Arsenal's victory over West Ham aside, Premier League results went Liverpool's way this afternoon, and a victory over Swansea City tomorrow will put the Reds within touching distance of a coveted Champions League place.
One thing's for sure: Liverpool have to exponentially improve on the terrible boxing day performance against Burnley. Three points is great, but the victory just papers over the cracks of a thoroughly disjointed display.
With four games in ten days, it'll be interesting to see whether Rodgers rests Gerrard at some point. LFC's captain rarely influenced the Burnley game, but with Joe Allen injured, it seems unlikely that he'll miss out.
Even without Allen, though, Liverpool have the personnel to manage without Gerrard. Using the current 343 formation, the following line-up will work:
---------------- Mignolet
-------- Toure -- Skrtel --- Sakho
---- Hendo ---- Can -- Lucas --- Markovic
----------- Lallana --- Coutinho
----------------- Sterling
Alternatively, to freshen things up, Moreno can come in for Markovic, with Hendo alongside Lucas, and Manquillo on the right. It would also be interesting to see Balotelli in his favoured role behind the striker:
---------------- Mignolet
-------- Toure -- Skrtel --- Sakho
- Manquillo - Hendo -- Lucas --- Moreno
----------- Balotelli --- Coutinho
----------------- Sterling
Predicting a 2-1 win for Liverpool, Reds legend Mark Lawrenson told the BBC:
"Swansea won two games in a row over Christmas, which was the first time they have managed that since August. They are going to keep ticking away in the top half of the table but I think it is asking too much for them to go to Anfield and extend their winning run".
My prediction: 1-1
Author: Jaimie K
One thing's for sure: Liverpool have to exponentially improve on the terrible boxing day performance against Burnley. Three points is great, but the victory just papers over the cracks of a thoroughly disjointed display.
With four games in ten days, it'll be interesting to see whether Rodgers rests Gerrard at some point. LFC's captain rarely influenced the Burnley game, but with Joe Allen injured, it seems unlikely that he'll miss out.
Even without Allen, though, Liverpool have the personnel to manage without Gerrard. Using the current 343 formation, the following line-up will work:
---------------- Mignolet
-------- Toure -- Skrtel --- Sakho
---- Hendo ---- Can -- Lucas --- Markovic
----------- Lallana --- Coutinho
----------------- Sterling
Alternatively, to freshen things up, Moreno can come in for Markovic, with Hendo alongside Lucas, and Manquillo on the right. It would also be interesting to see Balotelli in his favoured role behind the striker:
---------------- Mignolet
-------- Toure -- Skrtel --- Sakho
- Manquillo - Hendo -- Lucas --- Moreno
----------- Balotelli --- Coutinho
----------------- Sterling
Predicting a 2-1 win for Liverpool, Reds legend Mark Lawrenson told the BBC:
"Swansea won two games in a row over Christmas, which was the first time they have managed that since August. They are going to keep ticking away in the top half of the table but I think it is asking too much for them to go to Anfield and extend their winning run".
My prediction: 1-1
Author: Jaimie K
id personally like lallana in the team as he does offer something different but ive given up second guessing Rodgers as like warnock i dont think he really knows what hes going to do until about 10 mins to kick off. ,Swanseas main threat is bony followed by gifi if you negate them two your more or less there, they are not the quickest at the back so playing two fast forwards stops them defending high but no doubt rodgers knows this and will stagger us with some master tactics or will he just do what he normally does and draw straws
ReplyDeleteI dont know but there is a feeling that we all are in for a nightmare tomorrow..lucas and gerrard looks very tired and surely needs rest but rodgers knows better..you can surely put moreno in this formation and take henderson centre and pair him with can..put gerrard later up front to add creativity..come on ridgers dont screw it up
ReplyDeleteSwansea have 8 clean sheets this season and conceded less than us. They are not the easiest team to beat. If we are going with 3 at the back again then I do not hold much hope for us.
