So Liverpool is the mystery club supporting Sheffield United's bid to remain in the Premier League? Interesting. I guess we know what Rick Parry's been up to for the last week or so.
Questioned as to whether Parry's appearance as a witness was due to Liverpool's signing of Javier Mascherano from West Ham, McCabe added: "Not particularly. Rick is an experienced football guy. He's a good witness."
This quote the BBC is running from Sheffield chairman Kevin McCabe doesn’t really give any insight into Liverpool’s participation, so I feel more than free to baselessly speculate.
So is Liverpool involved in this because of intimate knowledge of the Tevez and Mascherano transfers, thanks to the signing of Mascherano, or because of ulterior motives? Is Liverpool supporting Sheffield’s case, and by default promoting West Ham’s relegation, in order to have a better chance at securing the services of one Carlos Tevez? Is Parry et al really that clever?
Ah, summer speculation. Good for the heart and soul.
Personally, I'm a bit conflicted over the whole arbitration matter, discounting Liverpool’s entrance into the mire.
I want to like West Ham. It goes back to 2003 and living in London. Upton Park was one of two grounds I was lucky enough to see Premier League matches at, and Liverpool against the Hammers was the first Liverpool game I saw in person. And, admittedly, I developed somewhat of a soft spot for them.
It had little to do with the match at Upton Park (Liverpool won 3-0 if you're wondering), and more to do with the fact I had no desire to see West Ham relegated. Much like this season, the Hammers underperformed with a vast amount of talent on the roster. It pains me to say, especially given the team he's on now, but I was a big fan of Joe Cole at the time, as well as appreciating Jermain Defoe, Michael Carrick, and the rest of the young English talent on the roster. And Glenn Roeder’s aneurysm during the season (and so soon after Houllier’s health problems) brought a sympathy factor along with it. With West Ham’s history, fan base, and squad, it seemed unbelievable they'd be relegated. And when they were, I never lost that soft spot.
I was glad to see them come back up for 2005-06. And I enjoyed the job Pardew did in getting them to 9th place and the FA Cup Final. My soft spot certainly would have diminished had West Ham held on for a fluky victory. But they didn't, the game was etched into Liverpool folklore, and both West Ham’s squad and fans did their club proud that day.
This season has been a bit different. The unseemliness of Kia Joorabchian and the Tevez/Mascherano situation, Magnusson's takeover, Pardew's firing, Curbishley's hiring and signings, and the team's inability to function as a unit until sometime in March all made the heart less fond of the East Londoners. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Even as of the end of the season, I still had preferred the Hammers staying up over Sheffield, mainly thanks to being fed up with Neil Warnock’s mouth, but I couldn’t claim any real desire to see West Ham succeed.
I was fairly certain this arbitration would be a formality, sealing Sheffield's fate and confirming West Ham's stay in the Premiership. Maybe it's solely because of Liverpool's participation, but the fact of the matter is I'm not so sure anymore.
Seeing how Magnusson’s thrown exorbitant amounts of money around like he’s surrounded by strippers, even more so than in January, isn’t doing more to endear West Ham to the neutrals, and Sheffield looks a lot better with Warnock gone, despite the job he did for them. If I’m being utterly fair, and I honestly don’t know if I can be, I still can’t decide who has better merits to stay up.
I want to like West Ham. I do. I’ve wanted them to do well (as long it has no impact on Liverpool, obviously), whereas I’ve never cared much for Sheffield United. But West Ham is in the wrong. Points deductions are the precedent if one goes by decisions in the lower leagues. I can’t see the league reversing the decision now, after the season’s over, and I fear what would happen if they did (it’d be one hell of a payday for the lawyers). But honestly, maybe they should.
We’ll know tomorrow.
Showing posts with label Sheffield Utd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sheffield Utd. Show all posts
18 June 2007
22 April 2007
How the other half lives
In 20th place, with the draw against Manchester City yesterday, Watford’s long-assumed fate in dropping back down to the Championship was sealed. I will be very surprised if they don’t return within 3 seasons at the most.
However, the rest of the weekend’s games involving teams at the bottom of the table have made the relegation fight a touch more interesting. First and foremost, Sheffield’s draw at Charlton.
If any of the three teams who’ve inhabited the relegation zone were to escape the quagmire, Charlton was the hot pick. Having sat at the foot of the table for most of the first half of the season, they’ve steadily improved throughout Alan Pardew's tenure, and have only lost once in the last eight games. Admittedly, when he was hired, I thought Pardew’s rebuilding project would take place in the Championship next season, but since February, he’s looked capable of keeping the team in the Premier League, which is an accomplishment not to be understated.
