Lighthouse

Arsenal and HBS. Lose the other 2 and we will still be mid table.

The point is they're not playing with anything like the intensity they played with last year. They've put so much into their CL campaign that they've looked off the pace in the League and have had a couple of spankings away from home.

Think Pompey had a 7-4 against Reading a few years back.

We are no worse than we have been over the last couple of seasons, other than our strikers enduring some poor form. Leicester look every bit a bottom half team.

Guessing Swansea won't be last on MOTD.

We should play our strongest 11 in every game, just like Leicester who's form definitely hasn't suffered because of it.

All going Pete Tongue at Fratton.

I'll take the opinion of the best minds in sports science over that of 'some guys on the internet'. Please don't take it personally but if the likes of Fonte, Austin, Bertrand, Romeu and Hojbjerg were capable of playing twice a week for half the season, it might have occurred to somebody by now.

I loved this fixture two years ago. Was about 5 days before Christmas, we stuffed them 3-0 and everyone was singing, "feed the Scousers, let them know it's Christmas time!"

That great Liverpool side would struggle to get into the top half these days on account the pace and physicality of the league has moved on so much. No way they could maintain the intensity of a modern PL season and European campaign, without losing form and injuries.

I do like that last chap. Upset about our 'delusions' of a top half finish and decent Europa run. Meanwhile the down to Earth, realistic Toffees are going to finally "smash the glass ceiling" of the top 4 and challenge for the title.

Can't you guys read?! He said they are highly paid athletes, everyone knows money is a guaranteed cure for fatigue.

It's the team I'd pick but doubt Puel will go with this formation, unfortunately.

Redmond, Austin, Tadic and Rodriguez are about on par with what I'd have expected at the start of the season. The main problem comes from the big fat zero from Long and Boufal. Granted the latter has only just got fit but those two in particular need to start turning it in fairly soon.

Despite being top half and having played 5 of last years top 6 away, plus in form Liverpool and Chelsea at home. We are nowhere near as bad as Sunderland, Hull, Swansea or West Ham and there are half a dozen other teams worse than us too.

It sure sucks that we have to play both games against Hapoel away from home.

Yes, that performance in Herning was really quite something.

Not really, they've gone from League champions to bottom half.

Why? Clasie is better.

It is. We did. There isn't.

We are resting Fonte in Europe, Virgil in the LC and Yoshi in the League. I thought that much was obvious.

It's not more difficult at all, that's a nonsensical argument. Utd aren't going to sign a player for a competition they don't even care about and we aren't going to deliberately weaken our team in a competition we DO care about just because we want to make Utd happy. He's our player and we don't need to sell him. If Utd want him and he is cup tied, tough sh*t. Either pay up and live with it (they won't, he's worth more to us than them) or go somewhere else.

He was awesome alongside Suarez but since then he's had a lot of injuries and has managed 13 league goals in the last 2.5 years. Plus he will come with big wage demands, a bill big b*llocks attitude and every time I see that stupid goal celebration I want to correct his sh*te haircut with a cricket bat.

Just to make sure I've got this right.... A win puts us through if Hapoel fail to beat Inter. A draw can't put us through but it means we just have to draw with Hapoel, IF Inter don't win both games. A defeat keeps it in our hands. A draw in the other game would mean a draw in our last game puts us through.

I really loved that League Cup game, where we played open creative football and attacked them from the first minute. Wish we'd played like that yesterday.