ReplyDeleteBalotelli has had a few bad games but overall i think the way hes been slated is outrageous. hes clearly been unlucky and just settling back to the PL. and what does the most dillusional manager in football history do, say he doesnt fit in at Liverpool and that he will play from the bench, even though hes the clown that signed him. Personally i would have rather payed £40M for Higuain or £25M for Benteke or Bony, but Balotelli is a top player and he CAN fit at LFC if the manger wasnt so silly and bought (basically) useless players. Markovic will never get 15 goals/15 assists a season and despite his improvement £20M shhould get you that. £20M should get u a few clean sheets and good performance when your paying that for a centre back but Lovren has turnt out to be the worst defender in LFC history. absolutely nonsense. the worst of all the signings. and you'd expect 15 goals/15 assists for a £25M player but sadly despite Lallana brilliance and that i like him, we are not seeing that. when Luis Suarez joined LFC there was alot of pressure on him due to the price we paid. he duly delivered. if we payed £10M for Suarez, in his first season when he didnt do so well as the others, no1 would have slated him as they did when they were saying his shooting accuracy is poor. because we paid a big fee they did. point is BR bought players like FM, like its game, with no tactital plan, just players he liked. he didnt think about his signings. if we bought Balotelli and Remy then thats a manager with sense. Remy with the pace to play in front of Balotelli. Sturridge will paly when fit. Balotelli has to be partnered with a quality striker. not Lambert or Borini. thats a rip off. if Balotell knew that was the case he wouldnt sign for LFC. Balotelli behind Sterling. lets see what happens. i'd love Sterling to recieve a Balotelli pass and then play him back in where he will have space. like he did with Aguero and Tevez
ReplyDeleteLiverpool don't look so good no more
ReplyDeleteMy TeaM VS swansea:
ReplyDeleteMignolet
Can Skrtel Sakho
Markovic Hendo Lucas Moreno
Coutinho Lallana
Sterling
Can is there to simply man-mark Bony, can can cope physically....
Hendo is there to man-mark Sigurdsson, hendo can run for years.....
Balotelli could be switched with markovic with lallana moving to RM
if we are confident, even with 3 defenders we can destroy Swansea. but that spirit has left LFC for some reason. theres no confidence. last season we never allowed teams to play. and even if we did we scored too many goals. we won many times last season using 3 defenders and it was only after the Arsenal game at the Emirates where they humliated us when we stopped using it. but Montero, Bony and Sigurdsson are top players and we need to stop them and then attack attack attack. playing with 3 defenders at home is a bonus. if we attack there will be alot of attackers and the fans will cheer on the team to victory. away from home is alot different
ReplyDelete-----------Toure---------Skrtel--------Sakho
Hendo------Lucas------Emre Can--------Lallana
------------Coutinho---------Balotelli
-----------------------Sterling
The team that should start and could and would win us the game vs Swansea tommorrow should be this: 4 3 3
ReplyDeleteManquillo Toure Sakho Moreno
Can Lucas Coutinho/ Lallana
Sterling Balotelli Markovic
I hope bony has a bad day in the office cos the mere thought of him vs skrtel and co sends chills down my spine
ReplyDeleteNo second formation jaimie wont work Manquillo strength si defendeing and not attacking so we will be playing with almost 7 defense minded players
ReplyDeletethat is unacceptable at anfield
................................................Sterling
ReplyDelete.................................Lallana..........................Coutinho
Markovic .........................Can..............Lucas...............Henderson
................................Sakho........Skrtel..............Toure
............................................Mignolet
With results going the way they have today we simply MUST beat Swansea. No excuses
ReplyDeleteSakho is the answer.
ReplyDeleteWhy are people saying play Ballotelli have they not seen him playing for Liverpool, hes lazy, hes not a team player all he does is stop the flow of the team and break up moves i realy find it hard to understand.
ReplyDeletethat's the team i would pick ....but rodgers will play Gerard and will only play balo on his own up front ,he may surprise me but i wont bank on it
ReplyDeleteSpot on. Balo obviously has not found the net enough but the way he has been slated is a ridicule. He IS a top class player and WILL thrive if we play to his strengths.
ReplyDeleteIf you have saw him you will realise you are no different to the rest slating him. A bandwagoner
ReplyDeleteI would just stick Sterling up front and tell Balotelli to go where he likes on the pitch. If he goes striker like the other matches then ask him why he says he is playing out of his favoured position.
ReplyDeletei dont see it cal ,every time ive watched him hes tried as hard as anyone ....he has been wasteful i admit and sometimes he shoots from mad angles but i think that's born out of wanting to score and being low on confidence, he was never a striker who was going to run the channels all day long up front on his own ,thats not his game play him behind sterling and you may well see a different player
ReplyDeletecan Can.. :)
ReplyDeleteYip agreed!
ReplyDeleteYes i have seen him play plenty of times and no iam not jumping on the bandwagon the man is lazy and not a team player, the sooner he goes the better.
