Chelsea vs Liverpool Pre-match Thread

Sunday 4th October 16:00 P.M.

Firstly guys sorry for starting this days away from the game but I felt its a good opportunity to forget about the gloom of last nights game regroup and refocus towards the most important task at hand-The Premier League Title.

We travel to a strong and well organised Chelsea side that has perfected the diamond 5 across the middle midfield. I believe the key will be to match them man for man in that department therefore the inclusion of Mascherano will be vital. I would keep Gerrard and Lucas in there as well with Dirk back on the right primarily because he can run you rugged and be a nuisance if you are tasked in midfield of marking him. I would also have Yossi in the hole behind Torres he always seems to do well against Chelsea and has the skill to beat any man 1 on 1.

In the back I hope to see regardless of how match fit Danny Agger given the nod ahead of Skrtel we desperately need to shake things up defensively and have players hungry fighting for places.

It will be a tough old game but I have no fear we have matched them before and shown we can beat them quite convincingly too you never know they might even pick up a few knocks tonight.

COME ON YOU RED   MEN!! IRWT

Good opening post, Dado.

I'm certainly not looking at this match with any trepidation regardless of how things went last night, there's a whole world of difference between a CL match and a tough scrap against the Chavs. I don't think the players will need any extra motivation - there's enough recent history between the two sides, as well as us having the chance to catch their points total in the league.

I'd like to think that our win at the Bridge last season was the start of a nice new trend where we become their bogey team so to speak, there's no reason we can't pick up all three points.

Wouldn't go for any major shake-ups, though the experience of Masch in midfield would be a welcome return and add some extra bite. As for Danny Agger, is one reserves match preparation enough for a clash like this? Whilst I appreciate our defence has been rocky, I don't know if I wouldn't give him one more match with the reserves at least before to come back into the first XI.

What do people think about Ryan Babel? He's looked hungry off the bench, and despite his willingness to jump ship as soon as the transfer window closed, he has been performing well with the limited opportunities he's had. Another option.

I like your first paragraph also,  fills me with  a lot of confidence. As for the Agger issue I would like to think he has not exactly been sitting on his ass, he has probably trained and been involved in a number of fitness based activities although probably not at full throttle but maybe at 70%. The way that I see it we have scored 22 goals this season and not until 1895 have we scored that many in the opening 7 mathces, but the amount and style of which we conceded has been ridicolous. There needs to be a change and after last nights performance I think it needs to be a radical one, hell I would even consider Sotis at this point although question marks remain around his pace and how he would deal with Anelka?!

Babel is another interesting option that we have lets be honest Riera has had a pretty poor, average at best start to the season and Babel has looked more threatening in the last 3-4 games. However where would we play him on the left, move Yossi left and Babel to the right Kuyt in the whole?? Personally I think Benayoun needs to be in the hole for the simple fact Kuyt in a scrappy and tight game can be more useful down the right.

I'm actually more confident than I usually am when facing Chelsea this time round. Got a feeling we're going to do them 0-1 again. I think Agger should be eased in hopefully as a sub against Sunderland. A little early and not the proper game to be easing players back from injuries. I think Masch is a must if he's fit. Stevie to partner Torres this time with Yossi on the left and Kuyt on the right.

Will Ashley Cole be coming back from injury? If so, Babel might be useful coming on at around 70 or so minutes. He's a different type of player to Kuyt and has looked fairly bright during his playing time in his last few games. Hopefully Cole will find it harder to adjust than usual, with us bringing some pace on for the last 15 or so minutes.

Will Ashley Cole be coming back from injury? If so, Babel might be useful coming on at around 70 or so minutes. He's a different type of player to Kuyt and has looked fairly bright during his playing time in his last few games. Hopefully Cole will find it harder to adjust than usual, with us bringing some pace on for the last 15 or so minutes.

Says on Skysports that Cole is a possibility for the Chavs tonight, though they might not risk him, meaning Sunday could well be his first game back.

