George Priestman previews both Merseyside games this weekend.
With the help of Birmingham World's Charlie Haffenden for the Wolves insight.
With the help of Birmingham World's Charlie Haffenden for the Wolves insight.
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00:00This is George Priestman for Liverpool World, back for another Premier League preview video
00:04ahead of the weekend for both Merseyside teams. This week it's Wolves vs Liverpool and Everton
00:10vs Crystal Palace. But first up is Arnie Slott's side who travel to Molineux on the 5.30 kick-off
00:16on Saturday. And to preview the game, I've been kindly joined by Birmingham World's Charlie
00:21Haffenden. So Charlie, how's the season gone so far? Just give us a quick brief general feelings
00:27from Wolves so far, because it has been a very difficult start for Gary O'Neill's side, hasn't it?
00:32Yeah, it's been a terrible start. One win in their last 15 games in the Premier League,
00:37which is really grim reading, to be honest. There needs to be some context though,
00:41because they are bottom of the table and it's been awful with just one point out of their first 15
00:46available. But it's not been an easy start for them fixture-wise. They've played some
00:51really tough teams. Even the likes of Nottingham Forest and obviously Aston Villa as well,
00:56they're not sides that are the traditional top big six, but they're still tricky oppositions and
01:01teams in good form as well. So if you consider their run, I don't think you would have expected
01:06much more from them. No wins is pretty poor reading and it's not been good fun for the
01:11supporters. But with a bit of context and with very limited spending in the summer as well,
01:16they had to be quite restricted with their transfer business. I think things will improve
01:21for them and they have had alright spells in games as well.
01:25Yeah, no, it's a very long season and the fixtures at the start of the season can be
01:29very unforgiving. But just first up, just in that Wolves game, how were they? Because they
01:35led for so long, got an early goal and then conceded in the 73rd minute, but they were
01:41ahead for a long period of time against a very good team. So how were they during that time?
01:46Yeah, I was at Villa Park for that one, covering both teams. And in the first half,
01:50Wolves were the better team. Wennensteinsville wound it up and were probably the better side
01:54until maybe the 60th, 65th minute, which was really impressive. This is a team bottom of the
02:00league going into this match. Villa in fantastic form, lots of confidence, especially at home,
02:05but Wolves made them look really ordinary. Great system, kind of quite compact in the way they
02:10were playing, but also a little bit expansive as well, pushing into Villa's half, using the likes
02:15of Jean-Richard Nabelegaard and Mateus Kounia to push up the field. Jorgen Strand lost and they
02:20finally got their number nine in the summer. He's been a decent outlet up top as well and
02:24things were going really well. I think finally this is Wolves' time to pick up their first win
02:29and get some positivity back. But then another defensive capitulation and they go and lose the
02:35game 3-1 and we saw it against Chelsea. They were 2-2 at the break at Molineux. They go and lost 6-2
02:42and once again that was just so many defensive errors. Lapses of concentration against Newcastle,
02:481-0 up at home. They go and lose that one 2-1, two goals from outside the area. The first one
02:54was deflected from Fabian Scherer, a bit unfortunate, but the second one just a real
02:58poor lapse of judgment from Matt Doherty who allowed his man inside and of course
03:02Harvey Barnes scoring that fantastic goal I'm sure most people would have seen or
03:06matched today or at the time. It's a bit of a running theme for Wolves and once again at Villa
03:11Park we saw that. Towards the end they were just lacking that concentration, allowing players inside
03:16when they shouldn't have done. Quick 1-2s around them in the back and a defence that looked so
03:21compact beforehand all of a sudden fell apart. The injury for Yersin Muscair as well, now confirmed
03:27to be in ACL. He's out for the season. I think that struck them as well late in that second half,
03:32maybe struck their confidence a little bit and allowed Villa to get back and win that one. But
03:37it has been unfortunate for Wolves. They've played quite well in games,
03:40especially at Villa, but they just can't seem to hold on for 90 minutes.
03:45Yeah, how big was that injury for them though? How much has that been felt by the fans and the
03:51team do you think? It's massive. Muscair is not a player that we saw at Wolves last season. He was
03:57on loan at Villa Real. He was someone who we weren't sure if he was actually going to stay at
04:01the football club, if he was going to move on to help with PSR. But he did stick around. He
04:07impressed in pre-season and he's had a good start to the season as well. So to lose him for the rest
04:12of it is really disappointing from a Wolves perspective, especially when they've not really
04:16got much defensive depth. They didn't really sign a replacement for Max Kilman when he left
04:21for West Ham for 45 million. A lot of money there to be spent, but they couldn't really use it all
04:26because they've still got to think ahead for further PSR deadlines. They did sign Bastian
04:31Mopieu, who's an 18-year-old French centre-back, but he was injured when they signed him for
04:36starters and he's not quite got the experience yet to step into such a pressured environment.
