Big Midweek: Ruben Amorim Judgement Day, Liverpool v Xabi Alonso, Arsenal, Vinicius
It’s time to judge Ruben Amorim on the basis of one game against Manchester City, while it’s also a Big Midweek for Arsenal, Vinicius Junior and Arne Slot against the manager Liverpool really wanted.
Game to watch: Liverpool v Bayer Leverkusen
The manager Liverpool really wanted against the one they got, and despite Arne Slot’s brilliant start, we can’t help but feel many would still prefer Xabi Alonso to be in the home dug-out at Anfield on Tuesday.
Maybe not, but what we know for certain is that if Alonso had won 13 of his first 15 games in charge of Liverpool, we would all be losing our minds, waxing lyrical over the greatest coach of his generation.
There’s some Premier League nepotism at play there – it’s always great to see a brilliant player turn into a brilliant coach – and what Alonso did last season with Bayer Leverkusen would be a big factor in the deification, but we would suggest that any manager who takes over from a club legend and improves on results deserves significantly more acclaim than Slot is currently receiving.
Widely reported to be The Impossible Job, made harder by no real additions to their squad in the summer, Liverpool are top of the Premier League, top of the Champions League and yet there seems to be a collective shrugging of shoulders.
Hard to know what Slot needs to do to prove himself (not that he seems to care). A win over the Bundesliga champions and the man thought to be Jurgen Klopp’s more natural successor? Probably not.
Manager to watch: Ruben Amorim
There can’t be many better ways to prove your managerial chops to your waiting fans than against their city rivals and one of the greatest coaches of all time.
Amorim’s Sporting are currently level on points with Manchester City (7), and remaining in charge for this game was a key stipulation in the deal struck with Manchester United.
They’ve beaten Lille and Sturm Graz and drawn with PSV thus far, so a clash against Pep Guardiola’s side will be a significant step up, and while nothing close to the pressure he’s about to feel at Old Trafford, likely among the biggest games in Amorim’s managerial career due to both the level of the opposition and the degree of attention.
We suspect quite a few more people will be watching this game than any of his previous 246 as a manager, keeping keen eyes on his now-famous 3-4-3 and which of the Sporting players United can cherry-pick over the next couple of transfer windows.
“I’m fully aware that I’m going to be judged as a manager on this game, and only on this game, and I realise what [people] can take from this depending on the result.”
Yep.
Also, shame on you Gary Cotterill.
READ MORE: Mason Mount set to usurp Bruno Fernandes at Man Utd: The Ruben Amorim winners and losers
Team to watch: Arsenal
The Big Midweek superfans will have noticed that this makes it consecutive Champions League match-weeks with Arsenal as the team to watch. We will continue to name them until they put in a convincing performance.
They beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 at the Emirates ahead of a draw with Liverpool and a defeat to Newcastle in the Premier League (we’re not counting the 3-0 win over Preston in the League Cup as a result worthy of a doffed cap).
It feels like they need a performance and result to get them out of a slump which hasn’t been helped by the news that Edu – so key to their uptick under Mikel Arteta – is breaking up with them. A win over Inter at the San Siro would be a significant scalp however it comes, but what Arsenal really need is a dominant display to silence the baying critics and prove that they’re a serious Champions League team: one to be feared rather than one that’s just, well, there.
READ MORE: Edu leaving Arsenal: Five Chelsea rejects included in ranking of every signing made under Brazilian
Player to watch: Vinicius Junior
“I’ll do it 10x if I have to. They’re not ready,” Vinicius wrote on social media after he embarrassed himself and disrespected Rodri by not showing up to the Ballon d’Or ceremony. We don’t know who ‘they’ are – The Man, presumably – and are willing to bet everything we own that Vinicius Junior will not beat Lionel Messi’s pathetic haul of seven and claim ten Ballon d’Or gongs.
But if it motivates him, we are getting giddy. His second-half display against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League really was something to behold and we get the sense that Vinicius is someone who plays better when he’s angry.
His anger is entirely unreasonable but if he channels that anger into destroying full-backs and scoring goals then we would urge AC Milan fans to don Rodri shirts in the Bernabeu on Tuesday.
EFL game to watch: West Brom v Burnley
The Baggies have scored two goals in their last six and there have been five scored in total in those games, featuring three goalless draws.
They’re still in the play-offs despite not winning since September thanks to their excellent start to the season, and are two points behind Burnley, who have scored four goals in their last seven games. Yep, definitely one to watch.
