Topic: Preview: West Brom v Liverpool. Premier League. 21/4/18 12.30

[Too early for flapjacks?]

With 2 rather than 3 recovery days between this game and Roma I don't doubt that a few who will start in the latter game will on the bench for West Brom. I'd expect Clyne, Moreno, the CM who won't start against Roma, and possibly one of Ings/Solanke to start on Saturday. That would leave the full backs, a CM and Firmino fresh for Roma.

[hansenite]

great op - Agree with most to go with our 1st team, maybe millie in for sharpness 'prep' over wijnaldum. Put the league to bed ASAP so we can maximise focus on Roma, especially for the match in Rome. We will need as few distractions as possible. dont need to be fucking around with side thought what-ifs.  Has phase of play picked through Roma yet to know what we are up against? They are going to be stubborn and it would be great to know how any of the experts on here think we will break them down... ( for the roma thread probably!!)

[JackWard33]

I think he goes strong either way. If Chelsea drop points then we’re three points off getting top 4. Get it done quickly and then put the league on the back burner.

If we ‘get the league done quickly’ it doesnt increase the amount of time between this game and the first leg of the champions league semi final

[Hymer Red]

Top 4 pretty much done now so I think we will see the team that will face Roma playing the formation we will play against Roma. I dont think Klopp will care too much about the result but will use this opportunity for a dress rehearsal like before the City game.

[Melbred]

Klopp won't rest the big three IMO. All of Salah, Firmino and Mane start.

May be changes in defence, but the front three are on fire and I don't think he's going to want to disrupt their form/rhythm.

[Golyo]

Roma will be facing a SPAL away, the team on the brink of the relegation zone.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Roma will be facing a SPAL away, the team on the brink of the relegation zone.

and they're chasing a CL spot as well, so they need the points just like we do.

[PhaseOfPlay]

Moore has them playing positively, and because of that, they have a bit of new manager bounce, so this could be dangerous for us. We'll be thinking of other things, even if we don't want to, so our players might not be on full throttle. Roma is the important game, whichever way we slice it, so this could be a tough game with a narrow win or score draw, if we're not ruthless in front of goal.

[Lycan]

These caused us all sorts of problems in the FA Cup game and with our minds partly being on the Roma game, a 12.30pm kick-off and the fact WBA have just got a morale-boosting win at OT, I can see this being a really tough game. I'm going to go for 1-1 or 1-0 either way.

[Caligula?]

We need to put out a strong line up out there because there is a very big chance that a victory here might seal a top four place once and for all. If Chelsea lose at Burnley and we win at WBA, they officially can't catch us. If Chelsea draw and we win at WBA, they can only catch us by winning every one of their remaining games while we lose all of ours. And we still have a much superior goal difference, so we'd have to lose every match by about 5-0. Yeah, not happening.

Even if Chelsea win at Burnley, beating WBA would mean we maintain a 7 point lead with 3 matches remaining. Two of which are at home to Stoke (who might already be more or less relegated by then) and Brighton, who might already be safe with nothing to play for. Both at Anfield as well. I think Jürgen wll want to more or less get this top four business done early and shift most of his attention to Roma.

[BobPaisley3]

If we ‘get the league done quickly’ it doesnt increase the amount of time between this game and the first leg of the champions league semi final

We won’t have played for a week though, I think he’ll want to put game time in a lot of legs. If we slip up at WBA we have to go full strength against Stoke which would be far from ideal.

[JerseyKloppite]

We won’t have played for a week though, I think he’ll want to put game time in a lot of legs. If we slip up at WBA we have to go full strength against Stoke which would be far from ideal.

We really don’t. If we drew at WBA and against Stoke at home, even if Chelsea beat us AND won their other 3 games (which seems unlikely) we’d likely still go into the last game of the season above them on goal difference, against a Brighton team who will be safe and have nothing to play for. Add that Chelsea have an important FA Cup game and are bound to drop a couple of points, and that if we get just a point at Stamford Bridge then even if we conspired to lose the next two games AND chelsea won their other three, we would still go into the last game a point ahead of them...

Then I’m pretty sure that even if we dropped 2 points at WBA, we could still afford to rest players against Stoke.

[jillcwhomever]

Klopp has said all along he will pick a strong side, as he wants to get qualification sorted out as quickly as possible. Momentum is something that can be affected if you change too many players. I suspect he'll start with the strongest side then bring people off.

[Qston]

Thanks for the OP. Great work for short notice !

