Topic: Liverpool vs Leicester City, Anfield, 30th December 2017 at 3.00pm Pre Match

[Hazell]

The start of 3 games in 7 days brings about a match against a Leicester City side who, in recent matches, have dropped off a little after a strong start under Claude Puel.

Defeats at home to Palace and away to Watford with 2 draws against Man City and Man Utd (thank you Harry Maguire) sandwiched in between, means their last victory was 5 games ago at Southampton, where they won 4-1. Prior to that, they had won 4 in a row, including a deserved  victory against Tottenham. With Gray, Vardy and Mahrez (who seems to have found his form again) in their side, they’re still able to cause any team in the league problems and they’ll likely be happy to sit deep and use their talented attacking triumvirate to hit us on the break.

We’ve fared better in terms of recent results, although we’ve drawn a few too many which have swung between the frustrating (West Brom) to the farcical (Arsenal) to the fucking annoying (Everton). Still, despite the criticism the team has gotten for those, we’ve generally played pretty well since the defeat at Tottenham and are coming off a 5-0 victory against Swansea, which ultimately turned out to be pretty comfortable. So we should be going into this with confidence.

With both teams having another game in 48 hours and for us, Everton on the Friday after, Klopp and Puel will both likely make changes for this game and so it’s difficult to be certain about which of our players will start. Solanke had a neat cameo against Swansea and could be in the frame, Mane’s had a bit of a rest and will be desperate to force his way back into the side and with Henderson out, does Gruijic have a possibility of starting or is that unlikely?

Also, Lallana’s back! It was great to see him come on on Tuesday, it was like he was never away. And in particular, he’s the type of player we could do with in games like this, where we’ll likely have most of the ball and will be facing a team happy to sit deep and deny us any space in their half. That extra little of touch of magic might be what we’ve been missing in these types of games.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is it’s going to be another fine 5-0 victory coming up, with Solanke grabbing his first goal for us, Alexander-Arnold bettering his stunner in the week, Mane getting back to last season’s form and Van Dijk looking on and being worried about how he’s going to get into a side so defensively awesome.

[Titi Camara]

Magic, cheers for stepping in

[sms1986]

We can quite easily get another 5-0 here, hopefully its settled as soon as possible so that we can slow down earlier and maybe take some of our attacking players off.

[David Struhme]

I’d go with:

                              Van Dijk


Van Dijk          Van Dijk        Van Dijk        Van Dijk

                      Van Dijk        Van Dijk

                                Coutinho

Salah                        Firmino                    Mane

[Dim Glas]

2 games in 48 hours, there will be some clever squad rotating needed for this one!

With all the lock-pickers needed to play against the Burnley Bus, I wouldn't be surprised to see Coutinho start on the bench for the Leicester game too, maybe Bobby or Mo as well.

Hendo being out is a big miss, cos now we have 2 games in quck succession, but only one 'number 6' available in Emre Can, but I wouldn't be surprised if James Milner starts vs Leicester and plays a deeper role.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

We can quite easily get another 5-0 here, hopefully its settled as soon as possible so that we can slow down earlier and maybe take some of our attacking players off.

Leicester are a lot better than Swansea, and far more dangerous in attack.

[sms1986]

Leicester are a lot better than Swansea, and far more dangerous in attack.

Sure, i'm just saying that we have the ability to do that to teams. I'll be happy with any win (or draw, for that matter).

[Brain Potter]

We've never managed to beat a team managed by Claude Puel. Lyon and Southampton.
I don't think these will be wide open like Swansea. Might need to be patient, but still confident.
With Salah and Firmino taken off early on Tuesday I expect them both to start.

[sms1986]

We've never managed to beat a team managed by Claude Puel. Lyon and Southampton.

To be fair, half the results were draws and even the wins were only by a single goal - https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/claude-puel/leistungsdatenDetail/trainer/1240/gegner_id/31. Besides, there's a first time for everything.

[Roady]

Be a tougher game this obviously. I still expect us to win by the odd goal. I do think they will score though. I’ll go 3-1 to us. Leicester will be happy to try and soak it all up and try to hit us on the counter.

[nellpatel]

I think he will go relatively strong for this, with several changes then for Burnley:

Mignolet
Trent--Matip--Klavan--Robertson
Wijnaldum--Can/Milner--Ox
Salah--Firmino--Coutinho

Then for Burnley:
Karius
Gomez--Lovren--Matip--Milner
Lallana--Grujic/Can--Ox
Mane--Solanke/Sturridge--Coutinho


I don't care how we get them, just get 6 points please!

