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VAR was the main player yet again in the Premier League and caused a stir in the biggest game of the weekend when Manchester United and Liverpool, England's two most successful teams took each other on at Old Trafford.
Jurgen Klopp screamed and reacted as only he can when United's opener stood despite appeals for a questionable foul on Divock Origi in the build up. But the referee played on, VAR did not intercept, and it certainly did look like Origi made the most of it in a similar style to Sadio Mane. Later on Liverpool thought they had equalised but the goal was ruled out, handball by Sadio Mane. Forget that Mane's hand seemed in a natural position, the rule here is that if the ball touches your hand/arm in the area then it is a penalty or no goal awarded, at least there was consistency even if the rule itself lacks common sense. Perhaps if anything karma played its part with Mane after his soft penalty winner v Leicester a few weeks ago.
In the end Klopp kept his hair and baseball cap on as Liverpool drew and kept their unbeaten record through Adam Lallana's equaliser with just four minutes left. Lallana then suggested that the goal could re ignite his Liverpool career, best not to hold your breath.
Liverpool will be happy overall as they saved their unbeaten record but lost their 100% record and also dropped two points, but it could so easily have been three. Whilst Liverpool have evidently been the best side in the league so far, they will have to up their game. The past four matches have simply not been convincing of a team who could become Premier League champions and with Manchester City lurking round the corner, Klopp will understand the threat is still very much there. Liverpool remain the favourites to win the league and are priced at 1.72.
Everton needed the win over West Ham and even though the Hammers were poor the home side needed to be on their game, and they were. Marco Silva's job was certainly on the line before the game and he made some bold changes. Gyfil Sigurddson was relegated to the bench, as was Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Moise Kean and Richarlison was given a central role up front on his own. It was good to see Bernard and Alex Iwobi in the team and Tom Davies was giving a rare run out. The 2-0 win was convincing and it will be interesting to see if Silva keeps the same team for the clubs next Premier League game. The win moved the Toffees out of the relegation zone and they have a very important November coming up. Important because December is chock full of difficult matches including the Merseyside derby, Chelsea , Arsenal and Manchester United.
Some Leicester fans have resorted to shouting Jamie 'insert expletive' Vardy in reference in a positive way to just how good the Foxes striker is. He scored again as Leicester came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 and the club are now in 3rd place. Vardy has been perhaps the greatest revelation this decade when it comes to strikers. One has to remember that the player was plying his trade with Fleetwood Town in 2012 and notched up his 106th goal for Leicester at the weekend. Is Vardy world class? No, but he is a classic centre forward and will go down as an absolute legend at Leicester when he hangs up his boots. He is just consistent, always there and has been very loyal to the club. He has 6 goals so far in the league and is odds of 15.00 to finish as top goalscorer. The favourite remains Sergio Aguero at 4.00.
In Spain Barcelona returned to the top of the league standings after a 3-0 win at Eibar. What was significant about the victory was the relationship between Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, to exceptional players of course but the question has been can they play off one another together? Against Eibar the answer was an emphatic yes, they both scored and created numerous chances. Their rivals Real Madrid were shocked losing 1-0 away to Mallorca. Atlteico Madrid who were tipped for big things this season drew their 3rd game in a row, 4 from 5 as they slipped 3 points behind Barca.
In France Kylian Mbappe the outrageously talented forward was rushed back from injury and scored against Nice as PSG ran out 4-1 winners without Neymar who is out injured for at least a month. Even though PSG have had their troubles this season they have still earned 24 points from a possible 30 and have a 5 point lead at the top of the standings.
In Italy it looks like the league will already be a two horse race between Juventus and Inter Milan. Juve lead Inter by one point and Cristiano Ronaldo's team are the only side still unbeaten.
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About time Loserpool weren't gifted 3 points!