There will no doubt be a lot of debate about who will start with the impending biggest game of the season next week. However, Klopp very rarely changes a winning formula and as others have said, we won`t have played in a week. I think he will go more of less full strength subject to any niggles. If all fit and raring to go the front 3 will start. It should be a comfortable win but we all know that WBA seem to cause us difficulties and had a good result despite a dreadful season at the weekend. They will want to salvage some pride and that showed at the weekend albeit any team who sacks Pardew is going to improve ! They have nothing to lose so we just need to be careful on the heavy challenges.

[Upinsmoke]

We'll go strong, as we should.

[MerseysideBrum]

Be nice to get it done early and then get the front 3 off.

[12C]

Today he'd insist of being called Leonardo Cantello. Or even Leonardo di Cantello'o.

At least Len was a decent player. Unlike that other 'Italian', Peter Marinello, who came south from Scotland with a George Best haircut and a George Best (off the field) reputation, but nothing else to suggest he was a professional footballer.

Then - since I'm now on a roll - there was Man United's 'Italian' Carlo Sartori, a wee fella who had curly ginger hair and looked more Caledonian than Calabrian.

Don’t forget Luigi Macari, who made a bet with Souness that the Mancs would win more than us in the 80s.


Was in the main stand one week, telling everyone he was signing, next week he was at United after Shanks decided he wasn’t for us, or the Mancs offered him more money, in which case Shanks was right

[MD1990]

Roma will be facing a SPAL away, the team on the brink of the relegation zone.

That is a tough game.

SPAL unbeaten in 7 games drew 0-0 at home to Juve.

[redk84]

I can see a few changes being made....or none. Arguments are valid either way, whether he wants to start strong and wrap this game up quicktime or leave some players on the bench to maybe give a quick run around at the end to keep the match fitness up...

or a mixture of both!

Personally I see Gomez getting a start and Klavan too...maybe one of Ings/Solanke.

I anticipate we'll go for the same first 11 we had vs City (Anfield) for the Roma tie so its about those players being in the best shape really

[Macca201188]

This is a very important game, lots suggesting the CL is done, but it isn't. We are in a great spot, but we can't ruin that with a defeat here. The atmosphere at Anfield will get the lads through Tuesday, i think he will rest 2 or 3 tops for this. Get a 2-0 lead and control the game without pushing too much!

[Nessy76]

Klopp has said all along he will pick a strong side, as he wants to get qualification sorted out as quickly as possible. Momentum is something that can be affected if you change too many players. I suspect he'll start with the strongest side then bring people off.

And absolutely everyone is acting as though fourth is as good as second. Just look at the Champions League figures from this week. Chelsea made almost as much as we did, purely because they finished higher last season. The difference between second and fourth could be tens of millions. No way we piss that away.

[RedForeverTT]

These caused us all sorts of problems in the FA Cup game and with our minds partly being on the Roma game, a 12.30pm kick-off and the fact WBA have just got a morale-boosting win at OT, I can see this being a really tough game. I'm going to go for 1-1 or 1-0 either way.

I think that was VVD's second game and was still trying to understand the system and how his colleagues play. There were huge gaps for Rodriguez to exploit which was quite un-Liverpool. I think everyone was quite surprised how we could be so lethargic during the game with no pace and no rhythm. But that was quite some time ago and I am sure it has been addressed.

4-0 demolishion for me.

[RedForeverTT]

And absolutely everyone is acting as though fourth is as good as second. Just look at the Champions League figures from this week. Chelsea made almost as much as we did, purely because they finished higher last season. The difference between second and fourth could be tens of millions. No way we piss that away.

Was it also due to seedings rather than finishing first or fourth?

It is nice to have that extra 10-20m in the pocket but to be honest, if we had relied on CL competition money we would have gone under long time ago. Our finances these days depended on commercial activities and distribution of PL money from TV rights.

[Dench57]

Just done some napkin math and looks like momentum will be at roughly 68% going into this so its important we play a fairly strong side with one eye on Roma. I'm hoping for a training ground, comfortable win just like Bournemouth. Klopp usually always goes strong and I'd expect it for this.

[Nessy76]

Was it also due to seedings rather than finishing first or fourth?

It is nice to have that extra 10-20m in the pocket but to be honest, if we had relied on CL competition money we would have gone under long time ago. Our finances these days depended on commercial activities and distribution of PL money from TV rights.

No. The formula for the first half of the tv pool is based purely on league positions.

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/986147493846110211?s=19

[owens_2k]

I think the most probable thing to happen on Saturday will be that we start with the strongest possible lineup and take off the most overloaded players around the 70/75 min mark.

