By Myles Palmer
Ajax is a big game and Newcastle is a potentially spectacular game and Liverpool is a game Arsenal could lose and still win the title.
But if they lose it they might have to win their next 12 Premiership games.
Arsenal had a stroll against Farnborough and won 5-1, while Liverpool had a fierce battle at Crystal Palace, where they drew 0-0.
Liverpool will have home advantage on Wednesday night, but less preparation.
And Kirkland may be out with a knee injury.He was carried off on a stretcher after a one-one-one with Dele Adebola.
It was a collision you knew was serious. I thought Kirkland had broken his leg.
ARSENAL CAN WIN AT ANFIELD.
Without Keown, without Ljungberg? Yes, it’s a good time to play Liverpool.
While they are finding it hard to score and taking flak from every direction.
Riise is still a fantastic player, Hyypia is a monster stopper/skipper, but I’m revising my view of Gerrard.
He can do everything, but he hits far too many long balls and has far too many bang average games, giving the ball away a lot.
He is immature.He could be great, maybe he will be great. But it is an exaggeration to say that Steven Gerrard is the finished article, that he is a great player now.
Yes, he can head it, he can win it, he has two good feet, he can pass very well, he has pace, he can tackle, he can launch it from deep like Effenberg.
He has all the equipment he will ever need.
BUT Gerrard is too young to put his game together on a regular basis. And he may not even be in the right team.
It’s : hit Michael! Hit Michael early! That has become predictable and it has made Liverpool a one-trick pony and contributed to their slide.
Diouf will be much better next season. He has energy, bottle, freshness – I like him.
He will give Ashley Cole a run for his money on the right side. But, clearly, he is wasted in that position.
He should be developed in a half-striker role.
Diouf should copy Gudjohnsen, mixing up volleyed passes and lay-offs with dribbles and headers. Like many Liverpool players,he is being used in the wrong way.
The way Man United are playing now, they way they have finally integrated Scholes and Veron, after 18 months when it wasn’t working, means they are now as formidable as ever.
I wrote them off,but they have recovered most of their collective bite and sweep, their relentless competitive ethic.
On what I’ve seen lately, Roy Keane is contributing more by his presence and personality than by his play.
THEIR FA CUP TIE AGAINST WEST HAM TODAY WAS NO CONTEST.
When United went 2-0 up I went for a long walk in the park. A massacre was of no interest.
When I came back United had won 6-0 and I’m told their passing was very crisp and impressive.
An accountant accused of robbing Anders Limpar was taken to hospital last week after suffering a panic attack in court.
Mark Geppert apparently stole almost £90,000 from Everton winger Limpar in March 1996 to clear his overdraft. The Swede realised he had been duped after Geppert failed to return his phone calls.
When Geppert, 46, was arrested by police he claimed the missing £89,995 was his accountancy fees.
The case began at Southwark Crown Court on Monday 13th January but judge Rodney McKinnon dismissed the jury on Thursday 16th after Geppert collapsed in the dock.
The case will be mentioned in court on the 28th, when the judge may order a new trial date, depending on the health of the defendant.
26th January 2003.