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Vardy will score he always does, we need to be aware or his cuntish diving antics. Mahrez is also in form, so they will be dangerous on the counter

I have no idea what to expect line up wise, with us playing on the first as well. Just get the 3 points

[Xabier Alonso Olano]

Feels like there's always goals recently when we play Leicester, and can see us hopefully keeping that up. Vardy has a decent record against us so that's the obvious one to make sure we stop but as the OP said, Mahrez and Gray are in good form and Okazaki can be a handful.

Expecting something along the lines of:

Karius; Gomez, Matip, Lovren, Robertson; Can, Wijnaldum, Chamberlain; Coutinho, Firmino, Salah.

Mig, Trent, Klavan, Milner, Lallana, Mane, Solanke.

I'd rather we go strong for this and make a few changes vs Burnley, with most of the bench for the Leicester game starting the next one.

Would be ideal if we can take a couple from Salah, Coutinho, Firmino or Can off early but I don't think it'll be an easy game so we will have to be at our best to have put them to bed early.

I still think it's nuts having to play twice with just one days gap, even with our pretty deep squad it seems harsh, feel sorry for teams that haven't really got that many options to bring in.

[niallers]

A poor enough Watford team beat them. Leicester have had the same amount of games as us lately and can't rotate with the same quality as we can. Any team we put out should have enough to beat them.

[Lone Star Red]

We owe Puel an absolute beatdown after all the clean sheets his Southampton side kept against us last season.

[lessthanmatt]

Always confident these days especially at home. Some rotation needed between this one and Burnley like you all say. Which of the forward line play which game and for how long is one of the biggest questions for me. I hope we get a multi-goal cushion in both games early on.

Also interesting is how Lovren reacts to VVD news. I am guessing he has known about it for a long while, but it's him who loses out the most when the games thin out a bit and we can afford to play a regular backline (which you would think has Matip and VVD at its heart). I recall Lovren snapping at or walking away from interviewers who asked him about VVD in the summer. Contrast this with Klavan who seems more content and understanding of his role. Don't get me wrong - I expect a professional performance from everyone - but it's surely something of a dynamic on Dejan's mindset.

[classycarra]

Two games in 48 hours is a scandal. Hope the games are as appalling as they were last season. The only way it changes is if the 'brand' is hit, which it is with the extra shit standard of football caused by fatigue or b team games.

What a pleasure it is to not have to worry about replacing quality with quality when rotating, and to be able to improve on last year's mistake at Sunderland.

Hopefully we show the same patience we did against Swansea, and ideally allow ourselves a pleasant last half hour of subs as we did on boxing day

[ManiacKop]

For me, I’d play strongest team against these.

Migs
TAA
Robertson
Ragnar
Lovren

Can
Coutinho
Ox

Salah
Firmino
Mane

[classycarra]

Is Ndidi suspended? Would be helpful if they have less energy in midfield. Might allow us to give Lallana his first 60 mins since returning.

[bird_lfc]

If there was a longer break between this I’d expect another ass kicking courtesy of Jurgens boys

Expecting a few changes but it’s not surprising. The only good thing about this game is that it’s at home again

[TepidT2O]

Nice little write up there for the op...

[riismeister]

Mignolet in goal. He's still the boss' #1 choice. (Although I do think Karius will get 1 or 2 more league games before the next CL game. Which one(s) is anyone's guess).

Matip-Lovren at centerback. Klavan has played 100% of available minutes in the 6 previous games. Lovren got a rest vs Swansea and Matip is just back from injury.

Gomez and Robertson at fullback. Gomez got a rest vs Swansea and Robertson was subbed and has also not played that much earlier in the season. Small chance of Milner at leftback.

Can and Wijnaldum in the center of the midfield. Henderson is out. Small chance of Milner in for Gini.

The front 4 is tricky to predict. Firmino, Salah and Coutinho have all started each of our 4 previous games, but Klopp has also rotated these players less than others. Particularly Salah. I think we might see 2 out of the 4 start together with Ox and Mane. Probably Salah and Firmino.

So my guess would be;

------------Mignolet-----------------
--Gomez--Matip--Lovren--Robbie--   (Possibly Milner in for Robbie)
----------Can----Wijnaldum---------   (Possibly Milner in for Gini)
---------------Ox---------------------   (Possibly Coutinho here and Ox in for Salah)
--------------Firmino-------Mane----
--Salah-------------------------------

[the_red_pill]

These are doing better than last season and they've recently played like typical Leicester, circa 2015/2016- in their shells, but deadly on the counter with Mahrez and Vardy waiting to pounce.
We need to score early and continue our good defensive record against the less fancied teams.

[didi shamone]

I’d go with:

                              Van Dijk


Van Dijk          Van Dijk        Van Dijk        Van Dijk

                      Van Dijk        Van Dijk

                                Coutinho

Salah                        Firmino                    Mane

So Van Dijk can't play upfront according to you. There's so much negativity among the fan base.