Klopp is always talking about rhythm and if we were to rest any of the starting lineup from the Bournemouth game then it would have been a whole 10 days since they last played, when it comes to the Roma game.

I'm sure our sports science department will know the number of minutes certain players can play against West Brom have whilst still being at their optimum against Roma 3 days later.

[wige]

Think the difference between the Everton selection and this one will be the weeks rest we've had.

For Everton, we'd played a seriously physically and mentally intense game on Wednesday night, had Thursday and Friday to recover before playing again first thing Saturday. So two days recovery? Two and half if we include an hour or so Wednesday night and Saturday morning.

We've had a full week ahead of West Brom, so players will be peak condition for this. Also, ahead of the Roma game we have the rest of Saturday to recover, a good 7/8 hours. Full days in Sunday and Monday and essentially Tuesday too. Definitely a full three days there total, you could make a strong argument for three and a half.

All leads me to think it'll be near to the starting line-up for Roma. We might see a start for Clyne, as he probably needs match sharpness (though I remember hearing murmurs of a slight knock after Everton?) but I don't see much else happening. I'd expect Klopp to manage fitness via substitutions and, hopefully, a bit of possession and game intelligence if we can get a couple of goals ahead.

West Brom will be dangerous. The United win will have buoyed confidence and obviously the "New Manager Effect^TM" is at it's prime. However, score first and I think we'll see it out comfortably 2 or 3 nil. To be honest, even if they score first I think we win. We're just a very good side now. I don't think they have what it takes to stop us.

I'll go with this predicted eleven, for both Saturday and Tuesday:

Karius, Trent, Lovren, VVD, Robertson, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Salah, Firmino, Mane. Bench of Migs, Clyne, Klavan, Moreno, Milner, Ings, Solanke,

Salah brace, us to win by 3 or more.

[BobPaisley3]

We really don’t. If we drew at WBA and against Stoke at home, even if Chelsea beat us AND won their other 3 games (which seems unlikely) we’d likely still go into the last game of the season above them on goal difference, against a Brighton team who will be safe and have nothing to play for. Add that Chelsea have an important FA Cup game and are bound to drop a couple of points, and that if we get just a point at Stamford Bridge then even if we conspired to lose the next two games AND chelsea won their other three, we would still go into the last game a point ahead of them...

Then I’m pretty sure that even if we dropped 2 points at WBA, we could still afford to rest players against Stoke.

I’m not sure anyone would want it coming down to Brighton on the last day. As I said, I think klopp will go strong and get the win required to put the top 4 question to bed.

[geoffpd]

Fuck off West Brom

Please...... Dignity eh!


Sent from my iPhone8

[JackWard33]

We won’t have played for a week though, I think he’ll want to put game time in a lot of legs. If we slip up at WBA we have to go full strength against Stoke which would be far from ideal.

Our legs have a shit ton of game time in them
Our results on short rest are significantly worse than on long rest
I’m amazed people would start VVD and Salah in this game; seems like a totally unnecessary gamble to me .... but clearly most would

[xbugawugax]

I think the most probable thing to happen on Saturday will be that we start with the strongest possible lineup and take off the most overloaded players around the 70/75 min mark.

Klopp is always talking about rhythm and if we were to rest any of the starting lineup from the Bournemouth game then it would have been a whole 10 days since they last played, when it comes to the Roma game.

I'm sure our sports science department will know the number of minutes certain players can play against West Brom have whilst still being at their optimum against Roma 3 days later.

thinking the same thing. Our front 3 will remain unchanged hopefully. Probably bobby,salah or mane to be subbed once our business is done.

Main worry is our midfield. Wouldn't want any of Milly, Ox, Hendo or gini getting injured. We are down to bare bones at the moment.

Any idea whether Clyne is fit? Seen Gomez in the training pictures, hopefully he can play some part to regain some match fitness. He may be needed in the busy weeks ahead.

Our legs have a shit ton of game time in them
Our results on short rest are significantly worse than on long rest
I’m amazed people would start VVD and Salah in this game; seems like a totally unnecessary gamble to me .... but clearly most would

vvd is at most playing half a season. He was injured most of the time before joining us.

every game is a gamble to be honest. Any of our player could be injured at any moment. If they are deem fit then they should start. Losing to WBA with VVD and Salah on the bench could ruin all the momentum build up. The post match thread will be filled with whoppers and media and punditry will just unleash all the bombs they have been keeping since our up turn in form.

[dudleyred]

Thanks Nessy Great that

I thought this was a very moving gesture by West Brom

thanks for reminding me of that

was top class from them and to be fair i had forgotten all about it.