What you say makes sense, Babel could run him ragged if we brought him on with 15-20 minutes to go.

Babel has been looking better lately and I would have him ready off the bench....but please please Rafa stick him wide right he looks far better there. Kuyt to start though, you have to match their hunger, desire and work rate before you get the chance to play.

Last night we had none of the above so attitude is my big concern.

As long as we get out of the traps from the kick off there is no reason we can't do them again. Everyone knows Chelsea hate playing us so we need to get in their faces from the off.
I'd feel a lot better if Mascherano started. Games like this are bread and butter to his style.

Very important game. We were a few points behind and now we're just a game behind Chelsea. It's vital we steal that 3 points and keep in with Man United. The fact that we lost just last night may work in our favour

Usually for these kinda games, I always prefer putting the experienced players in. I'd put Johnson, Carragher , Agger and Aurelio at the back. I'm not saying Skrtel doesn't have experience but we need a different type of CB for a chance.  I'll then have Kuyt, Masch, Lucas and Yossi behind Gerrard and Torres infront of Gerrard.

Babel has improved in the last few games and actually does look like he wants to play for Liverpool now. I wouldn't mind him starting but that will mean Lucas would be the most likely one rested.

Come on, Redmen!

I'd go for  Reina,Johnson,Carra,Skrtel,Aurelio,Babel,Lucas,Gerrard,Yossi,Kuyt & Torres.

If we get after them early there's no reason why we can't win this by at least 2 goals.

Stamford Bridge is never an easy game, it's always edgy and tough. I don't think we're going to play beautiful football, but just stick to the gameplan that Rafa is going for in this tie. Over the past years we have seen some brillant encounters at Stamford Bridge, although it isn't free-scoring but more of caution in both team's play.

I feel that this might be particularly a good time to face them, Cech is out serving suspension, and the loss against Fiorentina might just wake us up that we are entering a very crucial period in our season. Suddenly Chelsea's winning run has come to an abrupt end, and even though we lost last night, I'm pretty sure we want to correct the wrongs that were evident last night.

Chelsea's midfield is their strong point, so I wouldn't be surprised if Gerrard drops back to midfield to partner Masch, hence Lucas might be left out. Even though Lucas has matured into a better player, Rafa might feel that this isn't the game to play him where emotions run high. This way, Essien can't sit in the holding position to stop Gerrard, but instead push forward when he wants to mark Gerrard, resulting in Yossi (who I think will be playing behind Torres) more space.

I think I'll have Riera on the left, Kuyt on the right. In the past 20-30 minutes or so, if the result isn't going our way then possibly bring on Babel who'll use his pace to try and change the game.

However if Lucas is included in the starting XI then I expect the usual first XI, Gerrard off Torres, Yossi on the left and Kuyt right.

I'd go with:

Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Benayoun, Gerrard, Torres.

It will be interesting to see how Chelsea go into this match considering their result against Wigan last weekend. I suppose they could get their confidence back tonight with a win over Nicosia but the Premier League is a completely different concept to the Premier League as many of you have already said.

Firstly, I would say that the absence of Cech is a plus for us whilst being a huge negative for Chelsea. He's their main man between the sticks. The defence has built an understanding with him, they know what to expect of him as he is a top class goalkeeper. Hilario however, has not had all that much time on the pitch and it is possible that Chelsea will become very wary of this.

I think it will also be a large bonus if Cole is out injured, I'm not actually too sure who they'd put at left back - I'm not sure Zhirkov is fit yet, and are they confident enough to put him in for his debut against us? The only other possibilities I can think of are Ferreira (I don't think we need worry much about that considering the amount of game time he has) and Ivanovic whose supposed to be a centre back, sometimes used at right back. If Cole is fit however, I'm not too worried, I don't think he will be able to get forward as much as he'd like with Kuyt/Benayoun/Gerrard or maybe even Torres drifting onto that side of the pitch. Kuyt generally seems to perform well against Cole too.

