Since the Premier League began, we’ve won there just once. In fact in our entire history we’ve won just 15 times in 81 attempts on the red half of Merseyside. Not good.
The annoying thing is I already have a suspicion of how the game will pan out today, a suspicion born out of years of going to Anfield and under-performing under various different managers and with various different teams. Whatever it is, it just seems as though there is something that will always get in the way of us giving a good performance at Anfield and that must change today if we are to get anything out of the game.
This Liverpool team are far removed from the all-conquering sides of the past. They simply aren’t as good as they once where and should be there for the taking. There is no reason why we can’t get a result there today, but I just feel that we won’t. Call it pessimism if you like…
My match preview is online and can be viewed by clicking here should you wish to have a gander at it. It features injury news for both sides, a brief history of meetings between the two sides and some stats and facts for your delectation.
The game itself is being beamed all around the world and is being showed live on Sky here in the UK. I don’t envisage there being an issue with finding a stream should you need to, but if any of you guys happen to find an especially good one then please feel free to leave a link to it in the ‘comments’ section below. As ever team news will be added in full at the bottom of this article as and when it becomes available.
Which just about wraps it up. Lose and we’ll stay where we are. Draw and we’ll stay where we are although we’ll move level on points with West Brom above us. Win however and we’ll jump to sixth in the table, and with games coming up against West Ham, Swansea and Wigan at St James’ Park with trips to Southampton and Stoke sandwiched between, a positive result could be a massive springboard for us.
Howay the lads!
Liverpool: Brad Jones, Andre Wisdom, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger, Jose Enrique, Joe Allen, Steven Gerrard, Nuri Sahin, Suso, Raheem Sterling, Luis Suarez
Subs: Peter Gulacsi, Jamie Carragher, Sebastian Coates, Jonjo Shelvey, Jordan Henderson, Oussama Assaidi, Stewart Downing
Newcastle: Tim Krul, Vurnon Anita, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye, James Perch, Jonas Gutierrez, Papiss Cisse, Demba Ba
Subs: Steve Harper, Mike Williamson, Shane Ferguson, Danny Simpson, Gabriel Obertan, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi
Munich Mag
We can afford to carry Ben Arfa seeing as he creates more than anyone else in our squad.
Who we can’t afford to carry is the likes of Jonas Gutierrez, who should be shipped off back to Spain as soon as possible.
The Kid(Quote)
On a positive note, at least neither Jonas or Perch picked up their 5th yellow card of the season, or things could have been a whole lot worse.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
The Kid…. I am a great fan of HBA, but felt today we carried him. Cisse was dreadful, and Jonas overawed by the added responsibilty of holding a plodding paced flat-footed midfield together. Maybe we should try playing Demba and HBA together in the front line, cos Cisse is contributing nothing at all at the moment.
Munich Mag(Quote)
The KID ,why Spain ,cant he go back to his homeland instead 😉 😆
KIMTOON(Quote)
I think Pardew would beg to disagree with you “kid”
I on the other hand dont. Its obvious to many of us now that Jonas contributes NOTHING in attack.
Benny needs to work out a plan of releasing the ball without constantly giving it away.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Well it was certainly tense towards the end and we battled hard for a well earned point. Plenty of positives to take in my opinion despite the thoughts of many other fans.
For a start, we’ve managed to avoid defeat at Anfield which makes for a nice change; we showed a bit more ambition when we had 11 men rather than sitting back and playing for a 0-0 draw. I thought the team as whole played well including a few encouraging individual performances from Anita and Taylor, Ameobi showed a few neat touches and continues to improve too. On the downside, we lost our way slightly when Ba came off as we didn’t have anybody to hold the ball up when we were under pressure; Cisse again was frustrating to watch. The biggest disappointment was Colo seeing red; I’ve got no complaints about the decision and I thought the ref had a good game especially with some of the advantages he played. Fingers crossed that nobody else gets injured but it again reiterates that we need bodies through the door in January.
