Topic: Preview: Liverpool v Wigan - Saturday 17 November 15:00

[Jake]

Liverpool FC take on Wigan Athletic at Anfield

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Previous Results
Liverpool 1-2 Wigan 24/03/12 - KD
Wigan 0-0 Liverpool 21/12/11 - KD
Liverpool 1-1 Wigan 12/02/11 - KD
Wigan 1-1 Liverpool 10/11/10 - RH
Wigan 1-0 Liverpool 08/03/10 - RB
Liverpool 2-1 Wigan 16/12/09 - RB

I didn't plan on going back to the previous decade, but I was more shocked by the minute finding out just how much of a bogey team Wigan have been for us, for such a supposedly lowly relegation fodder team that Wigan have been in the past few years, noone since Rafa has been able to find a way to get the win, how can this be? Is it bad luck? Is it that we're rubbish? Do we underestimate Wigan? Are Wigan any good? I'd suggest its a combination of them all.

In our last game its fairly safe to say that we had given up in the League, in the game before that £10m worth of set pieces missed a Pen, and Wigan put up a bit of a fight in the game before that. The game before that Roy was here, so that doesn't sound...

We have a better team than them surely? We're the mighty Reds and they're Pie-Eating Wigan? Well credit where credits due, they have had some good players over the last few seasons. Even now they have a bloody good keeper in Al-Habsi, Caldwell has always been solid, Di Santo got a call up to the Argentina squad alongside Leo Messi. I'd take them over Cole and Downing any day of the week.

The Reds have got bloody good players too mind you, Reina is back and on form is better than Al-Habsi, Agger and Skrtel are great, better than Caldwell, and our South American striker has an extra trick or two than theirs.

We should win, but we should beat most teams at limp wristed Fortress Anfield. Hopefully the crowd will get behind the lads and be buoyed by the news that Lucas is back in training, thats got to be good.

Reina should be back in net, Jones is a nice guy but he's not LFC standard.
Enrique played well against Chelsea, and Johnson is the best full back we have, so perhaps we'll see Wisdom rested.
Agger and Skrtel are our first choice defenders, but Coates has skill and would be useful in attack against Wigan, remember his first goal for the club? Zlat ain't the only one who can fly.
In midfield we have Shelvey back but he'll likely start on the bench and it'll be the usual Allen-Sahin-Gerrard. If they can all do their jobs then this works well but so far I'm unimpressed.
Sterling and Suso on the wings? Assaidi has been impressive and surely deserves a chance in the league, but Suso was great against Chel$ea and Sterling will be riding on a high after making his England first team debut.
Up front we'll either have Suarez or Samed Yesil. I'm guessing Suarez.

Prediction? Liverpool 3-1 Wigan. But that's optimistic, I'm also expecting a dominating 0-0.

[The 5th Benitle]

One of my rare Anfield visits this, really looking forward to it. Must admit that with that in mind I was praying Suarez wouldn't get booked against Chelsea

Intriguing Swansea subplot going on here with Rodgers and Martinez facing each other. There will be a lot of passing...just hope we find a cutting edge.

[Cre_mCr_cker]

I'd love to see Suso starting in midfield over Sahin, he brought so much more guile when he came on against Chelsea but there is a good argument for bringing Suso on against tired legs with 30 to go. Expect a much better performance from Allen than he's shown in his last few outings, also it would be good to see Assaidi get a start, he's looked dangerous when he's played in the cup competitions and just gives us an extra threat over players like Downing. I'd love to see a calm, confident 2-0 victory, with Suarez tapping in chances brilliantly created for him by others. Would settle for a 1-0 though.

[AlexL]

This for me:

Reina
Johnson, Skrtel, Agger (If fit), Enrique
                  Allen
           Gerrard--Suso
Sterling                           Assaidi
                  Suarez
 

[WraithXx]

This for me:

Reina
Johnson, Skrtel, Agger (If fit), Enrique
                  Allen
           Gerrard--Suso
Sterling                           Assaidi
                  Suarez

Reina playing 2nd RB behind Johnson then? Hope Wigan don't notice the open goal

[a glass of wine Sir?]

I'd rest Allen...he's struggled recently, bring in Shelvey or Hendo alongside Sahin & Gerrard

[exiledintheUSA]

Attack, attack, attack.  The way Suarez is playing he should get 3.

[Camarero25]

Bogey team.