The lads need to seriously pick themselves up from the Fiorentina game yesterday though. However, I'm not actually too worried about lack of confidence going into this match, we usually seem to bounce back off a poor result.

My other concern is Drogba, he's on fire at the moment and we are conceding goals. Then again you could say Torres is on fire at the moment and Chelsea are conceding goals.

It will be interesting to see what happens with their midfield, whether they are going to try man-marking Gerrard again or not. I think we should put Mascherano on Lampard though, don't give him any air to breathe. Stick by him all match.

I've also seen some people suggesting playing Babel - I wouldn't start with him though. Not the type of player to start a game like this I don't think. He's better towards the end of games/when the games are stretched so I'd bring him on as an impact substitution if anything.

I'm quietly confident though as always going into the bigger matches (hey, it's the only way to be!) however let's face it we're not going to walk all over them. It'll be a 1 or 2 goal difference win if anything. Though I hope I'm proved wrong!

I too think Masch is vital for this.However I'm not sure he's carrying an injury?This with him could have something to do with his attitude of late.Love to be wrong on this one.Re Babel, I agree he seems to make a big difference played on the right.Certainly got the jitters big time due to the poor showing last night.Come on Redmen show us what we can expect in the season ahead.YNWA & IRWT.

I'd leave lucas out of this one. He gives away way too many fouls, and against chelsea with their big strong players, thats gonna be our biggest weakness. Heck chelsea might even run towards lucas on purpose and trry and force the foul. I'd keep gerrard and masch in centre, kuyt wide right, reira wide left and benny behind torres. Also that way chelsea wont be able to man mark gerrard with essien like they did in the CL. That completely stopped his game. I'm hoping stevie really gets a hold of this game and controls it.

I'd leave lucas out of this one. He gives away way too many fouls, and against chelsea with their big strong players, thats gonna be our biggest weakness. Heck chelsea might even run towards lucas on purpose and trry and force the foul. I'd keep gerrard and masch in centre, kuyt wide right, reira wide left and benny behind torres. Also that way chelsea wont be able to man mark gerrard with essien like they did in the CL. That completely stopped his game. I'm hoping stevie really gets a hold of this game and controls it.

Yeah that's probably another option actually.

If Mascherano isn't fit then I'd go with Lucas and Gerrard CM and the rest as follows.

Firstly we wont be as bad as we were last night on Sunday I have no doubt about that....

Would hope Masch is fit for this one tho. I think a few alterations would be agood thing on Sunday. Id even consider Kyriagos to come in to physically match Drogba because  Carra and Skrtel are not having the best of times being honest. For me also Id give Insua a rest, he's still learning but people are now singling him out for mistakes so Aurelio back to left back for me Sunday

Reina

Johnno Carra Kyriagos/ Skrtel Aurelio

         Gerrard Masch

Kuyt        Yossi          Riera


            Torres

No Masch and Lucas comes in

I can see Rafa doing a weird one on this. possibly a 5-4-1 to counter Chelsea's 442 diamond (which would leave Anelka, Drogba and Lumplard hanging round the box). Sotis, Carra and Skrtel as that middle 3, aurelio and johnson as wing backs. Mascherano, Gerrard in middle. Benayoun left, kuyt right and Nando up top. I remember Rafa doing this at the end of the game when we beat them at the bridge but with Hyppia cutting out the aerial threat.

                                  Reina
                  Carragher          Skrtel
Johnson                                              Insua

               Mascherano            Gerrard

Kuyt                          Yossi                     Babel

                                            Torres

That's what I'd go with. This will be a tight game, but I think we can come out on top.

I personally think get the Fiorentina game out of our head and go back to the system we know is strong and works. Cech isnt around but I don’t think Chelsea will be any easier, I expect a tough game. You know id be inclined to say a score draw but im going to say win because it sounds much better and we are more than capable of achieving. On our day and with the strong XI, im not convinced there is a better team in the league!