04:41They were really relying on Muscair stepping up this year, but one freak moment like that and all
04:46of a sudden they've lost their depth. Yeah, even harder when you haven't made many signs in the
04:52summer as well. One thing I have noticed from the games this season is there's not been many games
04:58that have been low scoring. There's been goals where they've scored, they've conceded, it's gone
05:02both ways. Obviously the 6-2 with Chelsea is a big indicator of that, but why do you think there's
05:08been so many games? I know Gary O'Neill plays very expansive, tries to play very expansive
05:12and positive front foot football and I think he's a brilliant manager, but do you think that's
05:17contributing to why there's been so many goals in each game? I think so, and maybe just a lack
05:22of game management because he's very stuck in his ways, O'Neill, and they're not bad ways at all.
05:28It's entertaining to watch, they're going for it, it's quite refreshing and if the results were
05:32better all the fans, Wolves and elsewhere in the Premier League would be calling him fantastic and
05:37praising him for it. It's just the fact that those results aren't there that he's getting stick for
05:42and I mean it's understandable and I think worthy because they aren't getting those results and they
05:46are falling apart. Perhaps if they're 1-0 up with 20 minutes to go, don't keep pushing on forwards,
05:52don't take any risks, especially with the full backs. Ryan Aitnouri, a really good player,
05:58but as soon as he's caught out of position, they look really exposed Wolves. Craig Dawson,
06:02he's solid but he's not got that pace and he can get turned quite easily. Mosquera, you can see
06:07little lapses of concentrations I was mentioning before, maybe a lack of experience at this level,
06:12so he's not going to be available anymore. Toti Gomez as well is someone who can have a really
06:17good game but he just makes the odd error here and there. You can't afford to have the likes of
06:22Aitnouri bombing on forward when you're winning with 20 minutes to go and that's the theme we've
06:26seen so far. Yeah, for sure. It's really important to consider but there have been some bright
06:35moments here and there in games as you mentioned and just with that, which players have stood out,
06:41if any, obviously there have been some but personally I think Aitnouri is pretty solid
06:46and Kunja has always been a threat as well and the midfielders as well in the sense of
06:51Djargo is a big fan of him as well so any of those sort of stood out for you?
06:56Mario Lamina is one I've been really impressed with. He's their new captain this season. Of
07:02course it was Ruben Neves before he's moved to Saudi Arabia and then there's a bit of talk of
07:05who could take over the captaincy permanently. It is Lamina and he's been playing in a bit
07:09more of an advanced role than he did last year. Last year it was typically just in front of the
07:13defence sweeping in. Now he's playing almost as an attacking midfielder, a bit of a box-to-box as
07:19well, out of possession so he's been really impressive. He's got a goal against Newcastle
07:24United as well and he's been leading that team pretty much all over the field, runs his socks
07:29off every single week. Xiao Gomez, as you mentioned, he's got a lot of potential but
07:33maybe a little bit raw still and Aitnouri going forward, fantastic. He can dribble past pretty
07:39much anyone, it's just he needs to sort out that defensive side of his game. He can get
07:43bobbled forward a little bit too much and get caught out of position. I think he's been impressive at times.
07:55And conversely, who has really struggled this season?
08:00I think you've got to look at that defence, haven't you? I mentioned Aitnouri before with
08:04his positioning. Matt Doherty is a player who's got a lot of experience and he's been
08:10fantastic for Wolves in the past but when he has played this year there have been little shaky
08:16moments and lapses of judgment and you just think, has he still got it at this kind of level?
08:21Sanedo, you've got as well, who has played most games pretty well but once you get towards the
08:2875th, 80th minute his legs seem to go a bit fatigued. It's a bit of a problem for Wolves.
08:34Jose Sar, before they signed Sam Johnston, just so many errors in goal.
08:42It is a bit because Sar is someone for many years who's been one of Wolves' best players
08:47but over the last six months or so something's happened to him with his confidence maybe and not
08:52quite got it back. Johnston has taken over that number one position, a pretty brutal decision
08:56from Wolves considering Johnston wasn't even starting for Crystal Palace. He's been better
09:01I think and there's a bit more assurance at the back with Johnston in goal. A big surprise for Sar
09:08because he's been a Portuguese international in the past and he's someone who's been looked at as
09:13a top goalkeeper by lots of top clubs but he has fallen off a little bit. I saw him at Goodison
09:19Park, first game of last season, and you made some spellbinding saves. I have no idea however
09:24it didn't score that day and it was because of him. Just rattle through the last few questions
09:29fairly quickly here as we run out of time. One big thing with this game is Ait Nori has been linked
09:34to the move to Liverpool, very technically strong, could easily fit into Liverpool going forward.