On the whole, I’m pleased with the way the season is going so far. Top of our Europa League group, a few points shy from the top 6 and hopefully some players to come in January. We’ve only lost 2 games so far against teams who lets face it, are head and shoulders above us. Slightly annoys me when I see fans who are constantly dissatisfied and expecting the best; some perspective is needed. We were a championship side two years ago, the progress has been nothing short of sensational.
Jaghoo(Quote)
No, Kim. He should go back to Mallorca and beg for a place on their bench. Useless player and I don’t care how much of a “nice guy” he is. He doesn’t get into any other club chasing a top 6 finish.
The Kid(Quote)
I’m happy with the result and think we showed an ability to change how we played as the game went on. It does not automatically translate into a winning performance but it is something we have never done under Pardew.
Michael12(Quote)
Munch mag – its not that we carry HBA, rather that he’s NOT a right winger ffs.
Would be much better at the front centre just behind the striker(s). You know, in a Suarez kind of role. I think he is wasted on the right flank and getting predictable.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
MUNICH MAG
‘Since they both blather Spanish they were probably giving it large winding each other up the whole game…’
Suarez does the whole, ‘your mother is a prostitute’ routine. Well Collo speaks Spanish, so yeah can see how he could wind him up. Collo should know better though?? He’s captain and 30+. 🙄
DJG(Quote)
Also what was S.Taylor and Simpson doing at the end hugging and shaking hands with Suarez?? Blank the little mug IMO. Some of our players are really naive.
DJG(Quote)
i am fucking livid about the ref today , fair enough Colo’s red was probably right but how the **** does a liverfool player in the first half get away without a card for a challenge that was just as bad . 👿 i think it was Sterling the ref gives the free kick but does not even caution him for a late challenge . The ref is obviously a pikey loving liverfool fan .
Axel(Quote)
what a load of ****, why pardew sticks with 4-3-3 is beyond me. we all know liverpool would get most of the ball and over run the 3man midfield.wrong tactics again.just as well they were **** tho happy with a point
bazza(Quote)
He’s an irritating ****, but man what a striker Suarez is. The control for that goal was immense, though I thought our central defenders could have made it more difficult for him with the Enrique hoof-ball. Pity really because I thought we had taken the steam out of Liverpool, and thought they had pressured us a lot there goal came basically out of nothing. I’ll settle for a point that’s for sure, but I’m looking forward to having Tiote back in midfield.
Munich Mag(Quote)
“why pardew sticks with 4-3-3 is beyond me.”
Sorry Bazza, after all these weeks though that has to be the line of the evening 😆
Dave-Surely you’re not suggesting I was fishing? 😉
Jonas was *****. But then maybe he will find some form, maybe if we play him the constantly whole season he can do something? Seems to be the ethos of some around here… 😯 😆
Newkie(Quote)
Their goal came completely out of nothing, a hoof ball after Cisse and Jonas (I think, or was it Anita?) were dicking around with the ball for no reason. Hoofed up to Suarez who got the better of Colo and was able to go around Krul. Cabaye’s was so much better, but as he’s not playing in a Liverpool shirt the commentators didn’t give a toss.
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie yeah you must be fishing because some of the stuff you come of with has to be fishing like ” Jonas was *****. But then maybe he will find some form, maybe if we play him the constantly whole season he can do something? Seems to be the ethos of some around here ” who exactly on here has that ethos ? why don’t you name them 😉
MM @223 you think we carried Benny today ?? I thought he was the main danger man for us and him and Cabaye were the only one’s creating anything 😕
Big Dave(Quote)
I think many if not most fans think it’s time for Jonas to take a back seat. I think he has been a great player for us but not only has he lost his pace his reactions have also slowed. Whilst he’s thinking what to do with the ball he has it taken off him. Time for less experienced but perhaps faster legs.
G(Quote)
Dave-And this isn’t
Kim you need to get with it we need to drop Cisse because he is going through a **** patch which even Ba went through last season when Cisse helped us to 5th place. after all by dropping him he will get his confidence back in no time, and then when he gets his shooting boots back he will be God like to the ones that are wanting him dropped
Right back atcha champ!
