Topic: RAWK Preview: Liverpool v Crystal Palace Saturday 5th K.O.15:00

[Number 7]

I don't think we'll tinker with the formation either.

Palace are going to come and most likely park the bus. They'll obviously have a few attacks here or there but their main objective will be to stop us scoring and make it difficult for us to break them down. Wing-backs or wingers are going to be vital in a game like this because we'll need to stretch them out to the edges of the pitch. If we're too narrow that makes it easier for them sitting in their 2 banks of 3, or whatever they're going to deploy. Pushing them out to the edges means Suarez and Sturridge should have more space in and around the box. Enrique and whoever plays as wing-back on the right (Sterling/Kelly) will have to get up and down to make the pitch as wide as possible. Sterling - if he plays - will have to be on his game.

It's a tough call to lose 3 of your best midfielders in Lucas, Coutinho and Allen, but thankfully it's not one of the big teams we're playing so we should be alright. I think Rodgers will go with the team as close as possible to Sunderland. The enforced change will be to replace Lucas in the middle, which Henderson will do. I wouldn't mind seeing Alberto because we might need a bit of guile or creativity in the middle which he can provide. Although, Moses did an admirable job at Sunderland but I don't think he's really suited to that role.

[MobileBayRed]

I agree about Palace playing negative football this weekend.

Based on that, I think we should consider Aspas out on the right.  I don't think Sterling's pace will be effective because I dont think Palace will open up enough for him to get behind.  Aspas has a knack of getting in front of the goal and getting some poacher's chances.  I think an extra body in the box will be useful.

Henderson tucks in next to Gerrard in midfield.  Everything else the same as Sunderland.

[rocco]

                   Mignolet

       Toure     Agger    Sakho

Kelly  Gerrard  Hendo    Enrique

                     Moses

              Sturridge  Suarez


Ideally I'd prefer Coutinho even Allen for Moses , Alberto to swap for Moses in the 2nd half

I'd prefer Agger in the back 3 and that would see us naturally playing a higher line and really put Palace under pressure from the start .

[serpentnebula]

I wouldn't start Aspas. Lad needs to earn his place after a couple of disappointing showings. I'd keep Sterling in there just for his pace.

[bird_lfc]

They're not very good, at all.

A win and a clean sheet is all I ask. Anything else is a bonus.

 It's October and we've got the league and the FA cup, and that's it. No resting players, strongest team every game please.

[LFC_Verve]

Concentrate for 90 minutes and play to our strengths, the win will come.

[killer-heels]

                   Mignolet

       Toure     Agger    Sakho

Kelly  Gerrard  Hendo    Enrique

                     Moses

              Sturridge  Suarez


Ideally I'd prefer Coutinho even Allen for Moses , Alberto to swap for Moses in the 2nd half

I'd prefer Agger in the back 3 and that would see us naturally playing a higher line and really put Palace under pressure from the start .

I would be concerned if we swapped Allen for Moses. Just seems too defensive, considering Gerrard is hardly playing well up the field. Allen/Henderson would normally end up the furthest forward midfielder and I am not sure either has the attacking quality to replace Moses.

[AshbourneRed]

I think the only change from the Sunderland game will be Sterling in for Lucas with Hendo going into the middle and Sterling to start wing back. We won't really be expecting Palace to attack too much so I think Brendan might go with an attacking option from the back. Plus, Kolo will be there to cover Sterling if needs be. Looking forward to this one, I think we'll see Luis right up near the top of the scorer's chart come Saturday evening.

[peachybum]

                   Mignolet

       Toure     Agger     Sakho

Kelly  Gerrard  Hendo    Enrique

                     Moses

              Sturridge  Suarez

I think Skrtel has been playing well in that central role so i'd be much more inclined to bring in Agger for Sakho. Sakho has also been playing well but I think Agger is better suited as one of the wide central defenders as I think it allows him to get forward more.

Also not sure we really need such a defensive wing back. As a right back Kelly just gets away with being offensive enough to warrant a place but as a wing back he doesn't. Especially against opposition we should be looking to dominate and play high up the field. So i'd go for a more offensive player and with our squad as it is now that's Sterling.