Victory over Sheffield on Saturday would have seen them leap past their opponents into safety. They looked likely to achieve it when they finally took a 1-0 lead after 60 minutes, but soon after, Jonathan Stead pulled back a priceless goal on the road, and Sheffield held off Charlton for the remainder. Now, with 3 games left, Sheffield’s not out of the woods, but they maintain a 2 point advantage over their closest pursuer, one better on goal difference.
Over the next three games, Charlton will travel to Blackburn before hosting Tottenham and finishing against Liverpool at Anfield. Sheffield will take on recently-relegated Watford at Brammall Lane before going to Aston Villa, and facing 16th placed Wigan at home on the final day of the season.
West Ham also stirred matters up more with a victory over Everton, which sees them only one point behind Charlton, 3 behind Sheffield. Thanks to that win, they’re not out of it by any stretch of the imagination either, and if they stay up, home wins over United (1st), Arsenal (4th), and Everton (5th) may have sealed it.
The aforementioned Wigan welcomes West Ham next Saturday in yet another six-pointer that will go a long way towards deciding how this will all pan out. After that, the Latics are at home against Middlesbrough and away to Sheffield. It’s seems as if we’ve had matches between the bottom five or so teams every week over the final couple of months. Meanwhile, West Ham will host Bolton and then visit Manchester United, where they could not only change the dynamics of the relegation fight, but the title race as well.
Fulham is probably the only other team that could be drawn into this mess. Middlesbrough’s draw with Manchester United sees them join Aston Villa and Manchester City in getting to 40 points, which is usually what’s necessary for safety, in the last couple of games. Right now Fulham are only 3 points ahead of Charlton and still must travel to Arsenal and Boro and host Liverpool. They’ll honestly have to better their previous results to get any points from those fixtures.
I fully maintain the right to change my forecasts game-by-game for my usually inane weekly predictions, but just looking at the final fixtures, it’s tempting to try and figure how it’ll all fall out Against Blackburn, Tottenham and Liverpool, Charlton probably won’t be favored to pick up any points despite their recent achievements. Sheffield, meanwhile, has to look at the Watford and Wigan matches as opportunities to least come away with something, if not all three points. Other than in the upcoming Wigan contest, West Ham won’t be preferred by many punters; both Bolton and Manchester United are very difficult matches for a run-in to save top-tier status.
Both Charlton and West Ham will have tough times staying in the Premiership. It’s a credit to them that we’re still having this discussion given they’ve been in the relegation zone nearly all season, but that will bring little consolation. Both teams will have to win games where they won’t be favored, and still hope that Sheffield or Wigan slip up in comparatively easier matches. If anything, Wigan looks most liable to take one of their places, and even Fulham is probably more threatened than the Blades with their past results and difficult run-in. However, being a full three points ahead of Charlton while with a better goal differential may just save Lawrie Sanchez’s new squad.
With Chelsea unable to take advantage of Manchester’s slip up yesterday, it looks like the bottom end of the table should be a fair bit more exciting than the top; the Blues will need help even if they win against United. Thankfully though, we should at least have one fight that will make for a fun final few weeks.
However, the rest of the weekend’s games involving teams at the bottom of the table have made the relegation fight a touch more interesting. First and foremost, Sheffield’s draw at Charlton.
If any of the three teams who’ve inhabited the relegation zone were to escape the quagmire, Charlton was the hot pick. Having sat at the foot of the table for most of the first half of the season, they’ve steadily improved throughout Alan Pardew's tenure, and have only lost once in the last eight games. Admittedly, when he was hired, I thought Pardew’s rebuilding project would take place in the Championship next season, but since February, he’s looked capable of keeping the team in the Premier League, which is an accomplishment not to be understated.
Victory over Sheffield on Saturday would have seen them leap past their opponents into safety. They looked likely to achieve it when they finally took a 1-0 lead after 60 minutes, but soon after, Jonathan Stead pulled back a priceless goal on the road, and Sheffield held off Charlton for the remainder. Now, with 3 games left, Sheffield’s not out of the woods, but they maintain a 2 point advantage over their closest pursuer, one better on goal difference.
Over the next three games, Charlton will travel to Blackburn before hosting Tottenham and finishing against Liverpool at Anfield. Sheffield will take on recently-relegated Watford at Brammall Lane before going to Aston Villa, and facing 16th placed Wigan at home on the final day of the season.