😆 😉
Newkie(Quote)
BD – apart from Benny’s wonderful assist, dont you think he wasted alot of chances and gave the ball away far too many times.
I wish he would try and pass the ball sometimes especially when he has two or three on him.
Of course it would also help if his team mates worked an opening for him instead of waiting to see a bit of his magic. Which rarely comes off these days
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Newkie I couldn’t possible name all the ones that have been calling for Cisse to be dropped even though he is going through the same thing that every striker goes through goes there is too many of them, But I haven’t came across that many that would agree with you that we should just keep with the ethos of letting Jonas keep going for the whole season ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
In regards to Benny, he was hit and miss, he certainly wasn’t one of the worst players on the pitch, but he did lose possession a fair amount. Unfortunately you have to accept that because if you want those moments of magic you have to take it with the losses of possession. Our counterattacking was poor though, we had a few good chances and we didn’t make the most of it. Can’t believe we took Cabs off though, he and Benny know each other well, but the rest? 😕 And when you give the ball to Simmo, he’s only ever going to cross. Maybe Benny would do better with someone like Santon…Not too sure 😕
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie@241 That’s exactly what I was sayiing when they were blathering on about it ,the media bias to Liverpool is actually quite concerning. Sterling should of been carded first half.
KIMTOON(Quote)
BB @ 245 yeah he did waste a lot of chances but as you said no one is really making themselves available for him as he is normally up on his own because he makes a break and most of our players are still making there way back from defending, we need players that are on the same wavelength as him.
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave-To be fair, I actually called for Cisse to start this match and I thought playing him up top in a 4-3-3 might help him, but he’s still very much off the boil and I don’t get why people don’t see that. My main point, as always, was that Ba is still the in form striker-we generally looked more dangerous when he was up top as well because he can actually pass it around and bring others players in more often. What I don’t get is why people insist so much on moving Ba away from the goal when Cisse still isn’t firing 😯
Dave-that was a bit of a parody. My point is, if you don’t drop players due to poor form, what’s the actual point in having a squad 😕
Newkie(Quote)
At least Colo can join Tiote on Thursday in our Europa League squad.
Their experience should help our young away team in Belgium.
funkyjesus(Quote)
Newkie @ 247 I think Cabaye must have had a niggle or something, as I can’t see him being taken off for nowt as Pards knows he can attack or sit back and defend ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
Kim-Exactly. It’s like the scum game when several of their players should have been carded. Sterling’s was late and should have been a yellow for me, but this is Liverpool at Anfield remember 😕
Newkie(Quote)
Dave-Yeah, must have been a niggle, which is a shame. I think if he’d stayed on we would have seen it out. Not that fergie did owt wrong, but we should have let Cabs sit back a bit and spray out wide and help the counter attacks. Jonas, Anita, Benny, none of them too confident with the long passes Cabaye can pull off.
And that free kick as well, Cabaye would have done better with it than Benny…If there’s one set piece routine he’s good at, it’s shooting from them.
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie @ 250 I agree with Jonas making way for Fergie, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to drop Cisse, the sameway I didn’t think we should have dropped Ba in the 2nd half of last season when he couldn’t hit a barn door with a scatter gun. I agree with Big Al and other top strikers and managers in that all top class strikers go through it but they need to know that the manager and team still has faith with him.
By dropping him I think it will make it far harder for him to get back to the player we know and seen he was
Big Dave(Quote)
Krul- Didn’t really do anything good or bad. Hard to score.
Perch- Still a bit daft, was obviously going to get a card for that challenge. Not as daft as Tiote, which really says how much of a liability Tiote is getting.
Collo- Moment of stupidity, good on the ball and holds the defense together but spends a lot of time chasing strikers around.
Taylor- Best defender by a long chalk today, critics take note.
Simpson- Still don’t like him, I thought if they would score it would be up the left,…..they couldn’t even do that and needed the little toad to pull them out of the **** yet again.
Santon- Tryed in vain.
Cabaye- Finally showed the touch of class and quality that has been missing for a lot of games this season.
