happening in the footy world.

Part One - Ipswich away:

Very pragmatic - play in long if they man...

Welcome dear listener to the second episode of the 6th season of the pod. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz and Sean. We are days away from the 2024-25 season. And a real game may take away the bad taste of the news around transfers and new contracts..

Part One - pre-season wraps up:

Sevilla and Las Palmas

Lessons learned:

Team selections?

Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz

Midfield without Zubimendi but with Ryan Gravenberch

Nyoni?

Uncertainty surrounding so many players in th...

Welcome dear listener to the first episode of the 6th season of the pod. I’m Paul and I am joined by Daz and Sean. We are here in the last weeks before the 2024-25 season gets started. It’s been almost 2 months and I think we are happy to have some real content to look at.

The US tour has gone very well by most metrics and in 10 days the new season will get underway.

Part One - 2024 Pre-Season

US tour - overall, yes it was a rip off, but we got to e...

Welcome dear listener to the latest edition of the pod. I’m Paul and I am joined by Justin and Sean. We are here in the last week of the season. We finished 3rd, and all that’s left is to celebrate the Jurgen Klopp era. We may mention Wolves but we’ll really reflect more widely on the season. 

Part One - Recent games:

Away at West Ham - 2-2 (xG .70 vs 1.75)

Felt like another one we threw away. Recognition that it didn’t matter as much?

Spurs - 4-2, moments o...

It’s April 17th - welcome dear listener to the latest edition of the pod. I’m joined by Justin and Daz. It’s been a big week in the Premier League and not the right time to stop scoring at home. Before we are done we’ll look ahead to Atalanta away in the Europa League and Fulham away Sunday. 

Part One - Liverpool 0, Palace 1 - 2.81 to 1.98 according to FotMob

It’s April 9th - welcome dear listener to the latest edition of the pod. I’m joined by Justin and Daz. It’s been a big week in the Premier League and we are going look at home wins over Brighton and Sheffield United and a disappointing draw against them. Before we are done we’ll look ahead to Atalanta in the Europa League and Palace at home on Sunday. 

Part One - it’s them again: