Ruben Amorim cam continues in a big midweek for Liverpool against Real Madrid, Kyle Walker and Aston Villa

We will of course see Ruben Amorim as well as Aston Villa and Liverpool against Real Madrid, while Kyle Walker’s legs look set to be tested again.

Match to watch: Liverpool v Real Madrid
We fully expect the Arne Slot naysayers – a select group of predecessor-obsessed Liverpool fans included – to claim after a win over the European champions on Wednesday that the Reds have yet to beat a proper team this season , because They Aren’t What They Were or Jude Bellingham’s A Fraud or Kylian Mbappe’s Made Them Sh*T or something equally crass and absurd.

On the other hand, we’re also preparing for the ridiculously premature Quadruple chat that will surely come if Liverpool beat Madrid in a game that actually doesn’t matter with automatic qualification all but assured for the Reds in any case , and then Manchester City beat on Sunday (not a proper team either, if you ask).

Narrative nonsense and lack of danger taken into account, try as we might for our aversion to change, it’s hard not to be grateful for a change of competition that means Liverpool can play Real Madrid at Anfield in November. We plead guilty to wanting to see good footballers play football.

READ: Only Ole has had a better start as a Premier League manager than Arne Slot

Manager to watch: Ruben Amorim
We literally saw him on Sunday and it’s safe to say he’s the manager to watch until we say otherwise. He’s enthralling enough, though, before we consider that he’s in charge of an underachieving team playing in a brand new style with a majority of players fighting for their futures.

Amorim has managed to create quite an extraordinary situation at the start of his United tenure, where performances and even results do not mean much. He has said that “identity” is the priority – which makes perfect sense, by the way – and everyone seems willing to watch United be a bit sh*t for a while in search of that sense of self.

Erik ten Hag’s gave him a difficult job for pretty much every reason you can think of; one is their poor results in Europe, which means Amorim probably feels he can’t rotate too much in games like this against Bodo/Glimt – who are actually above United in the Europa League table – when he would love to be in a position to make wholesale changes to see as many of its new players as quickly as possible.

He will certainly take a look at some though, with Mason Mount, Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Rasmus Hojlund all pushing for a place in his first-choice XI.

READ MORE: Premier League winners and losers: Postecoglou, O’Neil, Amorim, Leicester, Man City, Everton and more

Team to watch: Aston Villa
They really need something to get them going again. Their last win in any competition came against Bologna over a month ago, a win which maintained their 100% record in the Champions League while they finished fourth in the Premier League, four points off top spot. Everything went swimmingly.

Not anymore. Villa are now number eight12 points left for Liverpool, after picking up two points from four games in the Premier League, with a defeat to Club Brugge exposing their European copybook.

Defeats to Tottenham and Liverpool provide perspective for those with their fingers on the big red crisis button, and the Champions League loss – while frustrating – still leaves Villa in the automatic qualification places.

Panic is not yet called for, but Villa fans probably feel as if they are in for something of a comedown and Juventus could be their Hair Of The Dog on Wednesday in what will be a fervent atmosphere at Villa Park, as it was when they got one over on another European giant in Bayern Munich.

Player to watch: Kyle Walker
He picked the wrong season to launch the ‘You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker’ podcast and we wonder if the production company is now recommending the use of the past tense in a title change, meaning he has Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe et eel. a pocket torn through by Timo Werner on Sunday to the extent that his shorts were left in a ragged mess around his ankles.

Pep Guardiola played Rico Lewis ahead of him against Tottenham in an attempt to protect Manchester City’s defender for the past seven seasons, but the academy product can’t do anything when Walker does his Go On Then, Beat Me schtick with leaden legs against a footballer who may well be faster than himself when he hasn’t played 89 more minutes.

If he plays on Tuesday, Walker will likely be up against Igor Paixao, who is firmly in the No Slouch category of winger and has arguably been Feyenoord’s best player this season, claiming three goals and ten assists in 18 games.

Signed by Arne Slot two years ago and linked with Liverpool this summer, the 24-year-old will surely see a clash with Manchester City as a huge chance to catch the Premier League eye, despite the ability to beat Walker in a football match now far from the badge of honor it once was.

EFL match to watch: Wrexham v Lincoln City
League leaders Wycombe beat Lincoln 3-2 last time out and look set to run away with League One after winning nine games on the bounce to take a four-point lead over second-placed Wrexham.

Lincoln are currently out of the play-offs on goal difference and victory over the back-to-back promoters will see them close in on the Welsh side to just two points.