After a 0-0 away draw in the first leg in Prague last Thursday, Liverpool will have to be careful not to be too gung-ho going forward as they seek to progress through to the last 16 of the Europa League tonight. (Team News Below). The Reds were happy with their goalless stalemate in the first game against Sparta but they must now ensure that they keep it tight and not let in a silly away goal. They must keep an eye on Leonard Kweuke who caused the Reds defence a few problems in the first leg.

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Sparta Prague are however pretty poor away from home. In Europe they have only won once away to Lausanne Sports this campaign. The onus will be on Liverpool to come out with a bit more urgency than they did in Prague and I am in no doubt that they will do. Kenny Dalglish has stated that Sparta are a tough team to break down:

“Sparta have got a way of playing and it suits them, and it’s up to us to break them down if they want to put a barrier up, We know where we have got to improve on last week. We know we have to be more aggressive.”

The Reds will certainly have to be patient and bide their time, but with the way the Reds now play, with a fluidity, freedom and an attacking style, they will trouble any opposition defence on their day. Although Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez are sidelined through injury and ineligibility respectively, the likes of Joe Cole and Raul Meireles should have enough creative talent to carve out a few chances. I wouldn’t bet against Meireles not continuing his great scoring form either.

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In Prague, the team’s play looked pretty restricted but I doubt there will be the same lack of penetration on a European night at Anfield. It may not be the Champions League, but the Europa League is the only trophy the Reds can now win, and this will surely be motivation enough to put in a performance. The cutting edge which was missing in the first leg will hopefully be found by Cole, whose Anfield career has yet to get going and hopefully he can combine well with Meireles to carve out a few opportunities for striker David Ngog, who has scored 5 goals in this competition this season.

A 4-5-1 formation is expected with Martin Kelly returning while Danny Wilson keeps his place in the side with Glen Johnson absent. Daniel Agger comes in for Jamie Carragher who is on the bench, while Christian Poulsen also starts after witnessing the birth of his child. The only worry will be whether Ngog is aptly supported but with the Reds showing a greater attacking flair in recent weeks, with Dalglish advocating a “pass and move” philosophy that sees a great deal of movement and fluidity to the formation, I am certain that the French striker will get all the support he needs. I predict a 2-0 for the Reds tonight.

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I would also like to invite all readers to join and play along with me during today’s match in Picklive’s Live Fantasy Football. PickLive is an ‘in play’ Fantasy Football Game, but unlike normal Fantasy games, it can be played in bite sized pieces. It’s not hard but you can do some reading up on it yourself with a DEMO, a ‘How To Play’ GUIDE, an explanation of the SCORING SYSTEM. Every reader can get a FREE TRIAL HERE and it’s a great way to enjoy the game live, and win a bit of money too! The greater amount of people playing, the bigger the prize pot so please get your friends to join in.

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 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 today’s match so come and join me. Which players would you pick in your Picklive fantasy team?

Team News:

GK: Pepe Reina

RB: Martin Kelly

LB: Danny Wilson

CB: Daniel Agger

CB: Sotirios Kyrgiakos

RM: Dirk Kuyt

CM: Lucas Leiva

CM: Christian Poulsen

LM: Joe Cole

AM: Raul Meireles

ST: David Ngog