[didi shamone]

Joking aside Leicester can be a dangerous side if they turn up.Mahrez is on song. Looking for a transfer I reckon. Vardy is a pest. Ndidi owned our midfield last year and he's a serious prospect IMO.
That said let's twat these title winning manager back stabbing knife chinned six fingered no marks.

[Zoomers]

Leicester and then Burnley, two sides that are known to fight well against top teams, we need to be awake from the very first minute.

[Gus 1855]

Taking my better half to her first game for this one. Got a good feeling! 3-0.

Team selection’s going through be interesting.

[Caligula?]

They're winless in 3 and have lost two of those, and United should have been 3 or 4-1 up before Leicester pegged them back in the final seconds. Some of their players are on good form but they're nowhere near the 2015/16 levels they showed as some people on here would like to believe. They are dangerous going forward and particularly on the counter attack (plus Albrighton is probably one of the best crossers of a ball in the league) so I'm not really sure we'll keep them out, but they're poor defensively so no reason why we shouldn't score a few as well.

I'll go for a 3-1 win.

[Lycan]

Puel seems to have the measure of us, so expect a difficult game.

[Souness1]

Full strength and then rotate for Burnley, reckon this could be a really tricky one.

Puel seems to have our number, can see a score draw.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Any win will do. They have pace on the counter still, so we have to be cautious.

[4pool]

Referee: Neil Swarbrick
Assistants: S Ledger, A Garratt
Fourth official: Lee Mason

[jckliew]

We will thump them at Anfield. 4-2 to the REDS!

[PIPA23]

just keep an eye on Okazaki..

no realy we should be beating these, i take 1:0

[RogerTheRed]

Come on Redmen!!
Looking forward to being at this one. Read that Puel has them playing higher up the pitch than earlier in the season, hope he sticks with that as it will suit our pace. They looked dodgy defensively against Utd and will be short of a right back as Simpson injured and Amartey got sent off. Should be good for Mane and hope he scores a couple.
Will we see Milner in CM for this? I expect so. Would not be surprised if Solanke starts with Bobby on the bench. Probably Alex instead of Phil too?

[Goalposts for Jumpers]

Would like to see Robertson and Solanke start this one. Leicester have conceded a few in the air and it's an option i'd like to see us try against the bus-parkers. I'd go with:

---------------Karius

TAA---Matip------Lovren---Robertson

--------------Can

-------Gini----------Lallana

Mane------Solanke-----Ox

Then against Burnley:

---------------Migs

Gomez---Matip---Klavan---Milner (or Lovren at CB depending who's least knackered)

--------------Can           (if not too knackered, not sure on alternatives here though)

-------Gini----------Ox        (maybe Coutinho deeper and Mane on, as Mane should still be quite fresh)

Salah------Firmino---Coutinho

Assuming Hendo remains unavailable.

[Pistolero]

Two games in 48 hours is a scandal. Hope the games are as appalling as they were last season. The only way it changes is if the 'brand' is hit, which it is with the extra shit standard of football caused by fatigue or b team games.

So you want to see a really shit game in order to teach 'the man' a lesson?....utter cobblers...best 2 weeks of the season ..bring it on...

[zero zero]

A poor enough Watford team beat them. Leicester have had the same amount of games as us lately and can't rotate with the same quality as we can. Any team we put out should have enough to beat them.

They've got us, then Huddersfield at home also 48 hours later, Fleetwood away in the cup and then Chelsea away.

I'd like to think they'd be targeting the Huddersfield game to pick up points in the league.

No idea who Klopp will play*, but possibly he might go with Firmino away at Burnley, so maybe a Solanke/Sturridge start?

*Also not overly bothered. It will be a team that ought to win regardless.

[Tony19:6]

Puels lot will make this tough. Expect a 2-1 not gonna be pretty but we will edge it.

Onto the overgrown Wotsits Burnley - we'll have about 95% posession but will find them an even tougher nut to crack.

[Qston]

I think Salah will play. If memory serves (and it is serving me less and less often !) he was substituted pretty early against Swansea and that seems to suggest he will play against Leicester. Coutinho played on quite a lot longer and has been playing brilliantly. I wonder whether the plan will be to start him or will he be the man the sit this one out ? So hard to tell nowadays with the rotation and number of fixtures.

This will be a difficult game. Leicester are really good on the break. Their central defence in particular is vulnerable but I can see most of the game being played in that final third and their lack of pace will be less of a problem for them.

I think this will be a lot tighter than the Swansea game and will be one of those games where we will have to be really solid at the back as i don`t see us scoring 4+ goals again.