Spurs vs. Liverpool

Next sunday. Our most important game of the season to date.

Lose this, and that terrible boring piece of wank team will be level with us.

Win it, it'll be our first away win at a "Big side" under Rodgers, we'll end our losing run of 6 games at WHL, and could be 2 points off the TOP SPOT seeing Arsenal play City...and we'll be 6 points clear of Spurs. Stuff of dreams eh.

How to approach this game. One of the main reasons we always struggle vs Spurs has been their pace and intensity. thankfully AVBullshit has them playing patient possession football with slow tempo, which would play to our hands. We need to take advantage of their high line and try to realse our quick attackers on the counter.

Knowing us, Soldado will probably score a hattrick and it'll be his sole contribution to the season. we made Helder Postiga look decent ffs once...

Anyways..my team for his game:

BIG MIG: No question, the boss
Johnson: Not in best of forms, but he's indispensable now especially with our other senior fullback injured
Sakho: The beast to combat Spurs aerial threat and eat Soldado/Defoe
Skrtel: He had a very good game vs. Wham, and we are likely to defend deep in our box, and this sort of system suit him. I would also be okay with Agger playing. Just ask long as Sakho starts.
Flanagan: Big test for him vs. Townsend/Lennon, but he now has 4 games under his belt and is full of confidence. At least there is no Bale.

Allen: Can't leave an in-form Xavi out of the team
Lucas: His performance level has dropped, but it's an away game against top team and we need defensive stability.
Henderson: A must for these type of games.

Coutinho: them through passes against Spurs' high line
Sterling: them through runs...and he can give a tough time to whoever Spurs play LB. Seems full of confidence in his last 2 games.
Suarez: Well, obviously

Shame Gerrard and Sturridge are out....but this is our best chance at WHL for years, and if we win it'll be MASSIVE. BIG BIG GAME...fak, I'm already nervous

We should get a positive result if we actually come to play. Sick of the attitude away from home this season.

IS GERRARD INJURED !!!!!!

^ Out for a month

Spurs have a negative goal difference and have scored the same amount of goals as Luis Suarez alone, yet are only 3 points behind us.

Spurs.

We can never win over there

We will win if we dont concede in the first 45 minutes.

I sense a draw.. or a last minute goal for us to nick this.

Sakho definitely needs to start. Our best defender by far.

With these three tough away games in the same period, I can't help looking at them as a whole. I'd be satisfied with either 3 draws or 4 points against Tottenham, Chelsea, Man City, not really caring from which teams we get them from. Three draws would mean none of those top-4 rivals of ours would gain points on us from our visits to their grounds. A win, a draw and a loss, that would leave us in a good position, too. Obviously assuming we beat Cardiff at home.

That said, this Spurs game looks the easiest on paper, so winning this would be a big pressure-easer towards our trips to Chelsea and City.

Mignolet
Johnson - Skrtel - Sakho - Cissokho
Henderson - Lucas - Allen - Sterling
Coutinho
Suarez

I remain unimpressed by Flanagan and Allen, unlike many here, and I'd start Cissokho for his experience and physicality. Allen gets a start in my line-up because I think we need to crowd the midfield at times with all four, Hendo, Lucas, Allen and Coutinho for Spurs can be very strong in that area.

This will be the last fixture in next gameweek, feels like a long wait, but hopefully it will end happily!

Sepi ffs I was on a row with these matchday threads

Anyways I agree with Sep on the line up except Agger over Skrtel for me.

I would prefer the following players in best possible formation:

------------Mignolet------------
Johnson-Skrtel-Shako-Cissoko
------Lucas----Henderson------
Raheem----Allen----Coutinho
--------------Suarez-------------

I think Brendan should take a cue from mancity Vs tottenham game.....They were so hapless.

This match we are definitely capable of winning without changing our system. In fact, even now that we have Sturridge, Gerrard, and Enrique out, I have not be this confident at WHL since 2009.

However the City match, I think we would definitely have to go not to lose above all.

Hendo, Allen, and Lucas should be tailor made for this match specially with AVB playing a slow a$$ possession style with them. Hopefully we harass the shit out of their midfield.

There are some rumors Hendo would be out too    

Jan Vertonghen set to miss this game for Spurs. Vertonghen had been filling in at left-back over recent weeks after injury cut short Danny Rose's bright start to the campaign, leaving André Villas-Boas with Kyle Naughton – more naturally a right-back – and Zeki Fryers to fill in on that flank. Their resources in the centre are also severely stretched, with the midfielder Etienne Capoue having deputised on Wearside alongside Michael Dawson after Vlad Chiriches also suffered an injury at Fulham.