[rocco]

I would be concerned if we swapped Allen for Moses. Just seems too defensive, considering Gerrard is hardly playing well up the field. Allen/Henderson would normally end up the furthest forward midfielder and I am not sure either has the attacking quality to replace Moses.

Didn't he play that role in a preseason a score and was quite attacking ?

[rocco]

I think Skrtel has been playing well in that central role so i'd be much more inclined to bring in Agger for Sakho. Sakho has also been playing well but I think Agger is better suited as one of the wide central defenders as I think it allows him to get forward more.

Also not sure we really need such a defensive wing back. As a right back Kelly just gets away with being offensive enough to warrant a place but as a wing back he doesn't. Especially against opposition we should be looking to dominate and play high up the field. So i'd go for a more offensive player and with our squad as it is now that's Sterling.

Skrtel is playing well but I'd offer to see us playing a higher line and I don't think Skrtel suits the higher line

Kelly is well able to play the offensive wing back IMO.

[Haggis36]

Until our players start returning from injury, I'd be inclined to stick with the 3-5-2, as it is probably the best way for us to fit our current best 11 on the pitch. Henderson obviously moves in to the middle and plays a box-to-box role, which hopefully will give more support to the AM as Moses got very little help from the midfield against Sunderland. Sterling at RWB - he's good at tracking back and tenacious, so given that most of the Palace threat comes down their right hand side, and also the three CBs for extra cover, I don't think there are any major concerns about him being played there. It will also give us a bit more in an attacking sense if Palace, as expected, sit deep.

I'd stick with Moses behind the strikers as I think he actually had a pretty decent game against Sunderland, but having said that if Luis Alberto is going to get any games for us in the PL surely Crystal Palace at home would be the lowest risk? I suppose you could argue that Luis Alberto might be more suited to playing a game against a tightly-packed defence, but then Moses is much more direct and probably more of a goal-threat. Fancy that Moses will start with LA to come on if we're struggling to break them down.

The only other selection question I think is at CB. Toure/Skrtel/Sakho have been playing really well together, and it would be pretty harsh to drop any of them. You could maybe make an argument for Agger in for Skrtel but I don't think there is much in it in terms of their form so far this season, so really it comes down to difference in the qualities they bring, and Agger might be better suited for this particular game. I certainly would not drop either of Toure or Sakho.

[jdpapa3]

Agree with the Sterling at RWB calls that people are making. Like Kelly at RB, but never RWB. Think of how many times Henderson got the ball in space in the final third wide right last weekend...needs to be a creative runner, which I think leaves us with little choice of RWB if we are playing 3 at the back.

As far as Alberto, I think he may be too risky to start in a PL game at this part of the season. Didn't see enough to trust him yet in that League Cup game. Definitely off the bench, though.

Everyone's ready to slot Agger right back in there, but I worry that he may be the worst of the 4 right now on his current form. He does make sense if you want that LCB to be more progressive going forward, but just how fit is he? Maybe let him play through it for Denmark. 

Would sub Aspas on for Sturridge, Sterling(put Moses at RWB), or CAM, on 65' depending on the score and how it's going. He needs to get in there as he does have a little quality and we do need to get him some action to be ready for slotting in over the season.

[killer-heels]

Didn't he play that role in a preseason a score and was quite attacking ?

He did but I still think we carry more a threat with Moses rather than Allen. With that line up we only really have 3 recognised attackers in Gerrard, Suarez and Sturridge and Gerrard will probably sit pretty deep.

[LoubySoho]

I don't think Aggers form is worst than any others

[Filler.]

When the teamsheets gets published, I think most of us will be eying who'll be playing wide right. I think we'll go with the 3412 again. Maybe we won't, but if we don't it'll be because of the wide right question. Sometimes, when you play a 'negative' formation like 3412 (which isn't negative, just assumed it is because you have five 'defenders'), you'll get a few calls of 'but this is Palace... we should get on our attacking front foot and go in hard', but I've never seen it like that. A 442 looks more imposing on paper (I don't think it does even, but you know what I mean), but in practice... it doesn't. A 451 looks defensive... add in a couple of blinding wingers who work hard getting back and a boss of a centre forward, and a really creative number 10 and it's looking positive again. So I've got no problem with a 3412 (it's not a 352). Against anyone.