09:39You mentioned defensive aspects, do you think that would be something that might hold him back from
09:43a move like that? I think it is. Gary O'Neill has spoken about Ait Nori quite a lot and openly
09:50criticised him defensively. Everyone knows how good he is going forward but he just loses that
09:55focus at times. O'Neill has been quite effectively saying that if you want to be a top left-back
10:02you've got to sort out the defensive side of your game, you can't be exposed as often as he is.
10:07I think it's just a fact this year that we've had big name examples of it, the Chelsea game in
10:12particular. Three of those six goals were directly Ait Nori's fault, down his side. There's a reason
10:18that Mdweke scored a hat-trick, it's because Ait Nori was terrible in that game. So a bit more
10:24consistency to his game, I think he can be a top player but he has got those mistakes in him.
10:31It's a difficult one, he just needs to be nurtured in the right way I think and trained to be first
10:36and foremost a defender and then obviously he's already got the capabilities going forward.
10:42Really interesting one because there is going to be a conversation at some point with Robertson,
10:46now 30, in the future there's going to be someone coming in, it could be him,
10:49so we'll have to see how that develops. Just quickly, what sort of team are we expecting
10:53from Wolves? I guess the injuries are the same as maybe last week?
10:58Yeah, obviously the Mosquera one that changes that in the starting XI. Toti Gomez should be back
11:04and if he is, he should play alongside Dawson to replace Mosquera. Samedo at right back,
11:09Johnson in goal as I was mentioning is the new number one. Ait Nori will probably be at left
11:13back. I think Wolves wish they had a different left back so they could play Ait Nori at left
11:18midfield but he will be at left back. He's at midfield three now rather than having a two and
11:23then two wingers, so it's Andre sat back, Xiao Gomez alongside a little bit further forward and
11:29then you've got Mario Lamina as well. Matthias Kuhnje has been playing out wide. Jean-Richard
11:34Nabellegarde has been typically the wide midfielder and then Jorgen Strand-Larsen through the centre.
11:43You just mentioned there, I completely forgot, I'm going to have to bring this in now,
11:47Andre playing in midfield. Liverpool were very much in for him in the summer of 2023,
11:54did really well to go and win the Coppa Libertadores, played a huge role in that and
11:57now he's arrived in England and seems to have had a pretty solid start from what I've heard.
12:03Yeah, he's been another one where he's played really well for 70, 80 minutes and then
12:09maybe lost his focus but that's just a team characteristic rather than Andre himself.
12:14I think he's looked really good, considering he's never played in the Premier League before,
12:17he's very composed on the ball, his passing range is fantastic, he's not afraid to crunch in for a
12:23challenge, he seems to tighten them well. He doesn't really lose his head either but it is a
12:27very small sample size, we've only had a few games of him at Wolves and only one or two starts so far
12:34but I think he's got the potential to be a top player. There's a reason they've spent their only
12:38£21 million they had left on him when they needed a defender, the opportunity was there,
12:44you can't turn a Brazilian international down when you're Wolves, that's just kind of the matter
12:48of it. Maybe they regret not signing a centre-back instead, obviously we've seen him as care injury
12:54but that is hindsight and they should get a good investment out of Andre.
12:59For sure and I think it's an interesting narrative that's going to happen with
13:02Liverpool didn't sign a number six this summer, obviously Ryan Gravenberge has developed into
13:06that so far this season, been absolutely incredible there but Andre is on the other
13:11side and it'll be interesting to see how he fares against a team that did want him to sign
13:15and did reportedly make an offer to the club as well so that's a real interesting little subplot
13:21to the game but just as we finish off, just a quick prediction, I'm not too sure on this one,
13:26I think there'll be goals, what about yourself? He's probably got quite a negative Wolves hat on
13:32at the moment but I think it'll be 4-1 to Liverpool, I just think it could be too strong going
13:38forward, especially on the flanks and I know it's a little bit more of a steady gameplay now under
13:42Arnish Law, it's not so quick and on the counter attack but even so when you've got the likes of
13:46Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Cody Gakper, Darwin Nunez, so many world-class
13:53attackers against a defence that's struggling so much at the moment, there's going to be goals
13:57I'm afraid and Wolves will go for it, they don't just sit back unless Gary O'Neill stops being
14:02stubborn in his ways, as I said decent ways, progressive ways, I think he's probably going
14:07to stick with the same kind of team, same kind of tactics and that will suit Liverpool to a T.
