Match Preview
- -v- -
Liverpool FC v Swansea City
Anfield
Sunday 29th November 2015
16:15 GMT
Match not broadcast live on UK TV, so if you haven't got a ticket, you'll have to find it on the internet. Mercy!
It all seems so long ago, when a plucky and newly promoted Swansea side came to Anfield and gave us an unexpected contest.
They played with zip and flair, the Welsh Barcelona, with extraordinary performances somehow eeked out from journeymen like Leon Brittan, who went from a player unable to find a club to the most successful passer in Europe's top flight leagues.
We were stunned by how elegant, how stylish, how clinical and effective they were. We swooned a little.
Then we nicked their manager, one of their star midfielders and laughed callously as they told us Michu was better than Suarez.
There's no room for sentiment in football.
And now we prepare for the first post-Brendan Rodgers meeting between the two clubs that have defined his career to date. And both sets of fans will be thinking "Brendan who?" Again, no sentiment here, we've moved on, Brendan, it wasn't to be. It wasn't you, it was us.
Well, it was partly you. And here we are, both of your exes, ready to party like you were never in the room.
Let's not turn this into a Rodgers slagfest, is what I'm saying. Onwards and upwards. Everything must go.
While Europa League progression was assured with a victory over Bordeaux, we're back into the action of the Premier League and The Reds go into this fixture on the back of our best league performance, and best result, since that heady spring when we came so close to the title.
We battered Manchester City in their own back yard, and we did it with swagger and poise. We just wanted it more.
The Kloppeffeckt, just be hungrier than them, just be quicker to the ball than them, if nothing else, it makes us look competitive, interested, arsed.
Seeing Lucas go in hard, play his dirty, dirty game with his angel faced expression of innocence, butter wouldn't melt in the Brazilian's mouth as he turns to the ref in surprise. Emre Can unleashed. Like Prometheus, once bound to the back line, now freed to bring us the gift of fire and some lovely touches on the edge of the box.
It's safe to say we're in a new era now, we're at the start of something different. This ancient club, this glorious and historic institution, often criticised for living in the past, to which we say "if your past was like ours, you'd do the same" but now we look forwards, to a side that plays with fire in its belly and a twinkle in its eye.
Seeing Klopp hug players as they leave the field, I pointed out to my mate that Jurgen is basically the coolest dad in the world.
Look at Adam Lallana's happy, peaceful face and tell me you wouldn't do anything just for a hug from this guy.
Ahh. That's the stuff. Everything is ok. Life is good.
And this week, we learned that Herr Klopp is taking Scouse lessons from a local nine-year old.
How great is that? There is a very good chance that our manager will go into a press conference one day soon and announce that the squad is dead sound, Coutinho is boss and that yer ma does dockers round the back of the Kwikie. Yes, my friends, that day is coming.
But what if we can't do it at home? What if teams come and park the bus? What if we play a side that didn't blow £40m+ on Mangala and instead crowd the area?
Valid questions, and we'll do well to answer them over the next few months.
But for now, we're playing Swansea. And while maybe they don't quite look like the Welsh Barcelona any more, Garry Monk is not a man to put ten men behind the ball.
A student of Klopp himself, like his illustrious predecessors Martinez, Sousa, Rodgers and Laudrup, Monk believes in movement, passing at pace, and pressing high up the field.
He sometimes switches from the now traditional Swansea 4-3-3 to a more defensive set up away from home against the bigger teams, and after watching us last weekend, it's a safe bet that we'll see a slightly more safety-minded approach from the Swans here.
It's been a tough season for the Welshmen, just one win on English soil in the Premier League, courtesy of a 2-1 win at bottom club Aston Villa last month, which was also their only win of any kind in any competition since August. They have, however notched up credible draws with Chelsea, Everton and Tottenham and even beat Manchester United 2-1 early in the season.
They find themselves above the Champions Chelsea on goal difference, in 14th place. The pressure is on for Monk, and although any points gained at Anfield would usually be seen as a bonus for Swansea City, the 36 year old manager will be keen to prove a point.
When stories are regularly appearing that the players are behind a manager, it is often a bad sign.
The Swansea board, who reportedly met to discuss Monk's tenure earlier this week, have shown a lot of football sense in recent years, and it's to be hoped that Monk is given the time to get the best out of what is still one of the less expensive squads in the Premier League.
