Welcome to the latest edition of First State Kopites. It’s episode 32 of season 3 – a podcast for Liverpool supporters in Delaware and friends of those Liverpool supporters. Thanks for listening on your preferred platform, we are available on ALL of them (and on YouTube). Joined by Daz and Sean this week to muse on the first game in April, and look ahead to a big week for our Champions League and Premier League ambitions.

Watford – key themes: Reminder – December 2019, 2-0 12.30 kick off. Watford had chances – got relegated. We finished the month as World Club Champions and an ominous 4-0 at Leicester on Boxing Day. Disjointed? Was there was an imbalance between right and left?The Jota and Firmino roles – 14 goals for Jota, Firmino looking sharp. Press was good, passing not up to the usual levels. Jones, Salah: Salah looked sharp in the first game against Senegal, but tired in the second. Number of touches, bad touches. Could it just be too much football? Disappointment in Intl matches? Contract negotiations? Jones faltering? Becoming more a Klopp player? Long shots – Foster had conceded 8 in 19 Stuart Atwell was OK, wasn’t he? And VAR!!

Looking ahead – few words on Benfica: Darwin Nunes? Otamendi and Vertonghen

The big one – City away: Going into this with a 10 game winning streak Team selection? Biggest areas of concern Biggest opportunities

Other stuff: LFC Women promoted to the Premier League The World Cup draw

If you are nervous about what lies ahead, you might want to take a look at Virgil’s perspective – ‘Enjoy the Ride’

We’ll be back next week after the City league game. Thanks to Daz and Sean – if you enjoyed the podcast, share it with a friend. Follow us on Twitter – we only tweet and re-tweet from sources we think are credible.

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