14:12Yeah I think I have to agree with you there, I'm expecting goals, I'm expecting Liverpool
14:16being really strong defensively this season as well so I'm going to be a bit bolder and go for
14:19a clean sheet at 3-0 win but yeah thanks so much for your time and enjoy the game as much as you
14:26can see this weekend. Yeah I will do, I mean I'm not a Wolves fan so I'd just like to see lots of
14:30goals because you want to see Wolves improving, you want to see them improving, you want to be
14:35reporting on the scene that's doing well but I mean it's always entertaining seeing how many
14:38goals there are at Molineux. Welcome back after the break, there is no guests for the second part
14:44of the Merseyside Premier League weekend preview so we're just going to jump straight in on my own
14:50with Everton versus Crystal Palace at Goodison Park on Saturday. Starting off with the team news,
14:58Sean Dyche confirmed that Jared Brantway is in line to come back into the side this weekend,
15:02he completed 90 minutes for the under-21 side against Sunderland last weekend in which he made
15:08an heroic overhead kick clearance in the 90th minute to ensure that side went on to win the
15:14game 4-3 and with 90 minutes under his belt he should be able to come back into the side
15:19in place of Michael Keane which will give Everton a much stronger back line.
15:23Also Vitaly Mikhalenko should also come back in at left back having been taken off in the
15:28defeat against Aston Villa and having missed out against Leicester last weekend. There is some
15:34debate on the right back decision with Nathan Paterson also featuring in that under-21s game,
15:39he should be available for the bench at maximum because he only played 60 minutes in that game.
15:44Looking a bit further forward he also spoke about Idrissa Garnaghey who came
15:48back to the squad after a week away following the death of his father and Dyche claimed he
15:53hasn't trained so he won't be starting this game. We saw Aurel Mangala and Abdoulaye Diouakoure
15:59play last weekend at Leicester so we could expect something similar here and it also depends who's
16:05going to play right back. If Ashley Young plays right back it means James Garner can come into
16:09midfield. If James Garner plays a right back then I'm sure we can probably see Abdoulaye Diouakoure
16:15or Tim Iriboune next to Aurel Mangala in midfield but overall it's a relatively
16:23similar side for Everton but there will be some changes and the boost of Brantford weight will be
16:27absolutely huge for their defensive strength against a Palace side that does have a lot of
16:33threat. In terms of Crystal Palace they're going to be without key starter Chris Richards in defence
16:38who missed training according to Oliver Glasner and won't be available for the trip to Goodison
16:42Palace. He's a big miss for them but it could mean that Trevor Chalabert on loan from Chelsea
16:47comes into the side and he's a very experienced figure so Palace may even be a little bit stronger
16:52in his absence but still first team out is not ideal for them. Also in terms of their backup
16:58attackers Ismail Assar who fans will remember from Watford, a sign from Marseille in the summer, he's
17:03not available either but it will be pretty much a fully-strength Crystal Palace side who come to
17:07Goodison Park. It will be very interesting to see how Everton cope with an attack that does
17:13have plenty of individual quality in terms of Eberichi Eze and Kamada and obviously Jean-Philippe
17:18Mateta as well at the top end of the pitch. In terms of recent form we know Everton registered
17:24their first point of the Premier League season against Leicester last weekend. They led for most
17:28of that game and of course they led for most of the game against Aston Villa as well in their
17:32previous defeat and also before that they led against Bournemouth so there have been signs of
17:36it turning around and they now have a very good run of games where they don't play any of the
17:41top six until November 1st so they have a chance to put some points on the board starting with
17:46Palace. In terms of Crystal Palace, since losing back-to-back games against Brentford and West Ham
17:52they beat Norwich 4-0 in the EFL Cup and since then they have been unbeaten against Chelsea,
17:57Leicester, QPR in the Cup and Manchester United but they've only won one of those and they have
18:02been hard to beat but they've also struggled to get over the line in games as well. No things
18:07point towards a very, very competitive game between the two sides but it is worth mentioning
18:13the recent head-to-heads is definitely in Everton's favour. Last season they played them
18:18four times across the League and Cup. In the Cup they had a replay in the FA Cup which they ended
18:23up winning at Goodison Park having drew the first game and they beat them away at Sellers Park in
18:29the League 3-2 and they also drew at Goodison Park in the League as well so they're unbeaten across
18:34four games against a Palace side that are very similar and also had Michael Alisse who is no
18:40longer with them so there is an argument that they were a little bit stronger last season but
18:45it's safe to say that it's going to be a very, very competitive game between the two sides.
18:50Both need a victory, both will feel like they can get a victory and with players coming back for
18:55Everton in light of Bramford's potential return that's a huge boost for them and they should be
19:01able to put out a pretty strong start in XI, perhaps the strongest start in XI that we've seen
19:06so far this season against a Palace side who are definitely beatable but it is going to be a
19:10very tough game because they are a very well set-up side, very disciplined and have a lot of
19:15quality going forward as well so I'm going to predict a score draw for this one-all at Goodison
19:21Park but it wouldn't surprise me if Everton could get over the edge in this game as Palace
19:26are showing frailties and Everton may just produce something this weekend.