So we have no Lucas, as he's been regularly carded for getting in a little too late, when in his pomp, he'd rarely do, and I'm looking at our available squad and thinking Shelvey. For the middle, alongside Gerrard, because nobody is really screaming for the right wing back spot. Fitness questions over Kelly, suitability questions over Wisdom, and a bit of visa versa. The sexy choice is Sterling. That would be interesting. Henderson and Gerrard in the middle, Sterling wide right. Or, the other sexy choice... Henderson wide right, Alberto and Gerrard in the middle. Would love either, with the former bridging the gap between positive, exciting planning and pragmatism. I think we'll go dull. Wisdom wide, Henderson in the middle. Well we will won't we?

I was trying to explain the movement of Sturridge and Suarez at the bar vs Sunderland to a fellow Red, and the general positives and negatives of what we were looking to do so I was pleased that it was noted in a newspaper... the sliding out wide of the pair occasionally. I've been harking for an inclusion of Alberto for a while, but having Moses in the '1' does make some sort of sense as he's maybe a bit more of a natural front player. When either of the 'S''s go wide, Moses can occupy the two central defenders, with one of the other 'S''s - the one that hasn't gone wide, occupying the corner of their eyes.




Grauniad words on it


Now obviously, when one goes wide, the other doesn't mirror it on the other side. He hangs about, and we've seen both Sturridge and Suarez enjoying themselves on the flanks so this again, this 3412 makes some sense. We're not ideally suited, but makes some sense.


When you look at the fixture list, or even before it, you'd look at Palace, at home, and say, 'must win'. You can be top of the table running away with it and still lose to the team right at the bottom, everyone can, but this is must win. Win it, bag 3 points. Ask questions later.

[Anonymous5]

                   Mignolet

       Toure     Agger    Sakho

Sterling  Gerrard  Hendo    Enrique

                     Moses

              Sturridge  Suarez


Sterling has done reasonably when he played there. Considering we're home, his pace and tricky will be useful

[mrantarctica]

BR has said that it's not his preferred team shape. We've really been forced to adopt it as we haven't had cover at full back. Now that Enrique is back and Kelly seems to be returning, we should be able to go closer to our usual shape. It'll depend on if we have a RB or not though.

Not sure that Moses can play that AM role. I think either Alberto or Suarez can fill it while Coutinho is injured.

[Fitzy.]

Early goal and we are away...slow start and frustration kicks in. Can't see beyond a win.

[telekon]

Agree with the Sterling at RWB calls that people are making. Like Kelly at RB, but never RWB. Think of how many times Henderson got the ball in space in the final third wide right last weekend...needs to be a creative runner, which I think leaves us with little choice of RWB if we are playing 3 at the back.

As far as Alberto, I think he may be too risky to start in a PL game at this part of the season. Didn't see enough to trust him yet in that League Cup game. Definitely off the bench, though.

Everyone's ready to slot Agger right back in there, but I worry that he may be the worst of the 4 right now on his current form. He does make sense if you want that LCB to be more progressive going forward, but just how fit is he? Maybe let him play through it for Denmark. 

Would sub Aspas on for Sturridge, Sterling(put Moses at RWB), or CAM, on 65' depending on the score and how it's going. He needs to get in there as he does have a little quality and we do need to get him some action to be ready for slotting in over the season.

Good shout. Would also like Aspas coming in for Sturridge. Hodge podge will probably play him for England and he doesn't have to be overplayed and risk anything. Aspas needs some more game time to get his confidence up. Ideal against these if we're a goal or two up.

Sterling at RWB looks sensible on paper. Risk is that they're coming at us on their left side, but Kolo (and even Skrtel) should be able to help out if they completely overload our right side.

[fowlermagic]

There are two problems here though.

