Great to have the reds back in action again! Obviously we can't afford to take anything for granted. How many of these games have we dropped points in? However they were very uninspiring against Swansea. They are a no nonsense team they focus on the basics and largely do that well. Last week they lined up in a rigid 4-4-2:
I can see this being our first encounter with a team happy to sit in for 90 mins and play for a draw. They were second to Swansea in everything last week, they had less possession, fewer touches, fewer chances, fewer shots... They were happy for Swansea to have the ball and didn't look threatening when they had it themselves. However it was the 82nd minute before Swansea scored so they know their roles, and they will be even tighter today you would imagine.
They have record signing Steven Defour to come in, and I believe Jones has joined Sheffield Wednesday this week so that should be a straight swap in mid field. I don't think they can play Flanagan today which suits us perfectly if they have to play Ward at LB again. He has never been a very good LB but he is coming to the end of his career, pace and movement will kill him!
For 20 mins last week we looked unstoppable, however outside of that 20 min spell we showed too many mistakes. No manager in their right mind is going to ignore Moreno, expect them to hit our left side early and put pressure on Moreno. For that I think it is very important who we put in mid field to get over and support. I think the midfield need to support him more than whoever we play on the LW as I think we need to be ready to punish their commitment forward with quick counter play, and I would rather have our forward players up the pitch ready to pounce. I think Henderson showed he is getting back to his better form, and he has the engine to get around and help Moreno out, and I think he is the best player we have to spray the , and a deeper lying role gives him more of the pitch n front of him to pick those passes.
The back 5 pick themselves really, same as last week. I don't see it being a midfield battle but I do see the players we pick being key to how we break down a solid unit. Like I say, I would like to see Henderson as the holding unit, with Wijnaldum and Can ahead of him. I think last season we were too guilty of over playing the ball against deep lying teams, passing ourselves into dead ends. I think two more direct midfielders will look to break the lines with runs and a few strong shots. With the right mix up front it can give us some unpredictability and more option in attack.
Mane will be a huge loss but we're in a very strong position with replacements that we haven't had in a while. Personally I would like to see Origi come in, supported by Coutinho and Firmino, but I can see Klopp starting Lallana instead of either Firmino or Origi. I would like to see Ings get some sort of a run out too, although I am guilty of a certain amount of sentimentality that Klopp will not suffer from.
I'd also like to see Grujic get a look in, he showed glimpses in pre season that he likes to take a gamble in the box and this might be the exact type of game for him.
I think it will be a very one sided match with us dominating possession. But Burnley will be tough to break down. I think we have a good mix of players this year to be more ruthless in these games and we have more physicality in the squad so we shouldn't be getting bullied either. I think Ward is a huge weak link for them, the front three can take turns interchanging and playing on him and if Sturridge is available he can deal the killer blow with fresh legs late on. I think we're good enough to ge the win and the clean sheet here, but we will have to work for it. I'm going to say 2-0 to the reds, Origi and Wijnaldum.
