A nine-point gap in November? Yeah, that's a lot, but most of all, it's a morale boost. https://www.w88thais.com/w88-entrance-latest-updates-for-mobile-pc/ So many football folk are, if not outright superstitious, easily convinced that "it's not their year." And you can see how Manchester City might be coming around to that idea. There are the long-standing injuries to Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte (the latter, arguably, is City's least replaceable player) and the more recent injuries that kept Ederson in the stands and David Silva on the bench in their biggest game of the season to date. And then there's Sunday's 3-1 defeat to Liverpool, broken down to its component parts, namely the goals that left them 2-0 down inside a quarter of an hour.

Can City, Chelsea or Leicester catch Liverpool?
Let's clear up the first one. The ball did ricochet off Bernardo Silva's hand, but it's not a punishable handball in any way. Not as deliberate handling (which would have resulted in a Liverpool free-kick) nor as the sort of "accidental handball" that leads directly to a goal, which would disallow the goal (there was no goal, a possible penalty is not a goal).



What about Trent Alexander-Arnold's handball? Contrary to popular belief, it's not black and white. There is still discretion, which is why the new rules use the term "usually." The factors to consider are whether he had the opportunity to get his arm out of the way -- to do this, you look at the speed at which the ball is traveling toward him, whether it was unexpected and the distance traveled -- and whether his arm was in a natural position w88 mobile .

Referee Michael Oliver chose not to give a penalty. With the help of multiple replays I, like many others -- including Pep Guardiola -- disagree. His arm was not in a natural position and the only unexpected mitigating factor to consider was the ricochet off Silva, but that is outweighed by the other factors (distance and speed). So as I see it, it should have been a penalty, which means Fabinho's goal at the other end would have been struck off.


Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool are nine points clear atop the Premier League following Sunday's win over Man City, but the race has a long way to run yet. Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Would Oliver have changed his mind if he had seen the replays, which he's effectively barred from doing because of the Premier League's absurd do-it-yourself version of VAR? We'll never know. Maybe not. But in what was, to me at least, a decision that could easily have gone the other way, I'd have a heck of a lot more faith in it if the guy deemed to be one of England's top referees had seen what the VAR and what hundreds of millions of viewers across the world saw: the replays.

Would it have led to a different outcome in the game itself? Maybe. But it was the sort of decision that leaves you fuming if you're Pep (witness the rabid, sarcastic handshake with the match officials at the end) and if you're a less than steel-minded City player, plants that awful seed of doubt that "this isn't our year w88 line ."

While we're at it, it's worth mentioning a point Julien Laurens brings up on the Gab & Juls podcast. After the ball strikes Alexander-Arnold's arm, Sergio Aguero stops playing and appeals for the penalty despite the fact that the ball is there at his feet and a wide-open Raheem Sterling is a few yards away. Aguero has been a pro for 15 years: he should know better. A simple square ball for Sterling might have given them a goal anyway. What's more, he ought to know that appeals in an age of VAR serve even less purpose than they did before.

As for the game itself, Liverpool were exceptional for long stretches. The way Andy Robertson and Alexander-Arnold switched play and distributed the ball, especially the latter, was breath-taking at times, as was the speed and intensity displayed. Equally though, if you play at that rate you will inevitably have periods in which you slow down and against technically gifted opponents, you will concede goals, which is what happened. It wasn't enough to turn the game, but it's a reminder that Liverpool probably should save these types of performances for opponents of this caliber. Doing it week in, week out is neither necessary nor wise.