Jonas- Looks like his legs have gone and I don’t know what he does anymore apart from fall over at the slightest breeze of wind. Good servant for the club but his time is nearly up for me.
Anita- I would much rather see him at RB. He just seems to chase shadows in midfield. I’ve said that for a while and was true again today.
Ben Arfa- Lost the ball at times yet tried things, beat Enrique for the goal yet Enrique helped set up their goal. See what I mean.. Kind of average game. Don’t get me wrong, he is at times the only player we have that can try anything.
Ba- Did okay until he had to go off because of injury. Still our no.1 by a long way.
Cisse- I’m starting to seriously worry about him, one season wonder or just a goalscorer when the team is playing well? He doesn’t look interested at the minute, he looks like he could score a freak goal but he doesn’t do enough to hold the ball up and can’t really be played as a CF who leads the line. For me he is a luxury our style of play isn’t affording and Shola would contribute more from those positions.
Sammy and Fergie- The next generation seems to be pushing through to the first team (and some of the first team look knackered) they try things and go forward better than the first 11, which is a cause for concern to me.
DJG(Quote)
The Kid@232 ,Why would youtake that attitude to someone who’s been very loyal to the Toon. You may be right that his day has come and gone and we need fresher legs but do you have to be quite so sharp in how you cast him aside ‘ useless player ‘ really ,this guy has been a good player for us in the recent past ,especially alongside Enrique who has not been the same since at his new club. When he leaves us I hope he goes back home and does well and not get ‘ shipped back to spain ‘ to beg to warm a bench 😯
KIMTOON(Quote)
Dave-that’s it though, someone needs to go. We can’t play 4-4-2 with Jonas on a wing, because he contributes sweet f/a nowadays, can’t even beat one defender anymore it seems and our game has evolved through getting the foul and pinging a ball in-it was very handy before, but without the Trio it seems his game has gone a bit too.
It’s notable that his best performances for us last season where when he was needed to cover for Raylor, now that that’s gone we need someone more aggressive.
4-4-2 with Fergie and see how they both do. But if that’s not going to change then there’s not really anyone else but Cisse.
Newkie(Quote)
NEWKIE & KIM thats the challenge i was reffering to earlier , Sterlings challenge was every bit as bad as Colo’s the feker gives the free kick but does not even give the tw@t a warning . Yet he sends our captain off with a straight red , for that Pardew should put in a complaint and the ref struck of the ref’s list . I am still effing boiling aboot it , one rule for the Pikey feckers and another for the rest . 😈
Axel(Quote)
Axel ,I think he nearly got sent off against Everton in the Derby as well ,if memory serves.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Axel-Apparently if you’re English/young/play for liverpool then you can get away with the ref giving you a talking to 😉 . Should have been a yellow, still Colos looked a red for me, I’ll watch it again on MOTD and hopefully get some more views but I don’t think we can have too many complaints.
But yeah, one rule for the racists and another for us, as usual.
Newkie(Quote)
Cabaye is a doubt for next week and perch is out for a month. Only blessing in this is we may now see Amalfitano, Abeid and marveaux given game time. Does any one know where Fergie was playing when he came on?
Alex(Quote)
Our ability to retain the ball is shocking, and when we had it today, some of our players looked particularly uncomfortable.
I thought both of our Argentinians were poor today, which doesn’t happen too often . Suarez gave Collo a real roasting today unfortunately…
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM, To be fair he gives most oposition players a hard time either by pure skill or cheating 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
ALEX
He was told to play in central midfield in Cabaye’s position but just looked lost.
DJG(Quote)
Alex-Think it was on the left of midfield as we switched to a flatter 4-3-3 from what I could tell. He did look lost though, him and Sammy sort of got in each other’s way, and there was no real space for Santon. A poor choice IMO. We should have brought on bigi to close the match-and for the fact he can pass long (generally speaking) certainly better than most of our side..
