Well, we all know what this game’s about don’t we?
Steven Gerrard going back to his home club etc etc.
Sky have already annoyed me in calling us “Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa” and his association with Liverpool will no doubt be all that gets mentioned. I find it all quite annoying.
Still, I expect the manager to be fully professional about it and while he’ll no doubt acknowledge the appreciation he’ll get from the Liverpool fans, his priority will be to win the game.
Can he possibly do that?
Well, we do have a surprisingly fair record against Pool and the last time I went to Anfield was when we took a 2-0 lead and went on to draw 2-2, so you never know.
But anyone beating Liverpool on their own turf is a big ask.
I want to get straight to squad news and imagine my surprise when the manager said that sicknote Sanson had felt a bit ill. I literally laughed out loud when I read that. Is the bloke made of glass or something? Surely there’s something not right about him and I’ve never known anything like it. It is just utterly laughable how a man at what should be the peak of fitness is constantly either ill or injured.
Perhaps he’s just the unluckiest bloke ever although I doubt it.
The good news is he was apparently okay and ready to train yesterday. There’s still plenty of time for him to get ill before the match though. Matt Targett is also available.
Danny Ings is back in training and he’ll no doubt be getting game time over the festive period, given how many games we’ve got in a short space of time. Will he make it today for a few minutes against his old club? It depends how sentimental Gerrard is feeling, I’d say.
Traore and Bailey are still a long way off, but Trezeguet is training and should also hopefully be available during christmas.
As for Liverpool, Roberto Firmino, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott are all out.
Our biggest problem is going to be not conceding, I’d say. Liverpool score for fun, having averaged almost three goals a game this season and can rip teams apart while our defence has been liable to concede really soft goals at times.
Can we score against them?
I don’t see why not. I had it in my head that Pool were pretty poor in defence, but they’ve actually only had 12 goals scored against them. Perhaps I’d better revise that statement. It’s going to be more difficult than I was thinking.
As for who plays, I really don’t see much changing. We’ve done well and it makes sense to play exactly as we have done since Gerrard arrived, reasonably attacking, but tucking in if we score. If it’s worked before, it makes sense to stick with it.
I definitely don’t think we’ll be allowed to get away with another game of two halves today, as Pool will press us to death. Likewise, I don’t think we can afford to give them too much respect. Gerrard referenced this point saying we sat back too much against Man City and Leicester, hence I expect us to at least try and go all out from the off.
The scousers are going supremely well and have only lost once this season.
I think a win is going to be beyond us, although, again, you never know.
But I do think we’re capable of a draw and 1-1 looks like it has a chance.
It’s all about not conceding.
UTV!
We’ve gone 4 4 2 ,one out of defence means trouble , sodding hell we’re on the attack.
Bloody hell, Villa giving them a bit of their own medicine in playing keep ball in their box. Comes to nothing and they counter.
It should have been a higher score, but we did well to keep it to 1-0.
Edge of the seat stuff, but not in a good way.
Klopp will know they’ve had a tough game and I think we did well overall.
Agreed. We never gave up but just lacked that real quality and composure whenever we got around their box. Hopefully Gerrard has some plans for that come Jan and the summer. We also rode our luck quite a bit but I think you have to, to get anything against Liverpoil and the likes. Need to beat Norwich now to put things right and keep us looking up.
When I saw the starting line up I knew what kind of game it would be. Once Pool scored we made the predicted substitutions and we actually posed a threat for the last 15 minutes. Trouble was every time they broke our press it was like the Alamo. Thankfully though they were wasteful for once and in the end we weren’t embarrassed. Another chance against Norwich to get more points on the board but a certain DS will have other ideas.
Man City win 1-0 with a 66′ penalty
Liverpool win 1-0 with a 67′ penalty
Chelsea win 3-2 with a 58′ penalty AND a 90+4′ penalty
The Premier League Top 3 all saved from the spot 😳
One word: conspiracy. Or 3 words: Big F****** Conspiracy.
Some pundit (I’ve not been listening, so don’t know who);
“Hey Steve, I hated coming back to Liverpool, how did you feel?”
Steve G;
“If I played for Man U I’d hate coming back here too!”
Made me laugh and cheered me up somewhat.