Wigan Athletic vs. Liverpool: (Wed November 10th, KO 19:45) Pre match

Another BIG game this. If we win where will we be in the League on Thursday Morning? Only time will tell.

With a difficult win away to Bolton who then trash CL contenders Spurs 4-2, and then a "Famous Victory" against Chelsea on Sunday, can we believe that the cogs of LFC are all oiled and turning together.

Will Roy stick with Sunday's team, a team that not only scored 2 against Chelsea, the 1st to do that against a full strength Chelsea. Only Newcastle have done better but that was in the League Cup against a 2nd eleven. Plus a shut out.
Or will Roy do a Rafa and tinker? I say keep the same team, the same formation the same mentality.

Bookies have us 4/5 to win. Let us not waste this chance.

COME ON!

We were 11/4 yesterday and i didn't put a bet on.Gutted.

Pie eaters 0 Liverpool 2.

If we keep the same formation and team we could get the full 9 points out of the next 3 games. Wigan, Stoke and West Ham. There can be no going back to the causious approach. This just goes to proove, IMO that Torres needs help up front and Dirky boy is just the man to provide it. He always gives 110 percent and will work his guts off to provide the ammunition that Torres needs. Lucas and Gerrard is a must in the centre of midfield now. We need to keep the momentum up now........our season starts now.

This game is part 1 of 2 of a double bill of huge games for us this week.

If the players want the 2-0 v Chelsea to mean something then they can't go to the 18th placed side in the league and drop points.

We can't have any players or the manager resting thinking they've made it now - the way we have been playing against the lesser sides a result at Wigan is more important than that at Chelsea.

I'm hopeful but cautious as Roy's away tactics are often more cautious than at home.  If we win and convincingly, maybe he will see that he needs to set us up to attack teams a lot more.

Play:

-----------------Reina------------------
--Kelly---Carragher--Greek---Konchesky--
--Johnson--Gerrard--Lucas---Rodriguez--
------------Torres---Kuyt---------------

Subs: Jones, Skrtel, Miereles, Babel, Shelvey, Pacheco, Ngog.

If Johnson isn't fit, put Kuyt on the right flank and play 4-1-4-1 with Miereles holding and Torres on his own.  If Soto isn't fit, replace him with the beast that is Skrtel.

Prediction: Wigan 1-3 Liverpool Scorers: Torres, Kuyt x 2  (That's if we play like we did v Chelski!)

Same team as yesterday for me. Kelly deserves a run and I see no reason to change.
Need to keep the momentum going. I hope not to see Poulsen in the 11 as that will be an indicator
of Roy's attitude to the game.

Got to be a win, we have to go there looking for 3 points and take no prisoners!

Dont think Dirk will have 2 games in him so close together

Th result against Chelsea makes this game an even bigger game that it possibly could have been. At the end of the day, there is no point beating Chelsea one day then a few days later, losing to Wigan. I question whether we will be able to put the same team out as some have played a lot recently, especially with the Europa League.

Reina
Johnson Kelly Carragher Konchesky
Maxi Gerrard Lucas J.Cole
Torres Jova

3-1 Liverpool

Dont think Dirk will have 2 games in him so close together

This is Kuyt we are talking about! The guy is made of steel, and has just been re-oiled for the rest of the season.

Not sure Cole or Johnson deserve a return to the team, even if they are fit.

I'd play exactly the same team.

A sneaky 1-0 will do.

Not sure Cole or Johnson deserve a return to the team, even if they are fit.

I'd play exactly the same team.

If they are both fit, I'd put Johnson on the right for Meireles, not that he had a bad game but I think Johnson is more suited to the position.  And I would not hesitate to stick Cole on the left for Maxi.

Reina
Kelly Carra Skrtel Konchesky
Johnson Lucas Gerrard Cole
Kuyt
   Torres

Dont think Dirk will have 2 games in him so close together

Robokuyt will be fine, don't worry about him.

Not sure Cole or Johnson deserve a return to the team, even if they are fit.

I'd play exactly the same team.

Agreed on Cole, but I'd be looking to play Glenn this game, a more attacking FB would be preferable IMO, and whilst Kelly is solid defensively, he is not spectacular going the other way.

Players to look out for are obviously N'somnia and Rodillaga(?). Also look out if Ali Al Habsi is playing in goal, because he is a crock of sh*t.

Same team that played against Chelsea please.

Th result against Chelsea makes this game an even bigger game that it possibly could have been. At the end of the day, there is no point beating Chelsea one day then a few days later, losing to Wigan. I question whether we will be able to put the same team out as some have played a lot recently, especially with the Europa League.

It desn't but he's said before that Europa isn't the Clubs 1st priority - so you'd think Roy would select the bet 11 for the PL match!?

Only reason to change the eleven from the Chelsea game is if someone is tired or injured.

Only reason to change the eleven from the Chelsea game is if someone is tired or injured.

This part of the season is the first test of squad depth.

Coming into this game we've had:

Sun 31/10 vs Bolton Wanderers
Thu 04/11 vs Napoli
Sun 07/11 vs Chelsea

Coming up we've got:

Wed 10/11 vs Wigan Athletic
Sat 13/11 vs Stoke City
Sat 20/11 vs West Ham United
Sun 28/11 vs Tottenham Hotspur
Thu 02/12 vs Steaua Bucureşti
Mon 06/12 vs Aston Villa

So that's a fair few games in a relatively short space.  Substitutions against the next few opponents could be fitness orientated so it's important to take the lead and allow ourselves that luxury of being able to do so.

Its a pretty cramped schedule yes, but playing on a Thursday in Europe it always will be, and then we have the Xmas period to deal with.