West Ham also stirred matters up more with a victory over Everton, which sees them only one point behind Charlton, 3 behind Sheffield. Thanks to that win, they’re not out of it by any stretch of the imagination either, and if they stay up, home wins over United (1st), Arsenal (4th), and Everton (5th) may have sealed it.
The aforementioned Wigan welcomes West Ham next Saturday in yet another six-pointer that will go a long way towards deciding how this will all pan out. After that, the Latics are at home against Middlesbrough and away to Sheffield. It’s seems as if we’ve had matches between the bottom five or so teams every week over the final couple of months. Meanwhile, West Ham will host Bolton and then visit Manchester United, where they could not only change the dynamics of the relegation fight, but the title race as well.
Fulham is probably the only other team that could be drawn into this mess. Middlesbrough’s draw with Manchester United sees them join Aston Villa and Manchester City in getting to 40 points, which is usually what’s necessary for safety, in the last couple of games. Right now Fulham are only 3 points ahead of Charlton and still must travel to Arsenal and Boro and host Liverpool. They’ll honestly have to better their previous results to get any points from those fixtures.
I fully maintain the right to change my forecasts game-by-game for my usually inane weekly predictions, but just looking at the final fixtures, it’s tempting to try and figure how it’ll all fall out Against Blackburn, Tottenham and Liverpool, Charlton probably won’t be favored to pick up any points despite their recent achievements. Sheffield, meanwhile, has to look at the Watford and Wigan matches as opportunities to least come away with something, if not all three points. Other than in the upcoming Wigan contest, West Ham won’t be preferred by many punters; both Bolton and Manchester United are very difficult matches for a run-in to save top-tier status.
Both Charlton and West Ham will have tough times staying in the Premiership. It’s a credit to them that we’re still having this discussion given they’ve been in the relegation zone nearly all season, but that will bring little consolation. Both teams will have to win games where they won’t be favored, and still hope that Sheffield or Wigan slip up in comparatively easier matches. If anything, Wigan looks most liable to take one of their places, and even Fulham is probably more threatened than the Blades with their past results and difficult run-in. However, being a full three points ahead of Charlton while with a better goal differential may just save Lawrie Sanchez’s new squad.
With Chelsea unable to take advantage of Manchester’s slip up yesterday, it looks like the bottom end of the table should be a fair bit more exciting than the top; the Blues will need help even if they win against United. Thankfully though, we should at least have one fight that will make for a fun final few weeks.
24 February 2007
Liverpool 4-0 Sheffield United
That certainly was an odd match. 4-0 is always more than an acceptable scoreline, but it never felt like a four-goal performance or that easy of a game. But with all the changes from the Barcelona game (starts for Pennant, Hyypia, Gonzalez, Crouch, Fowler, Dudek, and a debut for Mascherano), even more changes than I thought likely, a more disjointed performance was always going to be the case.
The game was over by the 25th minute after two Robbie Fowler penalties. Yep, two penalties, both given for fouls on Gerrard, before the game was a third completed. That's pretty much what made it odd. It's worth noting that Gerrard fouled and Fowler scoring the penalty is how Liverpool got their goal at Bramall Lane in August.
Both penalties were deserved. The first, admittedly, was quite soft, but replay showed that Rob Kozluk brought Gerrard down, and that Stevie hilariously played up every moment of it. Tussling before a corner, with the referee less than 2 feet away, Gerrard has his hands in the air, doing the full-on ‘look at how much he’s grabbing me’ routine. Kozluk doesn’t stop, puts his arms around Gerrard and starts to pull him down, and Stevie goes down while appearing to shout for the ref's attention. I’m sorry, that’s not in the same category as Drogba or Ronaldo avoiding contact and theatrically diving through the air, that’s clever. And amusing. Fowler stepped up, Paddy Kenny guessed correctly and dove to his left, but Fowler’s shot was too powerful.
During the corner kick that led to the penalty, Rob Hulse accidentally kicked Crouch in the face, and with blood everywhere from a gash on his eyebrow, he was substituted for Kuyt. It’s a pity, because Crouch had finally gotten a start, and the few times he saw the ball he looked useful, but at least it doesn't look like he'll be on the sidelines for long.
Less than five minutes later, we had a second penalty that was absolutely certain. From a throw-in, Kuyt flicked-on for Gerrard to run onto, and with two hands, Nick Montgomery pulled him down. Kenny guessed left again, but this time Fowler chipped to his right for two-nil. Liverpool had been the better team, but had never really seemed to take it out of first gear, and didn’t have much impetus to now that they were two up. Warnock, in an effort to stop the damage, brought on Kazim-Richards, who did help Sheffield offer more, but there was never a real threat to Liverpool’s goal, which featured Dudek in his first league start this season.
