[Archived] Liverpool 1-0 Rovers

[roversWASmylife]

Saturday 15th of this month, sees us making the short trip to Anfield.

A ground that brings back great memories, winning the title in May 1995 and the prolific threat of Nathan Blake getting a late winner in the FA CUP.

Latest league form:

Liverpool - DWDDDL

Rovers- DLDLWW

A mate of mine, Craig kindly agreed to be bullied by some Rovers questions.

What were the supporters expectations of Liverpool for this season after a great end to the season in Istanbul?

Mainly to close the gap in the Premiership after finishing 30+ points behind the winners, aswell as defending our CL title to the best of our ability.

After a year in charge, what's your impression of Benitez and the players that he's brought in?

Some of the signings are top class such as Alonso Garcia (to a certain extent of importance last season). Some are unproved and need time to show what they can do in a Liverpool shirt, like Crouch and Sissoko... But one or two of his signings haven't been too great, Nunez is one of them, but he's moved on and is now doing good for Celta Vigo in Spain, and Josemi is the other, who is finding his feet now.

What was your overall opinion of the possible return of Owen returning to Anfield?

It depends on how much we would've paid for him. We got rid of him for 8mil (+ Nunez) last summer, and if we had to buy him back for 17mil then I'd be a bit disappointed. Would've been a good signing yes, but we would've been paying more then double then amount we got for him. At the time when he was linked with us we had Crouch, Cisse, Baros, Morientes and Pongolle. Don't get me wrong, I think Owen could and probably would outscore any of them above, but at the time a striker wasn't top priority.

Is there any players breaking through the club's successful Academy getting into the first team squad?

Neil Mellor last season scored 5 goals in 11 games, and scored in 2 vitals games in Arsenal and Olympiacos. Darren Potter has featured a lot pre-season, but that was only for friendlies and CL qualifiers. Stephen Warnock may play a big part this season, but he has competition considering Traore, Riise and Zenden can play left back if needs be. John Welsh is out on loan to Hull City at the moment.

Were you surprised with Gerrard and his antics over a move to Chelsea in the summer?

I was more gobsmacked when he said he wanted to leave after winning the CL and was quoted "How can I leave the club now..." He ended up not going to Chelsea, and considering last season I am not surprised at all by this. Liverpool is the club he loves, and has stayed loyal to (even though the media makes it out that he isn't as loyal as what he actually is).

In the Rovers team, does anyone you think look to cause Liverpool many problems?

I think Finnan/Josemi will have to watch out for Pedersen sneaking through on the left flank. People know now that he is capable of a lot of things which not many players could pull off, scoring great goals. Also the strikeforce on paper is a lot better this season for Blackburn with Kuqi and Bellamy added, who are both proven goalscorers in England.

What is your opinion on Blackburn? Many criticised us for our 'bully boy' tactics last season, do you feel it was deserved?

Being a Liverpool fan I am bound to think it is deserved, mainly because in the matches between Blackburn and Liverpool there has been bad injuries. The Cisse one was an accident, but (I think) it was Lucas Neill that broke Baros' foot and Jamie Carragher's leg a few years back, but I might be wrong on that one. I think Blackburn are certainly one of the rougher teams, but every team will get bookable offences in a season, and teams have different ways of keeping the opposition out. Let's just say, Blackburn take the 'physical' approach.

What kind of team do you think Benitez will put out against us and how will you approach the game?

After today's 4-1 defeat to Chelsea, we may put out more of an attacking team, or play a more attacking formation, but it's hard to say with Liverpool. I think the line up will be Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Warnock, Garcia, Gerrard, Sissoko, Alonso, Riise, Crouch. Don't take my word for it though, because Benitez is known for swapping the team about.

Your prediction for the game?

I think anything other then a win at home against a team like Blackburn considering the circumstances will be a disappointment (no disrespect). I'd like to think we can win this 2-0, but inconsistancy has taken a toll on us again this season in the league

Many Thanks to Craig for that.

My prediction will be a Rovers win. The break is probably the last thing we could have, we have had two very good wins in the last week and are playing some decent football.