Newkie(Quote)
Oh wait, Bigi was taken out for Simmo’s return though wasn’t he? What was up with all that 😕
Newkie(Quote)
NEWKIE
Club politics. 😉
Divvent knaa why, Simpson’s contract is up and he should be on the bench unless he signs IMO. 😕
DJG(Quote)
Axel I agree that Sterling deserved a card but there is no way it was as bad as Colo, I will say that it’s not in Colo’s nature normally to go in like that but what he done was wrong.
MM our ability to retain the ball is shocking but so is our passing, I still sfeel there is just something not right because we know the players are better than what we’ve seen this season
Big Dave(Quote)
Newkie I thought Bigi was withdrew because of a niggle in warm up
Big Dave(Quote)
Oh well il take the point, wont be to bad if we can win our next 2 games West ham and Swansea at home, would love to marveaux get a consistant run out, i think he would good playing centrally.
Alex(Quote)
DJG-To be fair I thought he played well today, there’s no point benching players that “might” leave, unless of course their head drops-like Enriques did after Jan two years ago.
Dave-Ah right, that makes sense. Hope he’s alright for the next match then, he’ll be needed.
Newkie(Quote)
BIG DAVE we all have our opinions but watch MOTD ,Sterling came in late with his feet stretched out ,. He took his man out and that is a red . It was every bit as bad as colo’s . The reason i am boiling about it is the ref’s should be consistent , he does not even give Sterling a talking too and gives Colo a straight red . WTF 😈
Axel(Quote)
Newkie @ 272 I agree and it’s not like we have anyone thats as good or better 😕 so whats the point in weakening your team
Big Dave(Quote)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20199963
😛 Liverfools getting soaked.
DJG(Quote)
DJG, That’s well funny ,best half time entertainment ever. 😆
KIMTOON(Quote)
with all the injuries we’ve gotten this match it’s put a real dampner on our chances for the next 4 or 5 games which all looked winable. Colo will be a massive miss ,unlike today he normally has the coolest of heads.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Dave-Exactly. Although Anita does seem best as a full back he’s still weaker than Simmo, but probably offers more going forwards. Nee point not playing him.
The scousers getting soaked was hilarious as well 😆 Some small sense of justice that..
Newkie(Quote)
Watching Colo’s tackle again he is a bit unlucky in that, he didn’t really make much contact, thought there was a lot more the first time I saw it. Probably still can’t argue with the red, but I kinda agree with Owen 😯 I mean, if he fully intended to snap his leg in half, he wouldn’t have missed…
just a shame he had to lose it really 😕
Newkie(Quote)
If Cabaye misses the next game I think it’s more likely Obertan will be brought in and HBA move into an AM position. Bigirimana can more than replace Perch. For me, Bigi is already better than the ex-Forest man.
My biggest worry is the Taylor and Williamson combination. Neither are defensive leaders, or cool heads. We will need to be at our attacking best against West Ham as I think we will concede at least one.
The Kid(Quote)
The Kid-Agreed. Bigi might have the odd mistake in him, but Perch has been average recently imo and gave the ball away plenty against WBA so it’s Bigi’s turn.
As for Taylor/Willo, I think they might be handy for Wham who will be pinging crosses into Carroll but other than that, or if they keep it on the floor, we’ll be in trouble 😕 Altho benching Staylor for his outburst seems to have worked.
Newkie(Quote)
Suarez made Colo look slow and clumsy all night (much as he did to Willo at Anfield 2 seasons ago) – the red card felt like a natural culmination of that
Got make hay in the next few fixtures if we’re to have any chance of breaking out of midtable
M(Quote)
Suarez is an incredible player, but also a cheat of note.
Agree with those saying give Bigi a chance. He has shown far more than Anita or Perch have and if I’m going to be watching a player make silly mistakes, I’d much rather it were a young player with big potential.
Jonas made a big mistake which cost a goal, but he was excellent for most of the game in the middle of the park.
Though Steven Taylor was immense. Such passion such drive, which we desperately miss when he isn’t in the team. Sometimes he can be over enthusiastic but if I’m going to take any flaw I think thats it.
Cisse put in some really hard work. There is no doubt he is out of form but as long as he puts in the workrate, the rest will come right.