Firstly, you're assuming that three defenders is defensive. It's not. Where we set our restraining line is what makes us defensive or attacking. So a back three at home can be incredibly attacking as long as we push it up to the halfway line and hold it there

Secondly, your line-up leaves out Sakho, who has been excellent, and puts Toure on his left side, when we potentially have two left sided central defenders in Sakho and Agger available. But Skrtel has been playing well, so doesn't deserve to be dropped, while Toure has also been playing well, and doesn't deserve to be dropped either. So it's a harsh decision if Rodgers drops any of those to accommodate a back four. Kelly needs match sharpness, and might be more exposed in a back four than in a back three where he was support behind him without losing numbers in the middle. So it's a tough call for Rodgers, but if he lines up with a back three, it makes a lot of sense. Doing so would not be a sign of anything other than having three good on-form defenders, so if he does that, I hope people have the patience to see how the game transpires before judging it.

Im open to any formation that is attack minded with a secure backline esp against a side that is struggling to score goals like Palace. If we push up that would be ideal but I have not really seen much of that this season. It could happen against Palace but I always think the best defense against a weak attacking side is to keep them pin back and with more bodies in attack that should keep them on their back foot.

Sakho has been decent to good but if we do go with a more traditional back 4 then he gets the drop before Toure or Skrtel as both have shown better form this season. They may not be left footed but there is plenty of good CD partnerships out there both right footed. Plus Agger if fit may get the nod eventually for the left sided berth as in a high line he is the ideal man to have the ball coming out of defense.   Kelly is a stretch right now but if anyway fit should start ahead of Henderson at right back & personally I think the lad is a future captain for us and needs to be getting games.

[Coutinholycow]

It's really too bad Allen isn't fit as this would be a great game for him to get back into.

I think Henderson kicks into CM and Sterling on the right.

I would bring Agger back in for Skrtel and play Sakho in the middle of the three, we haven't seen what Agger can do with this personnel in the three and this game is as good as any to find out.

Alberto is first guy off the bench and front three is unchanged. Book em danno.

[DeLeiva]

Training bid theory = Sterling starts.

My guess is Raheem at RWB and Hendo moves central.

He's played there a couple times now Raheem, but can't he do the job for 90 minutes?

[PaulF]

I'm very nervous/excited about this. Please, please LFC don't leave me sad after the game.

[jckliew]

Mignolet
Toure Skrtel Sakho
Moses Gerrard Lucas Enrique
Henderson
Suarez Sturridge

I'd go with this. Moses should be able to play that role given Enrique will be more inclined to play deeper, allowing a CB to cover the right back area if needed. Henderson looks a lot better in a central role and should offer plenty of energy there to help the midfield.

Alberto and Aspas to get some minutes in the attacking midfield and striker roles would be good too.

As soon as either Kelly or Johnson are fit we can look at a back four again.

Ahem

Lucas is suspended methinks

[GrkStav]

I wouldn't drop Sakho in favor of Skrtel unless I had to.

If we're going to persist with the 3-4-1-2, then:

Mignolet
Toure' Skrtel Sakho
Sterling Gerrard Henderson Enrique
Moses
Sturridge Suarez

With both Lucas (discipline) and Allen (injury) unavailable, our CM options for a 4231 or 433 are somewhat limited.

I suppose we can go with Gerrard Henderson in CM, Luis Alberto CAM, Suarez, Aspas as wide AMs and Sturridge as ST. Or full on 433 with Gerrard in the 1 of the 1-2, Henderson and Luis Alberto as the 2 of the 1-2 midfield, and Suarez, Sturridge, Aspas as the forward 3, left to right.

[Walk on, walk on]

Southampton showed the rest of the league exactly how to play us and win. Press us high and press us relentlessly and we'd give it away like an inebriated cheerleader at the school prom.

If Palace doesn't follow Southampton in pressing us with intensity, I'd be very surprised and they'd be very stupid.

[StrikingMidfield]

Far too confident in here. We have been playing poorly and last two times we have played Holloway teams we have lost. We seem to have a problem with complacency and if ever there was a banana skin its this. They'll play men behind the ball and have pop shots from 20 yards.

