Here is my twopenneth
Match Day 1 – RecapLiverpool v Stoke (1-0)A strong solid performance, with a few bumps on the way – although that was to be expected really. We looked dangerous from set plays – Gerrard in particular having looked to have improved at his corner deliveries – getting the ball in the back of the net (although disallowed for offside) and hitting the crossbar. Some of the clever flicks and dummies didn't come off but in time as everyone gets up to speed and get used to each other this will come. We got a good goal, and should have had a few more were it not for the quality of Begovic, defended well, and Mignolet made a great double save in the 87th minute to deny Stoke an undeserved point. All in all a good day at the office, and a great way to start the season.
Arsenal v Aston Villa (1-3)A fantastic start to the season for the men from Birmingham! Following a poor year last year – with the exception of breakout star Benteke, and the development of Weimann – it was a shock result, particularly being at the Emirates. Arsenal have left themselves high and dry this summer with the much vaunted Ł70m transfer kitty not having been touched, so demoralisation of the team and fans getting on the player's backs could have been a contributing factor. Nevertheless Villa will be buoyed by the result and look to be a little bit more solid at the back so this could be a more competitive match than previously thought. With the pop-psychology out of the way, having watched the match through, Arsenal beat themselves more than Villa beat Arsenal. Last ditch defending and some luck kept Villa in it long enough to beat Arsenal down and cause them to make errors – we have to be careful not to fall in to that trap ourselves.
Match day 2Suggested Formation Mignolet
Toure Agger
Johnson Enrique
Lucas
Gerrard
Henderson Sturridge Coutinho
Aspas
This is, roughly, how we lined up against Stoke and how I believe we will line up again against Villa. The relationship between Agger and Toure looks to be a good one, with the front 4 interchanging and keeping the Villa back line guessing. I expect Henderson to be tasked with assisting Johnson down their left as that is, in my opinion, where the majority of Villa's attacking play will come from. Antonio Luna and Andreas Weimann are both skilful, tricky players who could cause us some trouble, as shown against Arsenal, with Luna bagging a debut goal. One thing we lacked last year was someone who could stand toe to toe with the likes of Benteke, who doesn't appear to have missed a step this season, putting two past Arsenal. Judging by Toure's performances in pre season and against Stoke, I feel a little bit more comfortable than I did last year – especially considering their 3-1 win against us at Anfield last year – although it should be noted that in the second half of the season we beat them 2-1 at Villa Park.
Key BattlesAgger/Toure vs Benteke – Villa tend to play with Benteke up on his own, with Agbonlahor and Weimann cutting in from wide when needs be – although they will be mostly the responsibility of Enrique and Johnson. Benteke is technically sound, and strong as any player, causing defences across the country all manner of trouble last season and so we will need to keep close and try and stop him from getting a run on the defence, particularly at set pieces.
Johnson/Henderson vs Weimann/Luna – I would expect Weimann and Luna to line up on Villa's left side, up against Henderson and Johnson. With Johnson liking to get forward he will leave gaps that Villa will look to exploit and, as I mentioned in my write up of the Stoke game, Henderson appears to be the ideal man to close down, due to the Dirk Kuyt-like qualities that he is exhibiting.
Aspas/Sturridge vs Vlaar/Clark – We should have enough to cause them trouble, particularly if we keep up the movement and flexibility of position that we showed against Stoke. Villa looked to defend deep, but we still cut open time after time by Arsenal, and it was more down to Arsenal's profligacy that Villa did not concede more. They seemed poor in the air – Arsenal managing to get some decent chances from set pieces and so hopefully we can get some result there as well.
Predictions and OverviewRodgers will obviously be looking at the Arsenal game, and tomorrow night's game against Chelsea for areas to exploit. I would be inclined to think that we will start with his usual style of probing and trying to go out wide and then dart inwards with Coutinho provided the killer passes through the defence for Aspas and Sturridge although, should he bit fit in time, I think we might see Cissokho on late for either Aspas or Coutinho – depending on how much of a beating Coutinho gets and whether Aspas is bossing the game – with Enrique pushing forward similar to how we played a few times last season.
Villa aren't going to come at our defence, rather they will likely sit back with Benteke on the half way line in roughly a 4-5-1 when they don't have the ball and wait for us to lose it before breaking with pace down the wings and either feeding it through to Beneteke or Agbonlahor to run on to one on one with Mignolet. I think we are better equipped to deal with this than Arsenal, but it is still something that will be closely watched.
I predict a win, but probably not a big one. I will say 2-1 like last seasons fixture as I do think Beneteke is going to be dominant, but I think we won't be as self destructive as Arsenal were. The worrying moments for me will be the obligatory 43rd and 84th minute corner/free kick as these seem to occur every game and kill us if we concede.
This and the rest of the bollocks I come out with is on
www.ineedaniword.weebly.com - would be grateful to anyone who checks it out and feel free to leave thoughts and so on (shameless plug or what eh?)
