Brendan Rodgers needs to find the right Liverpool formula and fast — EPL talking points

Thomas Woods provides his take on the biggest talking points from the Premier League, including the increased pressure building on Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

Steve McClaren has got off to a tough start at Newcastle with the club second from bottom in the Premier League table. Lee Smith / Reuters

Brendan Rodgers says it is only a matter of time before Liverpool’s hard work is rewarded by results, but underneath the positive facade he must be a nervous man.

Liverpool’s 23 shots at goal deserved better than a 1-1 draw at home to Norwich on Sunday, but the panic button should have been pushed before that result.

They aren’t scoring enough and don’t look like stringing positive results together.

Liverpool’s 1-0 opening-day win at Stoke was fortunate, coming courtesy of a Phillipe Coutinho screamer.

The linesman’s errors helped them win a game they could have drawn at home to Bournemouth.

Aside from that they have two three-goal defeats, a turgid 0-0 draw at Arsenal and the Norwich game, scoring four goals in six league games.

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One area of concern is that, despite spending more than £300 million (Dh1.7bn) in four years at Liverpool, Rodgers does not seem to have a clear idea of the formation he wants to play.

Christian Benteke and Sturridge would be a formidable front two in a 4-4-2 formation, but Rodgers has no wide men to provide them with service.

Jordan Ibe is the only natural winger in the squad, yet he spends most of his time on the bench.

With a penchant for playing midfielders in defence, it seems as though Rodgers is trying to fit too many square pegs in round holes.

Players such as Coutinho and Adam Lallana are great creative midfielders, but they don’t provide the width and crosses that Benteke would feast on.

Saturday’s visit of Aston Villa suddenly takes on huge significance because of the fixtures that follow.

A Merseyside derby away at Everton starts a run of games that includes Tottenham (a), Southampton (home), Chelsea (a), Crystal Palace (h) and Manchester City (a).

I don’t think even an optimist like Rodgers can envisage his team taking more than six or seven points from those games on current form.

Woe in the north-east

Speaking of tough fixtures, Newcastle face Chelsea at home and Manchester City away in their next two while Sunderland have Manchester United away and West Ham at home.

The two teams from England’s north-east sit bottom and second bottom in the table. They are each winless, leaking goals and scoring few.

Here’s a prediction I’ll make with confidence — both will still be in the bottom three come January and at least one of their managers will have been sacked.

United look like contenders

General consensus at the start of the season was that Manchester United were a strong shout for a top-four finish but had little hope of the title.

But with every game that passes, they look more and more capable of at least running Manchester City close in the title race.

There are plenty of issues with their team — the left-back spot, where Wayne Rooney fits in and a lack of strikers — but a load of positives too.

Anthony Martial has added pace the forward line so badly needed and Juan Mata is benefiting from a run of games that has turned him into United’s chief creative force.

With a tough trip to Tottenham at the weekend for City, United could be top next by week.

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