Liverpool was better in the second half, but never truly dominant except for a three-minute spell that saw them register the two other goals. The third again came from a corner, when Hyypia was there to slam in a ball skittering through the penalty box. The fourth goal was Liverpool’s best, with Gerrard deservedly getting on the scoresheet after being put through by Fowler, who had been found in space by Mascherano.
With Gerrard earning two penalties and scoring the fourth, he’s got to be the choice for man of the match, but it was more than those three instances. Throughout the game, he was at his rampaging best, making surging runs, unlocking the defense with passes, and getting back to defend when required. Much will be made that he played in the center, but as I’m getting tired of reiterating, Gerrard in the center isn’t necessarily better than Gerrard on the right. As people should know with Benitez, different games merit different styles. Different possibilities.
Other players' performances also merit a mention. Hyypia stepped back into the side with ease. Sheffield gave Liverpool’s center backs a ton of time, but aside from a couple of wayward passes, Hyypia’s distribution in bringing the ball out of defense was superb, and his aerial presence was again excellent. Pennant also put in another outstanding performance. Much is made of his crossing and beating his man to the byline, which he did to decent effect, but what was most impressive here was the way he got up and down the wing. He got back to defend, with pace, every time it was needed, and got back up the sideline just as quickly. The entire game he was running hard, which was reassuring to see, to say the least.
In addition, Javier Mascherano made an excellent debut in which he played the full 90. In the first ten or fifteen minutes, I distinctly remember being frightened, with a couple of misplaced passes, mistimed tackles, and otherwise anonymity. But he certainly grew into the game, getting better by the minute. By the end he was tackling United players all over the pitch. It’s obvious he’s still lacking match fitness with some of his timing issues, but the quality is utterly evident. Either there are some serious extenuating circumstances (there must be), or West Ham has no idea what they had.
This was exactly what was needed. There’s always the potential for a hangover after a win like that at Camp Nou, especially with a team as dogged as Sheffield United, who can epitomize a bogey team. But even with the amount of changes, and with the team never showing the drive they had against Barcelona, they won going away, which will serve to give even more confidence leading up to next weekend. Bring on the Mancs.
The game was over by the 25th minute after two Robbie Fowler penalties. Yep, two penalties, both given for fouls on Gerrard, before the game was a third completed. That's pretty much what made it odd. It's worth noting that Gerrard fouled and Fowler scoring the penalty is how Liverpool got their goal at Bramall Lane in August.
Both penalties were deserved. The first, admittedly, was quite soft, but replay showed that Rob Kozluk brought Gerrard down, and that Stevie hilariously played up every moment of it. Tussling before a corner, with the referee less than 2 feet away, Gerrard has his hands in the air, doing the full-on ‘look at how much he’s grabbing me’ routine. Kozluk doesn’t stop, puts his arms around Gerrard and starts to pull him down, and Stevie goes down while appearing to shout for the ref's attention. I’m sorry, that’s not in the same category as Drogba or Ronaldo avoiding contact and theatrically diving through the air, that’s clever. And amusing. Fowler stepped up, Paddy Kenny guessed correctly and dove to his left, but Fowler’s shot was too powerful.
During the corner kick that led to the penalty, Rob Hulse accidentally kicked Crouch in the face, and with blood everywhere from a gash on his eyebrow, he was substituted for Kuyt. It’s a pity, because Crouch had finally gotten a start, and the few times he saw the ball he looked useful, but at least it doesn't look like he'll be on the sidelines for long.
Less than five minutes later, we had a second penalty that was absolutely certain. From a throw-in, Kuyt flicked-on for Gerrard to run onto, and with two hands, Nick Montgomery pulled him down. Kenny guessed left again, but this time Fowler chipped to his right for two-nil. Liverpool had been the better team, but had never really seemed to take it out of first gear, and didn’t have much impetus to now that they were two up. Warnock, in an effort to stop the damage, brought on Kazim-Richards, who did help Sheffield offer more, but there was never a real threat to Liverpool’s goal, which featured Dudek in his first league start this season.
Liverpool was better in the second half, but never truly dominant except for a three-minute spell that saw them register the two other goals. The third again came from a corner, when Hyypia was there to slam in a ball skittering through the penalty box. The fourth goal was Liverpool’s best, with Gerrard deservedly getting on the scoresheet after being put through by Fowler, who had been found in space by Mascherano.