[Big Dirk]

This for me:

Reina
Johnson, Skrtel, Agger (If fit), Enrique
                  Allen
           Gerrard--Suso
Sterling                           Assaidi
                  Suarez
 

This would be the team I would pick as well,when Suso came on against Chelsea he swung things in our favour with his direct running from central midfield and always looking for a forward pass,Assaidi needs to play as well so we can have to proper wingers who can stretch the Wigan defence.

[Gerrards_Toe]

Going to this. We're gonna smash em

[NorthamptonKopite]

We will win this one.

[Jake]

With all due respect I didn't write this so I could read reams and reams of XIs with no debate or argument or reasoning.

[RhosRed]

I'd love to see Suso starting in midfield over Sahin

Have to disagree with this mate, think Sahin could shine, extra bit of space in the middle where he can knock the ball about. Also I still dont think Suso is at the point where he can make a big difference from the start just yet, looks better when he comes on makes more of a impact!

[RogerTheRed]

Come On Redmen!!
Difficult one this - need a Stevie G screamer to win I reckon

[Harris96]

                    reina
johnson  agger/coates Skrtel enrique
           henderson  sahin
                    gerrard
  suso                            sterling
                     suarez

sterling off for assaidi earlish second half after him playing 90 mins yesterday

Can see sahin dominating this match if he plays deep, seems our a completely different player when we're dictating the game and attacking rather than end to end stuff

[88_RED]

Would like:

                       Pepe
           Skrtel             Agger
Johnson                          Enrique

             Gerrard    Allen
 
Suso                                 Assaidi

               Sterling
                     Suarez                     

Suso must start after his impact at Stamford Bridge... People will argue he can do damage against tired legs... But I would like to think he can do damage against fresh legs given his quality...

Sterling has shown that he is very effective in a free role centrally... And to cover the left hand side out wide I would use Assaidi... He deserves a crack in the league..

[AlexL]

Reina playing 2nd RB behind Johnson then? Hope Wigan don't notice the open goal

Funny guy.

[Kop10]

Wigan play an awkward 3-4-1-2 formation that's very difficult to play against.

This game will require the match-going fans to be patient as wigan like to hog possession too. If they score first, then we won't win.

[John C]

Prediction? Liverpool 3-1 Wigan. But that's optimistic, I'm also expecting a dominating 0-0.

Ta mate, I think you can shift your optimism to expectation for this game. My prediction is that things won't go wrong like in other games this season and the click of the team gelling will be as audible as Zlatan Ibrahimović's bed-springs last night.

An on-fire Suarez and an blob Johnson are going to make hard work for their defence for a change.

So I'll take your 3-1 and raise it to 4 mate.

[gandalf50]

It might be an idea for Suso to come on in the second half. It worked a treat against Chelsea. If he starts he seems to fade in the second half, so having him on the bench as an impact sub seem`s the right way to go. Maybe Assaidi will get a run. Sterling played nearly 2 full matches this week so he might not be able for a full 90. Same with Stevie G. 3 games in 7 days seems a lot for him. How will the midweek fixtures affect the rest? At least Suarez only had to fly across Europe and play at a normal altitude.
Is there any chance Jones will be kept in goal? I doubt it. But you never know.
It will be interesting to see if Wigan go 3 at the back against us like we did at Chelsea. The two managers probably know each others tactics very well.
After two good points against Everton and Chelsea, it would be great if we could get 3 in this fixture.

[didi shamone]

Can't for the life of me explain why we find it so hard to beat Wigan. Maybe we're due a win against them. Law of averages and all that jazz. I never put Wigan in me coupon, they're results are always baffling.
A win here and we can safely say we're on an impressive run. 3 wins and 4 draws is pretty good from our last 7 games, especially when it should have been a win at Goodison as well. Lose and our Anfield form is awful. I'ts a big un...

[B0151?]

Be very interesting to see the team. I know Sahin is a quality player but I'm sure Rodgers is smart enough to realize that playing him further forward just isn't working. Will Shelvey be fit? Can see him playing if he is. Not sure about starting with Suso.

I think we'll win. We need to really. Wigan are a decent side (especially considering where we're at), so it probably won't be easy. I'd like to think that Suarez will be too much for their defence.