But, players can recover such as Bellamy so I'm predicting a 2-1 win.

Team:

Friedel

Neill

Todd

Nelsen

Gray

Bentley

Savage

Reid

Pedersen

Bellamy/Kuqi

Dickov

[Flopsy]

well Chelsea gave them a right spanking this afternoon - I quite expect Rovers to have one handed to them

[Ozz]

That was a good intro to the game! I think Craig was being a bit diplomatic though.

As usual good day out followed by a tonking in a very quiet Anfield.

Balshaw Lane at 10 AM leading to booze and taxis and swearing and cautions and thumps giving rise to Have You Won The Premier League chants leading to seeing Jordan and his mates in the upstairs bar at Lime Street leading to who are you followed by What time is the next train to Euxton and so on and so on etc etc etc...

[1864roverite]

I just cant work Liverpool out. My father in law returned from todays match absolutley gutted.

I watched on tv as I thought it would be a good game, especially after all the media hype etc, how wrong can one be ?

Liverpool flatter to deceive at best.

There is a massive weak link in their team in Traore and Finnan, their midfield is one dimensional through Gerrard and up front is the height of the beanpole.

Judging by todays game Rovers can win this one. Its clear that Liverpool have the ability but at the same time they have two many individuals. Alonso, Garcia and Gerrard together is a luxury. The defence is based on the rock of Hyypia and Carragher but we saw today they both go missing and do not like pace.

I see a positive result for Rovers, especially if they contain Gerrard.

Come on you blue boys

[AggyBlue]

Kick 'em while they're down, the saying goes. I think we can twist the knife and steal the points from this one. I'm hoping we can keep another clean sheet and nick a goal.

Rovers 1 - 0

[RovertheHill]

Traore is out of his depth in the premiership - it says everything that Souness rated him as a good defender and was after him for us. Similarly, Crouch, despite being 8ft 6, is also out of his depth. Unfortunately I think Liverpool have the midfield to pull us all over the place IF they turn up. I'm thinking that the international break may serve us better than they but it will still be an uphill struggle. If ever a player needs to break a hoodoo or score a first goal it's unvariably against us! Going for a 1-1 more in hope...

[Eddie]

Liverpool were just spanked, we're riding the crest of a wave, a win on the cards? No. To me that says Liverpool to win.

[philipl]

The difference between Chelsea and Liverpool at the end of the day was Drogba. Very few forwards can destroy Hyppia like that. Kuqui certainly won't and I'd stick with Dickov and Bellamy up front if Bellamy is fit with Kuqui to offer something different later.

This will be a massive game for Liverpool. If we can frustrate them (and that includes attacking them at their end which will erode their confidence even quicker), we might get something out of this game.

Will be interesting to see which duo (trio?- I suspect it will be a duo with Hughes sticking to 4-4-2) out of Reid, Bentley, Tugay and Emerton gets the nod alongside Savage and MGP.

Brad will have to be at his best but despite his heroics, I think it will be Liverpool 2 Rovers 1

[Exiled_Rover]

Kuqi would cause that back line more trouble than you think philipl, he's posed questions for every team he's come up against so far and he'll continue to do so against this Liverpool team.

I see a draw from this one, with Hughes reverting to a 4-5-1 formation, but as I was wrong with my United prediction I'll probably be wrong with this one

Oh and it was Marcus B that broke Baros' foot, not Neill, and it was an innocuous challenge

[krislu]

After Liverpool's embarrassing 4-1 loss against Chelsea they will be fireing on all cylinders trying to score a couple against us. I'm sure they will be far more attacking minded in their formation, so lets hope Bellamy is back so we can get some pace up front, and hit them hard on the break.

Our defense seems to struggle against a tall target man, and since no-one is taller than the huge pole they have upfront we need to be aware of the runs around him (that was non-existent against Chelsea)

If we are going to play 4-4-2 we need Savage back in the heart of midfield, and we also need a bit more discipline from from him. We can't have him running out of positon, as he should keep a good eye on Gerrard, the only real quality player Liverpool got.