They look like they are doomed to go down now but I am a bit gutted now having seen that pic again

[JackWard33]

every game is a gamble to be honest.

I understand that but not every game is 3 days before a CL semi final. There's 2 problems - its not a full recovery window and second you don't actually need a proper injury in the game to miss the next one a dead leg or similar would do it.
That's the rational for not risking irreplaceable players in the game

[wige]

I understand that but not every game is 3 days before a CL semi final. There's 2 problems - its not a full recovery window and second you don't actually need a proper injury in the game to miss the next one a dead leg or similar would do it.
That's the rational for not risking irreplaceable players in the game

Klopp's spoken many many times about this, though I concede he's not spoken about it in the context of a CL semifinal - so his thoughts may differ. Essentially, leaving a player out doesn't mean the risk doesn't exist as training still goes on - I'm sure he specifically referenced a training ground injury as evidence as to why resting for games doesn't reduce risk.

[JackWard33]

Klopp's spoken many many times about this, though I concede he's not spoken about it in the context of a CL semifinal - so his thoughts may differ. Essentially, leaving a player out doesn't mean the risk doesn't exist as training still goes on - I'm sure he specifically referenced a training ground injury as evidence as to why resting for games doesn't reduce risk.

His thoughts may well differ totally - and its a unique situation. Won't be apparent what he's thinking til the team sheets out of course.
I don't buy that a match away from home at a team like WBA versus a training session is the same level of risk - of course there's always risk whatever you do but its different in kind.
The recovery side of things isn't in doubt - 2 days off between matches isn't enough for full recovery and has an effect on performance
But anyway ... I'll stop posting on this now as (as is normal with these discussions) most people would play the first team every time

[Nessy76]

Klopp's spoken many many times about this, though I concede he's not spoken about it in the context of a CL semifinal - so his thoughts may differ. Essentially, leaving a player out doesn't mean the risk doesn't exist as training still goes on - I'm sure he specifically referenced a training ground injury as evidence as to why resting for games doesn't reduce risk.

He said it before a Europa semi, and a Champions League qf, but yeah, I'm sure he'll change his mind this time!

[LFC when it suits]

Think we should and will go strong for this game and then rest players next weekend before the 2nd leg. The players have had a week rest and will play a game less than their Roma counterparts.

[wige]

His thoughts may well differ totally - and its a unique situation. Won't be apparent what he's thinking til the team sheets out of course.
I don't buy that a match away from home at a team like WBA versus a training session is the same level of risk - of course there's always risk whatever you do but its different in kind.
The recovery side of things isn't in doubt - 2 days off between matches isn't enough for full recovery and has an effect on performance
But anyway ... I'll stop posting on this now as (as is normal with these discussions) most people would play the first team every time

3 days recovery I make it? Thought from reading Babu/PoP's posts that that's just about enough?

He said it before a Europa semi, and a Champions League qf, but yeah, I'm sure he'll change his mind this time!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but pretty sure we were heavily rotating during that EL run? Especially towards the business end of it.

[Mr Mingebag Squid]

Trusting the manager's judgement is even better.

Hope the likes of you have learnt this. Same cry arses were going on about not buying a left back in 2016. Milner excelled there albeit running out of steam at the end of the season. Still got Top 4 though. Same people moaning about not going for 2nd options when VvD didn't look available in the summer. Same cry arses are wrong again. We've waited and now we've got the best CB in the league, maybe even Europe. Same cry arses were moaning about selling Coutinho and not buying a replacement in January. Read and heard people saying w'd given up on the CL with those decisions. We've been fucking boss since January and better than in the 1st half of the season. CL semi's and in pole position for a CL place.

I suppose my over arching point is that the manager knows a lot better than many most (I actually mean all) on here. He's not infallible and will make mistakes. He may make some between now and the end of the season. But he's done enough for us to trust him. He'd got enough things correct by last summer for people to trust him about signing AOC. There were lots of people who were happy to criticise AOC and the decision to buy him in the 1st few months here. Well I hope most of those people have been put in their box and can at least now start to trust the manager if he buys or sells someone you do or don't rate this summer.

This post needs reposting for people questioning Klopp....

[fowlermagic]

Klopp will still pick the bones of his first 11 as he has done over most of the season. Its amazing how we have seen the likes of Salah, Firmino. Milner and co make so many appearances this season but we have had our fair share of injuries too so the league has taken its toll on us. We cant slow down now as might as well keep firing the way we have done all season.