They might start calling it “slot time.”
Defensive Premier League champion Arne Slot’s Liverpool has created the eerie habit of scoring a late winning goal to start this season.
And it evokes memories of the great Manchester United team under Alex Ferguson.
In all five matches so far, Liverpool has won the winner since the 83rd minute.
On Sunday, Mohamed Sarah converted the penalty to five minutes of downtime Defeat Burnley 1-0 for Liverpool’s fourth straight set win to open the Premier League. Then on Wednesday, Virgil van dijk We went home to the corner for two minutes of additional time to seal a 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
So Everton started the fifth round ahead of Anfield’s Merseyside derby at lunch on Saturday.
This fixture also has a history of the late Liverpool goals. Notoriously, the Reds’ bizarre 96th minute winner in December 2018 after a mistake from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Everton arrived at Anfield in a decent form, earning one of the opening four games and saw him rediscover some of his old sparks early in the loan spell from Manchester City.
Liverpool is the only team with up to 12 points.
Key Match Up
Arsenal is the closest chaser to Liverpool, this time at the Man City home, facing another tough early season game. The only point Arsenal has dropped so far is a 1-0 loss at Liverpool, protected by a slow free kick from Dominique Schizobosilai, but City made a 3-0 victory over Manchester United in the derby last weekend.
Arsenal played Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday, while the city will be two days less prepared for the match given the Champions League fixtures against Napoli.
Chelsea also brought a brief turn after playing Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday to head to Manchester United on Saturday.
Tottenham and Bournemouth both play Brighton and Newcastle with nine points, respectively, like Arsenal.
Players to watch
Slots need to be decided whether to pass or not Alexander Isaac The first Premier League starts. The Swedish striker was a record-breaking signature from Newcastle in the second half of the summer transfer window, and although he was not a feature at all against Burnley, he started against Atletico and played in 58 minutes.
Man City striker Erling Haaland has five goals in his first four league games heading to Arsenal, famously known for having the most powerful defense in Britain.
Will Cole Palmer stay with the Chelsea team for a trip to Old Trafford? The England playmaker made a goalscoring appearance from the bench in a 2-2 draw at Brentford on Saturday after an injury after losing 3-1 to Bayern.
From action
There will be key absentees at the Arsenal Man City match, with Arsenal captain Martin Odegard hurting his shoulder last weekend and joining the injury list, including fellow attackers Buka Yosaka, Kai Herberts and Gabriel Jesus.
The city was recently missing playmakers Rayan Cherki, forward Omar Mahmash and defenders Ryan Ait Nouri and John Stones.
Man United is another team with several early season injuries, and the lack of Mateus Cunya and Mason Mount has affected fire manager Reuben Amorim’s offensive options.
From the field
Amorim’s position at Manchester United may have become even more precarious after the Derby lost to the city, so there is new pressure for him to enter the Chelsea game.
Amorim saw United adopting a 3-4-2-1 formation and said he would not change his playing style or tactical setup, which he sees as potentially adopting the central midfield for two overruns. It is a particularly strong region where Chelsea is, in the form of Kayseko, Enzo Fernandez and Palmer, Amorim needs to come up with a solution.
Another manager under pressure is Graham Potter, with the West Ham team losing to Tottenham 3-0, acknowledging more goals (11) than any other team. Hammer will host Crystal Palace on Saturday.
It wasn’t an ideal start for Ange Postecoglou in Nottingham Forest. Since taking charge of Nuno Espirito Santo, Postecoglou has overseen a 3-0 loss in the league’s Arsenal, losing 3-2 in the English League Cup in the second tier Swansea. Forest will head to Burnley on Saturday.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