My prediction:

Liverpool 1

Rovers 1

[MCMC1875]

Go with Mokoena and Reid (not Savage). This pairing always looks more balanced to me and leaves Rovers stronger when paired after substitutions.

[S15]

Anyone who can advocate Steven Reid being in our team after his appauling performances this season, ESPECIALLY on Saturday, is either blind or stupid.

The same goes to anyone who can't see that we are a better side with Robbie Savage in our midfield.

[SAS]

i am thinking a 0-0 draw like last season

hopefully bellamy will be back and give us a better attacking edge

gotta be kuqi and bellamy up front

[MCMC1875]

Anyone who can advocate Steven Reid being in our team after his appauling performances this season, ESPECIALLY on Saturday, is either blind or stupid.

The same goes to anyone who can't see that we are a better side with Robbie Savage in our midfield.

350963[/snapback]

I'll admit to the first after seeing your gif Sillytoe, the second I'll leave to you for posting it.

[bellamy11]

Considering the difficulty Liverpool have in scoring at the moment, it may be a good idea to go 4-5-1 again and try to restrict them. They will be under a lot of pressure to win this after an indifferent start and they will feel that they have to attack us. 4-5-1 would allow us to soak up the pressure and try to deal with the Hamann/Alonso/Gerrard trio.

If Bellamy is fit then 4-4-2 is an option, but I'm not sure the attacking benefits of having both Kuqi and Dickov up front outweigh the negatives of having our midfield swamped by better players.

[S15]

I'll admit to the first after seeing your gif Sillytoe, the second I'll leave to you for posting it.

350967[/snapback]

Two things....

1. The scathing yet clever and whitty insult hurt.

2. Fortunately the one man in the world whos opinion counts agrees with me.

So there....

[Ronin]

After the mauling they got last night, Liverpool could well be up for the game, but with the international break, as has been said, that could help dissolve that.

Now that we're on a roll, and Kuqi has opened his goal account, his confidence will I'm sure get better and we'll start seeing more of his "Dive".

If we stick with the 4-4-2 and actually have a go at them, like we did with Man U, then I don't see why we can't get a similar result as we did then.

Don't see us losing this one, either a hard fought draw or a tight win.

[roversmum]

Should be interesting. They're going to be wary of the nuisance of Kuqi and Bellamy/Dickov; wanting to keep tabs on MGP and Bert(who most teams percieve as a threat - hopefully he will be) and Savage will be a pest in midfield. The Axe will be busy in midfield too and the Admiral and Jimmy behind him giving their usual sound defence; with Brad solid as ever behind them and Lucas and Gray bombing forward when they get the chance.

A victory would be so sweet..........

[Hughesy]

Defence – Drop Neill. Play Zurab @ right back, Todd & Nelsen in the middle & mickey gray at left back.

Id go with a midfield of Emerton, Savage, Bentley & MGP. I think Bentley is better on the left than the right so maybe he would be good on the left of the centre, providing extra support for MGP where between them they should be able to create havoc. Reid needs dropping as on Saturday he was rubbish

Up front Bellamy & Kuqi if bellers is fit.

Depending on our team selection I think if we go 4-4-2 we will win, if not then I think we will lose.

[Hughesy]

Any idea how ticket sales are going? I bought 6 this morning and the guy said they were doing well today

[S15]

Personally I don't think Liverpool away is the time to start experimenting with our midfield.

[pick32]

does anyone no if bellamy will be back if he is 2-1 rovers

bellamy

mgp

risse

[BlueMonday]

Rovers to win 1-0, Freidel to score from a corner in the last minute.

[frosty]

My prediction: 1-1.

Brad

Neill

Gray

Khizanishvilli

Nelsen

Emerton

Savage

Tugay

Pedersen

Dickov

Bellamy/Kuqi

[rovernik]

i cant beleive some of you are suggesting dropping neill, he's been class recently, as this is one of the few games im gonna get to go to, im prayin for a win, especially as im goin with a scouser!!!!

2-1 emerton, kuqi and gerrard to score