We should beat them but that doesn't mean we will. They only lost to Spurs from a penalty and were unlucky at Old trafford cos Ashley the diving bastard.

I hope we win, we should win. But by no means am I expecting a rollover

My thoughts exactly. We have a very talented team at the moment, even without Coutinho, but complacency always hurts us. BR has got to get the team up for this, and even if that means playing some players that aren't going to be getting guaranteed minutes in "big games", then that's what should be done.
Sturridge is one of those players that seems to not get over-confident/complacent, so I'm thoroughly expecting him to put on a clinic. We've just got to make sure the rest of the team follows his example.

[pjshaun]

Southampton showed the rest of the league exactly how to play us and win. Press us high and press us relentlessly and we'd give it away like an inebriated cheerleader at the school prom.

If Palace doesn't follow Southampton in pressing us with intensity, I'd be very surprised and they'd be very stupid.

They showed that last season too. We went on a 12 games unbeaten run in the league after that. 

By the way, according to bib theory it looks like only change would be Sterling coming in for Lucas which means he's going to start as right wing-back with Henderson starting in the center. Subs look like: Jones, Agger, Wisdom, Cissokho/Illori, Alberto, Ibe? , Aspas

[dogeibbor]

They are going to come flying at us like Southampton did.. I think it we shoud start with Kelly at rwb, not a lightfooted pacy guy who has no room to run in (yes.. its sterling I'm refering too). Alberto should be the first sub..

[gorwar61]

We need to be fired up for this one because Holloway has a good record against us.  No slip up lads.

[rocco]

He did but I still think we carry more a threat with Moses rather than Allen. With that line up we only really have 3 recognised attackers in Gerrard, Suarez and Sturridge and Gerrard will probably sit pretty deep.

true enough but it's the position I'm sure we would see the best of Allen

[Schmidt]

Ahem

Lucas is suspended methinks

Yep, just remembered that slightly important fact.

[BazC]

Southampton showed the rest of the league exactly how to play us and win. Press us high and press us relentlessly and we'd give it away like an inebriated cheerleader at the school prom.

If Palace doesn't follow Southampton in pressing us with intensity, I'd be very surprised and they'd be very stupid.

Sunderland did it last week as well. We beat them.

[BazC]

Far too confident in here. We have been playing poorly and last two times we have played Holloway teams we have lost. We seem to have a problem with complacency and if ever there was a banana skin its this. They'll play men behind the ball and have pop shots from 20 yards.

We should beat them but that doesn't mean we will. They only lost to Spurs from a penalty and were unlucky at Old trafford cos Ashley the diving bastard.

I hope we win, we should win. But by no means am I expecting a rollover

We'll smash them at least 3-0.

[pjk66]

going 4-0 us. henderson suarez sturridge and toure!

[walshys_mullet]

if we cant beat these then we dont deserve to challenge.

[jslice]

at home to palace is a must win game, not saying it will be easy but its one of those that when you go through the fixture list you expect to get the points.

They are definitely going to be pressing high up the field like southampton and restricting any time on the ball which is why i'll be happy to have sterling out wide so we can stretch them to help not make it to congested in the middle.

Real chance here for Hendo to show what he's made of in the center of the park, perfect game for him. He'll be box to box so we'll get to see a bit of everything from him.

Im going with 3-0 Luis x2 and sterling.

[Vortigen]

With their current record, Palace would be crazy to come out all guns blazing. I think it is far more likely that they will look to stifle us and then try to get something on a counter or from a set piece.  Our attitude going in this should be to dominate and go for the kill from the first minute. 

[Roger Federer]

Can Moses play on the right in the 3-4-1-2 formation? If he can, I think I'd prefer that, in order to have three more natural central midfielders in the middle (Gerrard, Henderson and Luis Alberto). Only two of those, with Moses infront of them and I'd expect us to struggle with our passing in midfield. With our ball retention I mean. I believe Luis Alberto could help with that problem, even if it's perhaps not by much.