It seems like we’ve been on the road for an eternity. The players are probably itching to get back on home turf now and playing in front of our fans. With a spanking new stand and first home game Anfield should really be bouncing tomorrow. Looking at the four away games so far, we’ve actually played really well in three of them. The Burnley result was obviously deflating however, albeit a defeat, wasn’t a reflection of other many away defeats last season where we weren’t even close to being the dominant team. I’m thinking Watford (0-3), West Ham (0-2) and Newcastle (0-2). I’m really looking forward to the home edition of Klopp’s Liverpool, and I expect us to be much better at Anfield the season. For me, there has been a visible imprint on this team of Klopp’s identity, and an improvement on last season already. We witnessed Klopp’s blueprint in patches last season, but the team wasn’t consistent enough and that was largely due to not being able to field our best team due to the high frequency of matches. Our all-round game already looks better to me and we look more balanced as team. Our passing for example has improved, and we don’t fail to create a number of chances in each game. This game will obviously be different to any game we’ve played so far, and I suspect similar to the same fixture last season. Leicester will know we’ll come out hard with it being our first home game, and will try and soak as much pressure as possible in the first half hour and then try and hit us on the counter attack. If we leave gaps behind they will capitalize because Vardy, Mahrez and Musa are all really quick. Basically, it will be a typical Leicester performance. It’s annoying in the sense that you always know how they’re going to play, but they’re extremely bloody effective at it. Everyone know’s how they’re going to set out, but to actually beat them you have to outmatch their intensity level, which is something that we should be able to do. Kante is a big hole their lineup, because it always looked like he was doing the job of 2 men and had an incredible engine which really made last year’s team tick. Their danger man is still Vardy. He can score out of nothing. Their game against Hull (which they lost), looked like a poor performance on the outside, but he missed a hatful of chances that he doesn't normally miss. I can't see him missing many like that again.
Although I expect Leicester to play their usual game, we’ll still have more space at Anfield than we did in any of our 3 games so far and for me Sturridge has to start. The problem is with Coutinho, Firmino and Mane, it’s tough to see how he gets in the side. I know Firmino has been training for the 2 weeks over the break, but at home where you really need to win most of your games I think Sturridge might be a different commodity here. He didn’t play well at Burnley, and you’d have mistaken him for an attacking midfielder in that game had you never watched him play before, but at Anfield the games will be very different. We’ll get space although chances may be at a premium but he still represents the best value in our team to putting the ball in the net. I’d actually be surprised if he didn’t start, but have no idea at who’s expense. If Can was fit I think we would have gone with a 4-2-3-1, with Can and Hendo in the middle, and Wijnaldum drops out to accommodate Sturridge. But, with no Can I think we’ll see the same 3 in the middle, so tough to know who makes way for Sturridge.
Going in to the Spurs game, and being early in the season, I was a bit fearful if I’m totally honest. Spurs are a very good side now, who play a really high tempo. However, our intensity in that game was superb and we were easily the better team in my opinion. Of course, it’s about playing like that in every game and shrugging off this jekyll and hyde character. If we perform the same way as in the Spurs game, I expect us to win.
Nice OP!