ReplyDeleteI think Sterling needs a rest, he's played so many minutes already this season, Gerrard definitely needs dropping. A midfield of Markovic Henderson, Can, Moreno then Lallana and Coutinho with Lambert or Balotelli up top. Rodgers has to make changes, too many games in a short space of time, the squad must be utilised.
ReplyDelete"i dont think he really knows what hes going to do until about 10 mins to kick off"
ReplyDeleteThat's seriously your opinion? Despite what all the players say about the way the team is prepared over the week before a game with tactics tailored for the opposition? You people just make stuff up, it's utterly contemptible.
Yeah cause we've been excellent with 4 at the back
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't say much about the preparation when we're thoroughly outplayed during the actual game. Worse still, is the fact we've not figured out exactly where it is that we're falling down. I'd say lineups and tactics but that's hardly specific enough to solve particular issues.
ReplyDeleteCertainly some players need to be managed but for now if everyone is fit and not feeling the effects of the schedule I'd just keep the same team. Burnley wasn't pretty but the result was good for the team and another game with the same squad will keep confidence up. Keep it simple and go with what has worked.
ReplyDeleteSwans 3 reds 1 if Gerrard starts and plays the whole game. If not, it s 2-2. I am going to start drinking now in preparation..............
ReplyDeleteHe's steadily improved. That intensity and running isn't his natural game so he's had to adapt but he's done that and the last two games he played showed some promise. I think before the injury he wasn't far away and if he gets a chance again he'll play reasonable well. The problem he has is that he's going to be compared with Sturridge and Suarez and he's part of team that hasn't been doing well overall. Really, everything has been set up for him to fail, and if he can get to the end of this season on a run and score some goals maybe he has a future at the club. Certainly he's talented, he's responding to the direction from his manager and he's close to getting those goals.
ReplyDeleteThe average points finish for 4th over the last 5 seasons has been 72. We have 60 points up for grabs but the problem is that we are only on 25 points and 8 points behind 4th at the moment.
ReplyDeleteSo we are going to need another 47 points to have a chance of finishing 4th at an average of 2.35 per game. We are currently averaging 1.39 per game and we will only have 13 points to play around with and that is 4 losses and 1 draw.
We have Everton away, City at home, UTD at home, Arsenal away and Chelsea away for the 2nd half of the season. 1st and second will be between Chelsea and City. 3rd is looking like UTD's spot so that leaves Arsenal, Spurs, Southampton, LFC and even the likes of Swansea and West Ham fighting it out for 4th.
I think it is fair to say that finishing 4th this season is quite simply a pipe dream.
Well if liverpool beats swansea tonight then they will be 5 points off the fourth whivh doesnt looks impossible with half season syill to be played..sturridge comes back and liverpool becomes stronger..I too think that second half will be better like rodgers said..he just need to grow balls and select players depending on their performances..very unfair to can..so stop your maths there and believe
ReplyDeleteThere is no problem with you believing we can finish top 4. My maths are a very good indication that we are not on course to finish top four and will struggle to make it happen.
ReplyDeleteI like the set-up you have picked, but with one exception. I would replace Mignolet and my mum.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason that Balotelli gets slated is because he doesn't put in as much effort as he could. He'll lose the ball and stand there holding his bloody nose (which is his thing) instead of tracking back.
ReplyDeleteHe is not a top class player, because if he was he would be playing for a top class team. I wanted the guy to do well and become a cult hero on the Kop but he never will be. His days at top clubs are numbered- he'll fit in at a club where they focus everything on a number 9, like Newcastle but as a team player for us he will never cut it.
The high pressing game we adopt is something that he cannot / will not keep up with - if the whole team is pressing and 1 player is not, that is the opposition's get out.
I have never thought that Balotelli was a signing that Rodgers wanted as his style of play is so far removed from ours - Rodgers even came out and said that we wouldn't sign the guy and I think that was more in hope that the board would see sense and get him Bony.
Can Mings cook a great Sunday dinner and lend you money like all good mums?
ReplyDeleteHe is always the answer. It's just that some silly peeps just don't want to admit it.
ReplyDeleteHenderson for Lucas and Ibe on the right or, Henderson for Lucas, Lallana on the right and Suso behind Sterling with Couts.
ReplyDeleteOr, Hendo for Lucas, Sterling on the right and Bony up front.
But that would be too easy wouldn't it!!!!
Extremely bad buy. He will never fit our style of play and 16 mill is no kind of bargain.
ReplyDelete