« on: January 16, 2022, 01:01:16 pm »
Vs 
January. Our favourite time of year. Christmas is over. Back to the slog of work. Thank God for football to take our mind off things. Or not. Covid. AFCON. Annoying home draws in the first leg of a League Cup Semi Final. Ah well, we get a chance to put things in a better place on Sunday when Brentford come to Anfield.
The Reds
Obviously without Salah and Mané our goal threat is reduced. Origi is most likely still in hiding until the transfer window shuts. No obvious signings on the horizon so we’ll go again with what we have.
A midfield of Fab, Hendo and Milner does feel a little one paced. Perhaps Jones or Ox will get a start. In the front three, there’s not a lot of options unless we go brave and leave out Taki for Gordon and inject some youth and pace.
At the back, we are relatively spoilt for choice by comparison. Who starts at left back is probably the main debate these days. Konate for Matip the other possible change.
The Bees
It’s been a strange first season in the Premier League for Brentford. They’re sitting in a pretty healthy place at the moment, with a decent points buffer to the bottom three and a lot of teams needing to improve for them to be sucked into a battle. That said, they won’t be counting any chickens yet. For a team that had competed well in most games, they were surprisingly cut apart by Southampton midweek.
What we’ve seen tonight will be music to their ears. They’ll play their big three centre backs and hard working midfielders and be content to sit in. Toney and Mbuemo will run the channels and keep our back for on our toes. They’ll be happy to keep it tight for as long as they can and see which way the cards fall.
They’re still missing their first choice keeper Reya, plus very tidy left back Rico Henry. Onyenka is at the AFCON with Nigeria but otherwise a lot of their recent absentees have returned. Sergi Canos returns ‘home’, not sure if he ever played at Anfield though. Possibly a cup replay against Exeter.
Prediction
I can’t see it being easy on the eye. I think this could be a slog. An early goal makes our world a lot easier. No Origi to bring on and mix it up makes it tough if it stays 0-0 for a while.
I think the Reds will eek it out. 1-0, possibly 2-0 with a very late second to out the seal on it. Jota and Jones.
Let’s face it. We need to win. And we owe them for the 3-3 earlier in the season which you all hoped I’d forgotten about. Thought I should mention it first seeing as half the posts that follow will say what a poor result it was. Come on Redmen! 
« Last Edit: January 16, 2022, 03:37:53 pm by TepidT2O »
Logged
“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
“Generosity always pays off. Generosity in your effort, in your work, in your kindness, in the way you look after people and take care of people. In the long run, if you are generous with a heart, and with humanity, it always pays off.”
W