With Gerrard earning two penalties and scoring the fourth, he’s got to be the choice for man of the match, but it was more than those three instances. Throughout the game, he was at his rampaging best, making surging runs, unlocking the defense with passes, and getting back to defend when required. Much will be made that he played in the center, but as I’m getting tired of reiterating, Gerrard in the center isn’t necessarily better than Gerrard on the right. As people should know with Benitez, different games merit different styles. Different possibilities.
Other players' performances also merit a mention. Hyypia stepped back into the side with ease. Sheffield gave Liverpool’s center backs a ton of time, but aside from a couple of wayward passes, Hyypia’s distribution in bringing the ball out of defense was superb, and his aerial presence was again excellent. Pennant also put in another outstanding performance. Much is made of his crossing and beating his man to the byline, which he did to decent effect, but what was most impressive here was the way he got up and down the wing. He got back to defend, with pace, every time it was needed, and got back up the sideline just as quickly. The entire game he was running hard, which was reassuring to see, to say the least.
In addition, Javier Mascherano made an excellent debut in which he played the full 90. In the first ten or fifteen minutes, I distinctly remember being frightened, with a couple of misplaced passes, mistimed tackles, and otherwise anonymity. But he certainly grew into the game, getting better by the minute. By the end he was tackling United players all over the pitch. It’s obvious he’s still lacking match fitness with some of his timing issues, but the quality is utterly evident. Either there are some serious extenuating circumstances (there must be), or West Ham has no idea what they had.
This was exactly what was needed. There’s always the potential for a hangover after a win like that at Camp Nou, especially with a team as dogged as Sheffield United, who can epitomize a bogey team. But even with the amount of changes, and with the team never showing the drive they had against Barcelona, they won going away, which will serve to give even more confidence leading up to next weekend. Bring on the Mancs.
23 February 2007
Liverpool v Sheffield 02.24.07
10am, available in the US on Setanta Sports.
Liverpool: 3rd place; 50 points out of 27 games
Sheffield: 15th place; 30 points out of 27 games
Last meeting: 1-1 (a) 08.19.06
Liverpool beat Sheffield over two legs in the 2003 League Cup (which Liverpool won) semifinal, and before that, hadn’t played United since 1994.
Last 3 games:
Liverpool: 2-1 Barcelona (a); 1-2 Newcastle (a); 0-0 Everton (h)
Sheffield: 2-1 Tottenham (h); 1-2 Blackburn (a); 2-0 Fulham (h)
Goalscorers (league; more than one goal):
Liverpool: Kuyt 9; Bellamy 7; Crouch 6; Gerrard 4; Alonso, Garcia 3; Gonzalez 2
Sheffield: Hulse 7; Jagielka, Webber 3; Gillespie, Nade, Quinn, Stead 2
Referee: Steve Bennett
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Carragher Hyypia Agger
Finnan Gerrard Alonso Sissoko Riise
Kuyt Bellamy
Back to reality. And back to using wingbacks?
There’s an excellent chance Benitez will use this game to rest players with Manchester United and return leg of the Barcelona tie coming up, despite a lengthy time off prior to the Barca match. And there’s also an excellent chance we could see all three strikers, as Liverpool did against Watford, West Ham, and Everton. But that would mean leaving one of Sissoko (who should be available despite going off with injury), Alonso, and Gerrard out, and after how all three played against Barcelona, I can’t see that happening. Gerrard’s isolation on the right flank and his inability to force things in the Barca game leads me to believe he’ll play more towards the center (that does not mean he should not play on the right, mind you) in what would appear to be a five-man midfield, but as Jamie Redknapp said in Sky Sports’ post-match coverage, when Liverpool’s on, Gerrard is more a cog in the machine than the basis for said machine.
At Anfield, Liverpool should be able to take the game to Sheffield. Whether that’s in the form of three strikers, or a five-man midfield with three center backs, Liverpool should set the tone and the impetus. Bunching up the midfield, with Sissoko breaking up play, Alonso distributing, and Gerrard setting up the attack, should let Liverpool retain possession at Anfield most easily, and allow them to send wave after wave toward United’s goal. Liverpool had their chances at Bramall Lane in August (double Sheffield’s shots on goal), but did not really create enough or take enough, and were reliant on an iffy penalty to equalize. I think this formation goes some way towards remedying that.
