The return of Gerard Houllier to Anfield has dominated the build up to tonight’s match between Liverpool and Aston Villa (Teamsheet for Liverpool below). Although it will be great to welcome back a manager who helped the Reds to a memorable season in 2001 with a treble of cup wins, Liverpool has some more pressing issues to deal with as they try to clamber up the Barclays Premier League table. If they win, the Reds will go up to eighth place, seven points behind fourth spot, and they can’t afford to take any prisoners tonight.
The loss of Jamie Carragher is a blow but his replacement, Sotirios Kyrgiakos is more than up to the task alongside Martin Skrtel, who plays his 100th game for the club tonight. Villa are in quite poor form and Roy Hodgson’s side must take advantage of the visitor’s lack of confidence. They have showed enough in their last two league matches against West Ham and Spurs to suggest that they should win the match relatively comfortably, especially if they take their chances, unlike last week at White Hart Lane. The absence of Steven Gerrard could have given Liverpool some difficulties in the centre of the park, but as they showed last week, Lucas Leiva and Raul Meireles are up to the task with the Brazlian rarely giving possession away, while the Portuguese star is gradually settling into life in English football. With Villa still without key members in central midfield, the pair should dominate the central areas and give the Reds a good platform of attack, although the loss of Fernando Torres could complicate things.
One of the major concerns defensively for Liverpool tonight though will be how the likes of Kyrgiakos, Skrtel and Konchesky cope with the pace of Gabriel Agbonlahor . To win this match, they will have to keep him quiet, meaning that dominance in midfield is crucial so his supply is restricted and he cannot get into the game. With both teams set to play deep and wait for counter attacks, the game could be a tight affair, and with the onus being on the home team, I hope Liverpool press from the first minute and get on the front foot, not allowing Villa to gain the confidence they have been lacking in recent weeks. Gerard Houllier’s side have had a lot of possession in recent weeks but lack any cutting edge, similar to Liverpool in some respects, but the last couple of performances from Liverpool have suggested that this may well change and when chances do crop up tonight, let’s hope we bury them.
I would also like to invite all readers to join and play along with me during tonight’s match in Picklive’s New Live Fantasy Football. Every reader can get a FREE TRIAL HERE and it’s a great new way to enjoy the game live, and win a bit of money too! There are two game modes to choose from. BIG Game and Live Game. BIG Game is where you choose five players from either team for the entire 90 minutes. You get points for goals, assists, passes completed and successful tackles while you get points deducted for fouls and miss passes. The Live Game is however even more competitive as you play in a 7.5 minute section of the game. You pick three players and watch live as their points accumulate during the allotted period of time. If your player is hopeless, you can substitute him for another, but be mindful as you are limited to the amount you can make! It’s a great way to enjoy tonight’s match so come and join me. Which players would you pick in your PICKLIVE fantasy team? Torres is absent by the way because his wife has gone into labour!
Liverpool Team News:
GK: Pepe Reina
RB: Glen Johnson
LB: Paul Konchesky
CB: Sotirios Kyrgiakos
CB: Martin Skrtel
RM: Dirk Kuyt
CM: Raul Meireles
CM: Lucas Leiva
LM: Maxi Rodriguez
ST: Ryan Babel
ST: David Ngog
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This week it is former Liverpool WAG Claudine Keane.
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CLICK ON THE IMAGE OR HERE TO SEE CLAUDINE KEANE’S GALLERY
I wonder if that Wopper Hodgson will get sacked in the morning after Villa win tonight?.
Torres should be immensely grateful to his wife as she has given him an excuse to not score yet again, tonight.
stream – sportstream24.com/england_football/watch_online_1
What have Maxi and Kuyt done to continue starting on the wings every game?? I expect us to still pick up the 3 points at home, despite the lack of pace & width in our midfield, but this shouldn’t be seen as an excuse to hold onto Hodgson.
Get Riijkaard in before it’s too late!
After 2days result i feel like cming 2 the newyear we wld b at 5 place jst 2points shy of Man city. And Chelsea on top of the table.
This article is pretty good.
We wld surely take all 18 points or almost 16points. We shld hve a descent run with win’s. Comon Roy stick with 4-4-2 pls dont change the line up , the key to descent run in games is our midfield combo of Lucas and Merieles. Pls use Gerrard either with Torres or on RM . Pls. ROY it is time for u to gain some respect.