Santon was excellent again. Cabaye was absolutely brilliant in both halves. He was amazing defensively in the first half making loads of tackles and in the second he was composed and finished superbly. His set pieces are also getting much better.
Ben Arfa was excellent in patches but when the chips are down he tends to try too much on his own and forgets there are other players. For me he was very poor in the second half.
Overall, we were shocking in the first half hour but we showed a little more after we scored. We really do need to stop losing our best playes to injury and suspension.
JJ(Quote)
I know its far too early to judge, but I really cannot see what Anita offers for 6million???
Would love someone from Holland to tell me exactly what his strengths are?
JJ(Quote)
The Kid
You say Anita’s performance was positive and then complain about Jonas?
Really??? Jonas was a million times better as a holding midfielder than Anita. Anita has been completely garbage since his arrival. Jonas made one mistake the entire game and was punished by a piece of brilliance. It could have happened to Anita five or six times.
The others I agree with, exept for perhaps Cisse who made a number of good runs but was ignored by Ben Arfa and Cisse who are both being far too selfish at the moment IMO.
JJ(Quote)
JJ…to be fair to Jonas too, Cisse should never have returned Jonas’s pass, he didn’t want it back, out wide was the way to go iirc but sometimes a brilliant goal is a brilliant goal…there to be admired rather than apportion blame for
richietoon(Quote)
It was an incredbile goal. Better than Bergkamp’s technically in my opinion. I hate Suarez too but he is a brilliant player. Like a Bellemy with technique on steriods. Would love a player like him.
JJ(Quote)
Richie funny you should say that about brilliant goals… I used to say the same thing to opposition defenders when I scored. 😉 I didn’t like it when they got upset and became haters
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Aussie,
Fortunately you didn’t upset too many people 😉
I can’t believe people are giving Jonas a hard time. For me he has done really well as a defensive midfielder. With Tiote out I’d like to see him play there ahead of most others.
_____________Bigi_________Jonas_______________
_________________Ben Arfa_____________________
Obertan_______________________________Ferguson
__________________Cisse_______________________
Asumming Cabaye is out injured. Otherwise replace Bigi. I don’t really feel impressed by Sammi Ameobi. Feel he trips over his own feet more than anything else. Much prefer Shane Ferguson.
Sammi does have the pace and workrate Shola has never had though so he could come good. Still very raw though.
JJ(Quote)
I predicted 5 points out of the past 3 games in an article a few weeks back so I am not too disapointed over our recent points haul. Against the opposition we faced and based on only one home game out of the 3, it is not a bad tally. We should look to gets some points in the bank over the next few games… onward and upward
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Aussie,
I would have been confident of points if we didn’t have half the first team missing.
After some really poor performances we have actually had an ok start points wise. Had we managed to hold on for victory against Liverpool, we would have had an excellent start. Thats how tight things are. A couple bad results and you slip right down, a couple good results and we are right up there.
I’d be happy with five/six points from the next three fixtures.
JJ(Quote)
Big Dave
“There’s no ‘i’ in team”
http://bit.ly/Xd9Aj8 – you just need to look more carefully Dave 😉
JJ(Quote)
JJ 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Having watched the game yesterday and then watched the highlights on MOTD2 last night, I have to say that I am really disappoint in Captain Colo. He was caught out of position quite a bit but more disappointing was he clear desire to kick Suarez – which obviously ultimately got him sent off.
That foul was not a one off as highlighted by MOTD, and whilst it was out of character, it was seriously annoying as he have lost him for 3 games now.
It was a very good, well earned point but our inability to pass a ball cost us in the end.
It’s something we need to work on, and we don’t need world class players bought in Jan to achieve it. Swansea did it last season and Wigan passed Spurs off the park at the weekend.
I bet there aren’t many games this season where we have had most possession over 90 mins. If the opposition don’t have the ball, they don’t score.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy…Surprisingly enough, the opposition have only had more possession than us in 5 of our 10 league games, the same as last season, and our pass completion rate is higher than last season(at this stage) 😯
richietoon(Quote)