Monday night football returns to Anfield, as Liverpool and Birmingham City prepare to do battle in the Premier League. There’s a lot at stake in this match — especially after both Aston Villa and Tottenham won over the weekend.
A win would pull the club within a point of the fourth spot in the league, and I think we’re all in agreement that getting back into the top four should be top priority right now. There’s not much we can do about the Champions League, as we need a result from Lyon to keep our hopes alive. Regardless of the Champions League dilemma, we do control our own destiny when it comes to the league. And no matter which way you look at it, we’ve got to get three points tonight.
Follow along tonight with AnfieldRed’s Live Blog of the match. I’ll be here 10 minutes prior to kick to get things started. Live blog follows, after the jump!
It’s time to put up or shut up. That’s it, there’s really isn’t much more to be said than that. Rafa needs the match to keep the detractors off his back for another week — as well keep as his team in the title race. United need the match to wash the taste of last year’s beating at Old Trafford out of their mouth and move 10 points ahead of Liverpool in the race for the league.
Will Gerrard, Torres and Johnson be healthy? What about Rooney? Those are just a few of the storylines we’ll be following in the buildup to Sunday afternoon.
Follow along as we Live Blog Liverpool v Manchester United. Kickoff is at 13.00 GMT, but I’ll be here 10-15 minutes prior to give you a primer with any news and notes I can find to get you ready for the always hotly contested battle between two of England’s premier football clubs.
Live Blog follows, after the jump.
In times like these when there seems to be a black cloud hanging over our beloved club, I like to take a moment and watch highlights of this match. Sure, it’s probably not right to keep looking into the past every time something in the present is going wrong, but for a moment, just one moment, I’m able to relive these glorious moments at Old Trafford last year when we took it to the mancs on their own pitch.
Sunday’s match, like the one back in March, is one where a season could be revived or lost in a mere 90 minutes. Last year, we needed those three points to stay within striking distance of United. On Sunday, we’ll need those three points again for the very same reason: to stay within striking distance.
Liverpool’s last Champions League match against Fiorentina was one to forget. The headline after the match was a simple and succinct one: “Youth is Served.” That was thanks in large part to 19-year-old Stevan Jovetic’s two goals performance in the first half, as he literally carved up the Liverpool defence all by himself.
Tonight, Liverpool won’t have to face a young phenom of Jovetic’s stature — Benzema is now sporting a Real Madrid shirt — but they will have to face the prospects of playing table-topping Ligue 1 side Lyon (they lost to Sochaux over the weekend) at Anfield with a squad that doesn’t include Fernando Torres.
No matter. Steven Gerrard is expected to return to the starting XI, and that should hopefully be enough to see off the French side at home. The task of having to grab three points away from Anfield against this very same club could prove to be a much taller task later in the year — so let’s hope the squad takes care of the task at hand.
Live blog coming, after the jump
No Gerrard. No Torres. No problem? We’ll see how that last bit goes tomorrow afternoon, when Liverpool travel to the Stadium of Light for a very tricky fixture against Sunderland.
You can follow the Sunderland v Liverpool game live here on Anfield Red as Jonathon Feyerherm from Soccerlens covers the match via live blog. He’ll be around about 5 minutes prior to kick-off, so don’t be late!
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