Now before you all get the knives out and accuse me of being a secret Manc or Bitter or whatever, and given that i'm knocking on for 1,500 posts i think it's clear i'm not, i'm going to stick my neck out a bit and risk having my block chopped off and a ton of -1 ratings thrown my way.

We're playing poorly, it's that simple.

Yes, we're convincingly beating EPL teams that we really should've slaughtered last season but didn't and we're giving the game away to the slightly better teams so far this season, it's like a mirror image of last year when we struggled against the supposed relegation fodder yet hammered the teams challenging for the title/Europe.

Chelsea is our 1st really big test and i have confidence and belief that we'll get an excellent result given that we're coming into this game on an EPL win and they're coming in from quite an embarrassing defeat but we have to be exemplary in areas where we haven't been this season. Our defence has been worrying of late and we haven't yet come up against a world class strike force but we will this weekend so we must be a strong defensive unit and Masch, assuming he plays, will have to be on the money.

I firmly believe that after last night's debacle we'll go into the game this weekend determined to put the Chavs to the sword and with Cech out of the game it's another plus point and i have no doubt we will.

As for team selection this is my line-up...

                                   Reina

Johnson            Carragher            Skrtel            Insua

                Mascherano/Lucas      Gerrard

Babel                                                             Riera
                         Yossi
                                   Torres

I've left Kuyt on the bench as he looked out of steam for the 1st time in a long time last night and didn't have such a good game. Plus, both Babel and Riera have pace and skill to burn so will provide good width while Yossi has the skill and trickery to provide a great link between the midfield and Nando.    

After the debacle of the CL game this is just the ticket for us, surely we wont play as badly again. We need Gerrard back in the middle for this one with Yossi playing in the hole behind Torres, I hope Mascha is recovered we need him back there in front of the defence and the big question is do we stay with Martin because lately he seems to be struggling, or do we bring back Agger, against one of the lesser teams there is no doubt Agger would be back but against Chelsea we need players match fit. # TEAM  - Riena -

                                                                                 Johnson    Carra     Skrtel    Insua



                                                                                         Lucas         Maherano

 

                                                                                                 Gerrard

                                                                                       Kuyt         Yoss     

                                                                                                 Torres.

I pray Masch is fit for this game because I think if he he plays we have a decent chance, do not want to see the partnership of Lucas and Aurelio ever again in the midfield. I think the media have being getting carried away with Chelsea so far and I definitely think we have a chance.

                                                                                 Johnson    Carra     Skrtel    Insua



                                                                                         Lucas         Maherano

 

                                                                                                 Gerrard

                                                                                       Kuyt         Yoss     

                                                                                                 Torres.

The problem with this one, is there's a nice big space, just around...

 Johnson    Carra     Skrtel    Insua



        Lucas         Maherano

 

                Gerrard

    Kuyt         Yoss          Here.

                Torres.

If Gerrard goes into the middle, then Lucas goes out and we play a player on the left.

These big games always come down to the midfield battles, so I am thinking something like a 4-1-2-2-1.

Johnson Carra Skrtel Aurelio
             Masch
         Lucas Gerrard
Kuyt                   Benayoun
             Torres

Now before you all get the knives out and accuse me of being a secret Manc or Bitter or whatever, and given that i'm knocking on for 1,500 posts i think it's clear i'm not, i'm going to stick my neck out a bit and risk having my block chopped off and a ton of -1 ratings thrown my way.

Why bother saying that when you go on to make a lot of valid points that sum up our season so far?

I like your line-up, strengthens the middle of the park where this game will be certainly won or lost.

We need to step up our game, there's no doubt, but it's something we're very good at - bouncing back from a poor result, and standing up and being counted when it's needed the most. That's why I said I don't think we need to worry about last night's game coming into this one, it's an entirely different affair and a clean slate.

I reckon Rafa will prepare this one in minute detail, and the players will give everything. I expect the lads to put in a performance we'll all be proud of.