Their record signing is still £12m Wilfried Bony, who left for Manchester City for £28m after just 54 appearances and 25 goals for the Swans. Last summer saw the £5m arrival of former Portugal U21 star Eder from Braga, who has yet to score in eleven appearances for the Welsh side.
More successful so far is the signing of Andre Ayew, the Ghanain international, who has scored six goals in 13 Swansea appearances.
Juxtaposed with U?
Familiar faces:
With Lucas in great form and Milner and Can playing well in midfield, it's hard to see more than a cameo for the Welsh Xavi, who arrived from Swansea shortly after Brendan Rodgers promised not to sign any Swansea players. Awkward. While he doesn't quite have Lucas' bite, Jose Allenso has certainly proved himself a useful member of the Liverpool squad in a reds career punctuated by injury.
He's a player who you always feel the best is yet to come from, and when he plays at his best, you barely notice him, but he ticks things over well.
Local boy in the photograph, Joe Allen.
Jonjo Shelvey arrived at Liverpool amid much optimism that he could be a future great for England and Liverpool. It wasn't to be and he was shipped out when he decided he wanted regular games. Liverpool's loss was Swansea's gain, and he has become a vital piece of their machinery. His greatest weakness is inconsistency, but on his day he can score against anyone. Even his own team. Shelvey's goalscoring record in this fixture will be a future pub-quiz staple, and don't bet against him having some decisive influence - at either end - on Sunday.
He is Swansea's resident bad boy, with five yellows collected this term. Will he have a nice day?
Close calls:
Rodgers also tried to sign Gylfi Siggurdson from Swansea, but for some reason the Icelander thought Spurs was a more attractive destination.
Deservedly and hilariously, the move was a failure and he returned to South Wales with his tail between his legs after not very long.
We were also linked with Bafetimbi Gomis at one point, bringing about a popular and enduring RAWK injoke that I'm not going to try to explain. You had to be there.
Links from the past:
Enough has been said in the last couple of months about Brendan Rodgers, who of course took Liverpool to an exhilarating second place and brought Swansea up to the Premier League after taking the reigns from Paulo Sousa. (Sousa was in the job for a year, although for some reason many prefer to believe that he wasn't. It's very odd. A case for Mulder and Scully.)
Roy Evans once expressed admiration for Sousa, but in those days it was unheard of for top players to leave Serie A for the Premier League.
But Rodgers is not the only former Swans boss with connections to Anfield.
Jan Molby was the original deep-lying playmaker, he was Alonso before Alonso was Alonso. Able to pass a ball with astonishing pace and accuracy, and a striker of dead balls that seemed to almost reek of witchcraft, his penalty record eventually fell to Steven Gerrard. His only weakness was his lack of movement.
Leaving Liverpool after falling out of popularity under Graeme Souness, who actually forgot Jan was still in his squad at one point, and rarely featuring under Roy Evans, Molby took over as player-manager of Division Three Swansea in 1996, the first of two Danes to manage the club.
Swans fans have fond memories of Molby bringing himself off the bench to score world class free kicks, and then subbing himself back off again.
After further spells in management at Kidderminster Harriers and Hull City, Molby turned to his current job of being catty about various Liverpool players and managers for money. The man don't give a fuck.
Swansea City
Last Five:
Swansea 2-2 Bournemouth Sat 21 Nov
Norwich 1-0 Swansea Sat 7 Nov
Swansea 0-3 Arsenal Sat 31 Oct
Ast Vla 1-2 Swansea Sat 24 Oct
Swansea 0-1 Stoke Mon 19 Oct
Last 10 League Form: W L D L D L W L L D
Liverpool and Swansea have met just twenty eight times over the years, (mostly in the old Division 2 during a spell from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s), with the Reds winning half of those fixtures and the remainder split evenly between Swansea wins and draws.
Swansea have never won a league match at Anfield in fourteen attempts, although they won a League cup tie 3-1 in 2012 and an FA Cup match in 1964. The green, green grass of home could be our greatest weapon here.
Recent Premier League head to heads:
16.03.2015 Swansea City 0-1 Liverpool
29.12.2014 Liverpool 4-1 Swansea City
23.02.2014 Liverpool 4-3 Swansea City
16.09.2013 Swansea City 2-2 Liverpool
17.02.2013 Liverpool 5-0 Swansea City
25.11.2012 Swansea City 0-0 Liverpool
13.05.2012 Swansea City 1-0 Liverpool
05.11.2011 Liverpool 0-0 Swansea City
Game on.