Liverpool vs Sunderland | 2 January 1945GMT | Wednesday | Premier League |

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Venue -

Liverpool begin 2013 with an Anfield clash against Sunderland.

The Reds will aim to build on Sunday's superb 3-0 rout at Queens Park Rangers by collecting another win.

Earlier this season, the teams played out a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light - the same scoreline by which last campaign's corresponding fixture ended.

Team news-
Jose Enrique is out for a month after suffering a hamstring tear.
Borini is still one month away.
Kelly two months

Sunderland-
Brown, O'Shea and Clattermole are out of this match.
Bardsley should make it after recovering from his illness.

Whether BR uses Downing at LB or Wisdom at RB and shifting Glen to LB remains to be seen. Also Sterling needs to be benched, Give a chance to Assaidi, BR pls.

Lets start the new year on a high,
YNWA

I, too, would give Assaidi a chance before Sterling, it's really baffling why Assaidi has been shut out like this.

I think Downing has been rather good for a while now and I'd start him at LB, although it would be more exciting to see a youngster like Wisdom.

Sunderland aren't exactly easy to beat, but our team's and the fans' morale really needs the win. If our "good performance, bad performance" trend continues it will be very frustrating. We've also got some tough fixtures (ManU, Arsenal, City) coming up, so winning these easier games would give us belief going into those harder matches.

I would rather put GlenJo up against Adam Johnson (playing on the right) than Downing. Downing has been good, but he's still not the most defensively sound. GlenJo has been much better defensively, even on the left. Then again, Rodgers might want a natural left-sider overlapping if we play Sterling on the left...

Glad it's not my decision to make.

I just really don't want to see Shelvey played as a winger. He's had some bad games, but that's not the reason. He simply isn't creative or tricky enough to be very successful there for us. I see him as a CM or #10.

Yeah, it should be obvious that Shelvey should have no part in the front three in a 4-3-3. In midfield I like him quite a bit. I'd really like to see Shelvey and Henderson play together in midfield, I think they'd complement each other pretty well. On paper at least.

The Times' possible line-up: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Downing, Lucas, Allen, Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling and Suarez

#totalfootball

Nishank wrote:The Times' possible line-up: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Downing, Lucas, Allen, Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling and Suarez

#totalfootball

Assaidi for Sterling and Shelvey or Sahin for Allen and I'd be happy.

Which one of Stevie or Hendo will be part of the front 3 I wonder??

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:Which one of Stevie or Hendo will be part of the front 3 I wonder??

Hendo, Stevie is playing very deep in CM nowadays. He's doing well there, too.

Well we haven't seen Jordan as a right winger since Kenny. This should be interesting.

So it's a little under 4 hours to go to the game and Stug is already our player. Could we possibly see him play this game?

No chance, i think red-o said something about a rule about when they could register him and stuff.

A deal takes 24hrs to process. . so no chance. Also mentioned in his interview that he won't feature tonight . .

Well I was hoping against all odds

1 hour until kick-off, come on, let's do this

I'm soooo excited. Hopefully we begin the year just as we ended it.

Liverpool team to play #SAFC - Reina, Wisdom, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Lucas, Henderson, Gerrard, Downing, Sterling, Suarez. #LFC

Wisdom has a big chance to change my impression about him.

No Allen

Get in Suarez and Sterling.
HT 2-0

Suarez is just different class

The first goal was so important, we were struggling to take control of the game until the goal.

Suarez is just a beast.

Gerrard 2 more assists. Just sell him

Pleased that Wisdom had a good game tonight, Important considering the level of players he will facing from now on till the end of the month.
Suarez is just class.
Henderson was fantastic.

Great win at an important time.
Next - Manchester United at Old Trafford.

YNWA. Perfect day for the new Year.

Before I start:

Doni: Just has been looking a lot more assured after his Villa howler. Saves with more conviction and as usual, commands the box superbly. I still would have had Jones over him based on merit, but its good to have Doni back in form.

Johnson: Johnson & Johnson was quite a funny battle. Glen completely shut out the inferior Johnson by predicting his rather predictable repertoire of moves and did excellent in attack. Shot a bit too much but showed he can be the man for us when Enrique is out. Best player in the back line for us.

Agger: Looked troubled at times but made up for it with excellent positioning to cover the gaps. Solid.

Skrtel: Looks troubled when has attackers running at him but worked well with Agger in Tandem.

Wisdom: Encouraging given his poor performances recently as he dual tasked well in getting the ball forward. He still needs to use his head a bit more in defence rather than using his might and shoulders.

Lucas: Solid but unspectacular. Exactly how he should be anyway. Screened, anchored and kept the midfield well from Sunderland's counters and supplied the midfield well with some scintillating passes at times.

Hendo: Justified why he should be starting without a doubt instead of Shelvey. If one person defines Bredan Rodgers system, its him. Played in a more advanced role and looked even more comfortable there along with excellent awareness on supplying our incoming counters from the flanks. So happy my faith in Hendo is coming to fruition as its even better that a Kenny signing is doing well. Needs to start every game now.

Gerrard: I had a discussion with Messia on who was the MOTM. Messia understandably chose Suarez to which I didn't argue. But mine was Steven Gerrard. Maybe its my bias for him or that he is still my fav Liverpool player but this new free role renaissance that Gerrard has gotten has revitalized not only how we see him but how he is vital for our system. Absolutely everywhere for Liverpool, works well with Hendo, makes the midfield tick, still has his Stevie G pinpoint balls.

Downing: It was disappointing for me to see him played on the left yet he played surprisingly well as the recent form has been encouraging. Need to see more of this. Cannot judge right now.

Sterling: Scored which finally showed he has a finishing touch on him. Aside from the goal he was good but still is showing he is too raw at times

Suarez: As usual against Sunderland he absolutely destroyed them. Team didn't have an answer for the havoc he created. Just so glad to see him enjoying playing, leading the youngsters and with a smile on his face. Never gives up. Truly showing glimpses of the a certain #7 who used to wear the same number. You can guess who.



Not to be a party-destroyer but wins vs QPR and Sunderland isn't much to judge on. Both in fact are very poor teams in possibly every way. These teams really aren't testing us so we need to show we can step it up vs the more superior and top of the crop opponents. In the next few weeks we have Arsenal and United both away. We need to win AT LEAST one of those games as losing both will be a total and utter failure. No excuses for those losses at all. This possibly is the most vital part of the season in seeing our team reach another transition point.

6 points in the last 2 games is fantastic yet our biggest test with be within this month.

Alright match. There were 3 standouts though.

1] Luis Suarez
- A world-class performance, superb in all facets of his play. He is by far the best player at Liverpool Football Club, but I will save further praises if he performs well against Manchester United Football Club.

2] Glen Johnson
- Outstanding. Dominated the entire left side with Stewart Downing, minimizing any threat from Adam Johnson and Craig Gardner. Play him at right back or left back, there is almost no difference. If only Jose Enrique could play at Johnson's level ...

3] Lucas Leiva
- Unsung hero, in my opinion. He is overlooked by most people on a consistent basis, but that is what happens with almost every top defensive midfielder. This was a good test match against Sunderland Football Club, but he will be counted on greatly against Manchester United Football Club to support Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel.

Players that had a decent match:
Stewart Downing, Steven Gerrard, Daniel Agger, Raheem Sterling

Edit: Also, Steven Gerrard has taken over the Premier League lead in assists.

Decent hoof from Steven Gerrard, caught by Luis Suarez scoring an unbelievable goal for the second match in a row. The way he brings the crowd to their feet is amazing.

I can guarantee that there is no other player in our squad that could have possibly controlled and scored that ball.