LFC predicted line-up vs. Fulham: Enrique/Suso in? Downing/Shelvey out?

In the words of Arsenal hero Paul Merson, Liverpool got 'smashed' by Aston Villa last week, and to be honest, he's right. The fact the defeat happened at Anfield makes it even worse, and the result is a potentially damaging setback to the the club's slim hopes of making the top four. It seems that every game this season is a 'must-win' situation, and today's clash with Fulham is no exception. Quite simply, Liverpool must win, and with Martin Jol's team suffering a debilitating injury crisis, there's surely no excuse for anything by three points this afternoon.

Rodgers arguably got his team selection horribly wrong last week:

* Downing at left back: why? Johnson is better on the left playing out of position (!), and Andre Wisdom could've played at right back. This has worked several times already this season, so why not go with something proven to be effective?

* Why take the cautious approach and start the game with FOUR central midfielders? (Gerrard, Shelvey, Allen and Lucas). Totally unnecessary. Suso should've played instead of Shelvey, who went off in the 46th minute anyway.

Rodgers confirmed on Friday that Jose Enrique is back in the squad after suffering a minor injury recently. He also confirmed that Lucas is not quite up to full fitness yet, but despite that' he'll still be in the squad.

I really hope Rodgers selects an attacking team today, and doesn't play it safe again. I would go for the following:

-------------------- Reina

Wisdom ------ Agger ------- Skrtel ------- Johnson

-------------------- Lucas

----------- Gerrard ------- Suso

Sterling ---------------------------- Enrique

-------------------- Suarez

* Rest Joe Allen already! He doesn't need to play every single game, and Gerrard/Lucas/Enrique should be enough to keep things solid in midfield.

* Give Suso another chance in the advanced midfield playmaker role. If it doesn't work out, just replace him in the second half with Shelvey.

What we will probably get:

-------------------- Reina

Johnson ------ Agger ------- Skrtel ------- Enrique

-------------------- Lucas

----------- Gerrard ------- Allen

Sterling ---------------------------- Downing

-------------------- Suarez

Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson predicts a 2-0 Liverpool today. He told the BBC:

"Fulham are struggling a bit of late and are not great on the road full stop, which is why they have dropped down the table in the last few weeks. Taking all of that into consideration, I can see Liverpool coming out on top at Anfield - in many ways, if the Reds had won last week then this would have been a bit easier for Fulham. Because Liverpool lost, they will really have a point to prove on Saturday".

It should be a home win for the Reds, but we all thought the same last week, and look what happened. Additionally, Fulham have the added threat of Dimitar Berbatov, who clearly loves playing against Liverpool.

Having said that, Berbatov is in the midst of a goalscoring drought, and like Luis Suarez, he's now gone six games without scoring a goal.



Jaimie Kanwar