Pressure on for Rafa
Everton are sinking like a stone at the moment with the club now in 14th and six points above the relegation zone following their defeat to Brentford at the weekend. They haven't won in 8 games with their last victory coming at the end of September against Norwich and they haven't been scoring enough goals. With that and some tough fixture coming up including the Merseyside Derby in midweek, the pressure is definitely on for Rafa Benitez at Everton.
He appeared to be winning the fans over earlier in the season after a good start to the season which is something he needed to do the moment he got the job. But now the fans may be beginning to turn their back on him following a run of 7 games without a win and performances not being up to their usual standard. They have had injuries to key players with Dominic Calvert Lewin being the bigger loss but they still should've won at least once or twice during that time. They haven't had an identity on the pitch which has been the case for them for some time and they're suffering as a result of it.
Rafa is confident that he can turn their season around but for him to do that he needs results and fast because at the moment they're sinking towards the wrong end of the table.
Thiago finally delivering for Liverpool
After a mostly difficult first season at the club last season, Thiago is appearing to finally deliver the goods for Liverpool after two good displays against Porto and Southampton where scored in both. He's looking more like the player Liverpool signed from Bayern Munich last summer and he's starting to step up as the reds' go to man in the midfield.
He's definitely benefitting from having Fabinho behind him in the defensive midfield position because it's enabling him to push up the pitch and press opponents high. He wasn't doing enough of this last season because Fabinho was having to play at centre back which in turn took the solidity out of Liverpool's midfield as well as the high press. It had a huge impact on his game like it did for Liverpool's season as a whole and with Fabinho back in his usual position, Thiago is finally stepping up for the team.
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