But we all know there’s no predicting Benitez. And we haven’t seen Pennant, Crouch or Gonzalez start in a while, Arbeloa played very well for a starting debut against Barca, and we’ve been expecting Javier Mascherano’s debut (there was talk he’d play against Barca and was on the bench). Must be nice to have so many “possibilities.”
Liverpool will also be looking for revenge for the away draw suffered on opening day of the league campaign, a draw that set the tone for away games to come. But don’t think that I am underestimating Sheffield. Neil Warnock’s got his usual well-drilled side, and despite a rash of predictions to the contrary, they look certain to stay up, which (and really, no offense meant) is an accomplishment looking up and down the team sheet. But that’s what Neil Warnock can do -- motivate a side into a tightly-drilled, backs against the wall outfit.
A win will put Liverpool 4 points ahead of Arsenal. However, Arsenal will have two games in hand, as they’re out of league action again this week with the Carling Cup final. Anything less than the full 3 points will give Arsenal even more of an opportunity to overtake 3rd place. And I’m sure Benitez will have that drilled into his team before kickoff.
Liverpool: 3rd place; 50 points out of 27 games
Sheffield: 15th place; 30 points out of 27 games
Last meeting: 1-1 (a) 08.19.06
Liverpool beat Sheffield over two legs in the 2003 League Cup (which Liverpool won) semifinal, and before that, hadn’t played United since 1994.
Last 3 games:
Liverpool: 2-1 Barcelona (a); 1-2 Newcastle (a); 0-0 Everton (h)
Sheffield: 2-1 Tottenham (h); 1-2 Blackburn (a); 2-0 Fulham (h)
Goalscorers (league; more than one goal):
Liverpool: Kuyt 9; Bellamy 7; Crouch 6; Gerrard 4; Alonso, Garcia 3; Gonzalez 2
Sheffield: Hulse 7; Jagielka, Webber 3; Gillespie, Nade, Quinn, Stead 2
Referee: Steve Bennett
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Carragher Hyypia Agger
Finnan Gerrard Alonso Sissoko Riise
Kuyt Bellamy
Back to reality. And back to using wingbacks?
There’s an excellent chance Benitez will use this game to rest players with Manchester United and return leg of the Barcelona tie coming up, despite a lengthy time off prior to the Barca match. And there’s also an excellent chance we could see all three strikers, as Liverpool did against Watford, West Ham, and Everton. But that would mean leaving one of Sissoko (who should be available despite going off with injury), Alonso, and Gerrard out, and after how all three played against Barcelona, I can’t see that happening. Gerrard’s isolation on the right flank and his inability to force things in the Barca game leads me to believe he’ll play more towards the center (that does not mean he should not play on the right, mind you) in what would appear to be a five-man midfield, but as Jamie Redknapp said in Sky Sports’ post-match coverage, when Liverpool’s on, Gerrard is more a cog in the machine than the basis for said machine.
At Anfield, Liverpool should be able to take the game to Sheffield. Whether that’s in the form of three strikers, or a five-man midfield with three center backs, Liverpool should set the tone and the impetus. Bunching up the midfield, with Sissoko breaking up play, Alonso distributing, and Gerrard setting up the attack, should let Liverpool retain possession at Anfield most easily, and allow them to send wave after wave toward United’s goal. Liverpool had their chances at Bramall Lane in August (double Sheffield’s shots on goal), but did not really create enough or take enough, and were reliant on an iffy penalty to equalize. I think this formation goes some way towards remedying that.
But we all know there’s no predicting Benitez. And we haven’t seen Pennant, Crouch or Gonzalez start in a while, Arbeloa played very well for a starting debut against Barca, and we’ve been expecting Javier Mascherano’s debut (there was talk he’d play against Barca and was on the bench). Must be nice to have so many “possibilities.”
Liverpool will also be looking for revenge for the away draw suffered on opening day of the league campaign, a draw that set the tone for away games to come. But don’t think that I am underestimating Sheffield. Neil Warnock’s got his usual well-drilled side, and despite a rash of predictions to the contrary, they look certain to stay up, which (and really, no offense meant) is an accomplishment looking up and down the team sheet. But that’s what Neil Warnock can do -- motivate a side into a tightly-drilled, backs against the wall outfit.
A win will put Liverpool 4 points ahead of Arsenal. However, Arsenal will have two games in hand, as they’re out of league action again this week with the Carling Cup final. Anything less than the full 3 points will give Arsenal even more of an opportunity to overtake 3rd place. And I’m sure Benitez will have that drilled into his team before kickoff.
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