They have an European game against Anzhi before this game too, watch us fail to capitalize on this encounter as well.

@ Sepi, went on RAWK for the first time in a while. You are 100% spot on with that post about us bitching it every "big" game. Sick of the mentality that both the fans and the club have just accepted that a draw and/or defeat is okay because we're playing away against a some what "big" club.

^ Yea, and I laid into them.

THOSE GAMES ARE BONUS GAMES. Yea, My ass. No single game is a bonus game. If anything, these games are 6-pointers.

We were unbeaten vs. Everton/City/Arsenal/ AND Chelsea away from home last season.....yet some people are so scared of those fixtures now because apparently, as long we beat shit teams at Anfield, we can lose away from home to any team we want.

Tell you what, we can't. Extremely important we get a result on sunday. Hope Hendo makes it, he's very important.

Good, I'm with you. The whole mentality of the club has dropped because of the past 3 seasons of being mediocre. We need to get back into that mentality of winning EVERY game. And at the moment, only Luis has it.

I mean, even the SQUAD BELIEVES that they're bonus games too if you analyse their performances we've put in this season on the road.

Bar Everton, we haven't looked like we wanted to play away at all this season. Massive massive game. Spurs have defensive woes, and have to play Anzhi 3 days before us. We should definitely be more fresh. Confidence is high with us just scoring 9 goals in 2 games.

If Henderson doesn't make it, Moses should NOT start. I'd rather Raheem on that left wing, with Aspas coming into the squad. Start Moses and we won't win. Has nothing to do with Hull game, he's been poor in every single game he's played bar the Swansea game. Far too selfish of a player.  

We dominated Spurs last season at WHL, but that's when we were playing our possession based game. If we go back to that, instead of Rodgers trying to experiment on another away game, we might get a positive result.

Who's captain? Gerrard's out. What's happened with Agger against West Ham? Was it just illness, does he come back? Henderson still a doubt. I'd go with:


Luisito as captain.

As you're all aware, I'm not a fan of Coutinho as a number 10 (I personally think he's A LOT more effective on the left hand side cutting in), but he's the best we got right now.*

*Don't think Alberto will start. He couldn't find game time when Coutinho was injured, how's he going to start now Coutinho is back and re-found some form?

Such a massive game, we must play for win and hopefully we will get some result in this.

We will be exactly half way through this season, after playing the next 4 fixtures. So by that aspect it is a big-big game. We need to be in the mix of top 4 after playing all these fixtures. So the journey will start against Spurs. Winning against Spurs will give us such a confdence for next three fixtures. For me Skrtel and Sakho should start, fffs we need some consistency in the back 4 and see us starting clean sheet. We cant mess with the back 4 too much, it wont help us defensively. Let some pair have some sort of understanding between them.

BR wrote:"Steven is such an important player for us, but we have other players and dynamics in the team and they have to step up," said Rodgers.

   "Steven is such an important player for us, but we have other players and dynamics in the team and they have to step up."

Brendan Rodgers

"Lucas has been excellent for us and he has forced his way into the Brazil side, so he has that quality and experience to step up and take the responsibility.

"Joe looks like he did when he first came here with his movement, his body work and fluency on the ball and that's what we need right now.

"We have a number of small players on the field but if we have the ball and the other team hasn't, I think they struggle with it.

"We need that mobility and constant movement in the midfield to get on the ball and knit the game together."

we will be smacking spurs hard at their own yard. Brendan is back 'football by death'

Agger was ill for the West Ham match but is expected to return and captain the side against Spurs. Aspas likely won't be fit enough to start yet.

RedOranje wrote:Agger was ill for the West Ham match but is expected to return and captain the side against Spurs.  Aspas likely won't be fit enough to start yet.

I'm reading he won't start against Tottenham either. And I don't want him to. Let's face it.. he has fallen down the pecking order.

No, he really hasn't.  He's started when he's been available bar one or two matches where Rodgers specifically stated that he wanted a more physical backline.

Daniel Agger, who is expected to return from illness for Sunday's trip to Tottenham, will take over the captaincy in Gerrard's absence, while Lucas Leiva is set to earn a recall in midfield.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-fc-steven-gerrard-out-6388688

I'm comfortable seeing any of our four CBs start. Prefer Skrtel slightly over the other three, though. Anyway, their main task will be marking Soldado if Tottenham play like they've been thus far, and that shouldn't be too difficult. I'm much more worried about their classy wingers and midfielders. Our fullbacks and CMs need to have a solid game defensively.

So, if Agger returns its likely Sakho would be benched