[Upinsmoke]

Looking forward to it, hoping to something Norwich esque, and it can be if we hit it off. Want Reina back for this one and his distribution will help us in controlling the match, Kone looks decent for them but its a must win for me, cannot afford to drop points at home, especially against wigan. Really think the tempo is important here, get at them from the off and really press them high up the pitch.

Feeling confident.

[cox3100]

Bogey team.

i dont actually believe in this term.

we do seem to have struggled against these recently but the same could have been said about Chelsea up to a few years back,if Adam had scored that penalty away or Suarez goal had stood at anfield last season this bogey team term wouldnt actually be mentioned.


thnk we`ll win quite comfortably

3 or 4-1

[The Flying Pig]

Agree Pepe should play and would start Suso ahead of Sahinm

[Floydy]

3 points is paramount,  an early goal will do us nicely however, i fear that Wigan may look at how Swansea played and try and catch u on the break, 0-0 for them is a good result, for us not so.

[Mr Dilkington]

1-0 I reckon.

Luis, obviously.

[Thog]

Be very interesting to see the team. I know Sahin is a quality player but I'm sure Rodgers is smart enough to realize that playing him further forward just isn't working. Will Shelvey be fit? Can see him playing if he is. Not sure about starting with Suso.

I think we'll win. We need to really. Wigan are a decent side (especially considering where we're at), so it probably won't be easy. I'd like to think that Suarez will be too much for their defence.

Did you watch the Chelsea match last weekend or not? Sahin played deeper.

[B0151?]

Did you watch the Chelsea match last weekend or not? Sahin played deeper.

In bits he did

[GBF]

playing at home and after the internationals, so ill take a draw. 

[The Last Known Survivor]

Usually not confident about facing wigan as our run against them in the OP shows its not very good. Last 5 home game form has us in bottom 3 so should not be feeling too
confident this time either but strangely I think we will win this. (not by much tho)would like to see this team:

                Reina

johno skertel agger enrique

               allen

        gerrard sahin
   
   suso  Suarez   sterling


If gerrard is playing the furthest forward of the middle three does anybody else think that him and suso could interchange during the match or would suso not do as much defensivly?

[robertobaggio37]

Reina playing 2nd RB behind Johnson then? Hope Wigan don't notice the open goal

 

[goalspaytherent]

two sides who play the ball on the deck, can see us winning this 3-1..........suso will score on satdee

[Red_Rich]

Previous Results
Liverpool 1-2 Wigan 24/03/12 - KD
Wigan 0-0 Liverpool 21/12/11 - KD
Liverpool 1-1 Wigan 12/02/11 - KD
Wigan 1-1 Liverpool 10/11/10 - RH
Wigan 1-0 Liverpool 08/03/10 - RB
Liverpool 2-1 Wigan 16/12/09 - RB

Christ!  I hadn't realised it has been 3 years since we last beat them.

2 or 3-0 to us this time, I think.

[Red_Rich]

I never put Wigan in me coupon, they're results are always baffling.

I'm the same.  Strange isn't it?

For some reason you're never quite sure whether they're going to be dog shit or win 4-0.

[Upinsmoke]

Oh yeah, thank fuck it's a Saturday 3.00 kick off!

[Thog]

This is going to be a very interesting tactical battle here. Rodgers should play a 4-3-3 which is the best way to go against Martinez' 3-4-3 for me. They will look to press high up the pitch due to their front three and it could cause us problems as we are still having teething problems passing it out from the back but in general, we should dominate the match as we have three in central areas compared to their two. They are also a side who like to pass the ball and look to play with a bit of flair about them. We should look to work the ball into wider areas, with the fullbacks overlapping, so we can stretch out their three centre backs who will have to cover, leaving space in the box for late runners into the box. This is why I would give Shelvey the nod over Sahin or maybe even Allen. Wigan play a high line so that could be something we look towards with Suarez' movement also. Downing and Assaidi should start instead of Sterling and Suso who will provide us good options if we look towards the bench.

[Scruba]

Just seen that Kevin Friend is the ref, we are fucked.

[Caligula?]

I'm the same.  Strange isn't it?

For some reason you're never quite sure whether they're going to be dog shit or win 4-0.

Exactly.

At their worst we can go out and absolutely hammer them on Saturday, or they can come out, play well and get something from the game. Box of chocolates they are.

[Malaysian Kopite]

Just seen that Kevin Friend is the ref, we are fucked.

He'll be reffing them as well. So we're even.