Pre Match: Stoke City vs. Liverpool, Boxing Day K.O. 19:45

VS

Come on guys! Just over 24 hours to go and no eager beavers out there to start this! 

TEAM NEWS

Stoke striker Michael Owen is close to fitness and could make his first appearance since hurting his hamstring in October.
Another ex-Liverpool forward, Peter Crouch, will hope to win a recall to the starting line-up.
Liverpool could welcome back Raheem Sterling, who began on the bench against Fulham.
Joe Allen, who was also a substitute on Saturday, is nursing a pelvic problem, and may not be fit to start.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Liverpool have never won at Stoke in the Premier League (D2 L2).
Four of the nine Premier League meetings between the sides have been 0-0 draws, including the last two.
This will be the 100th top-flight meeting between the clubs. Liverpool are looking for their 50th victory.

Stoke
Stoke have not lost at home in this season's Premier League. They are unbeaten in their last 15 home league matches - their longest run without a top-flight home defeat since a club record 23-match streak in 1973-74.
The Potters have conceded just three goals in the league at the Britannia Stadium this season.
They have kept the most clean sheets (nine) and conceded the fewest goals (13) in the Premier League this season.
No side has drawn 0-0 more often in the top five European Leagues this season than Stoke City, who have done so five times.

Liverpool
Liverpool won five of their first eight away matches in the Premier League in 2011-12; in this campaign, they have won just two.
Luis Suarez made a goal-scoring debut for Liverpool against Stoke in their 2-0 home win in February 2011. In total, he has scored four goals in five matches against them in all competitions.
Liverpool have not lost on Boxing Day for the past four seasons, since the 1-0 loss at Blackburn in 2006.

Info from BBC

Well as usual I will leave the team picking to you lot.

A win will be fantastic, a Shawcross Red card would be orgasmic.

Just pray that the winning mentality prevails, and we screw this abhorrent excuse for a team.

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In a confident mood about this one, think we will take the three points. We are a far better side and play better football.

I'd go with this side tomorrow:

--------------------Reina---------------------

---------Skrtel-----Coates-----Agger--------

--Johnson---------Lucas----------Enrique--

------------------Gerrard---------------------

--Sterling-------------------------Downing--

-------------------Suarez---------------------

Subs; Jones; Carragher; Henderson, Sahin, Shelvey, Allen, Suso.

I'd go with Coates alongside Skrtel and Agger at the back for his height and strength.

In midfield I'd have Lucas in the defensive position allowing both Johnson and Enrique to join the attacks. Gerrard should be given a 'free role' supporting an unchanged front three.

Although our bench may not be full of attackers but I think if we can score early we will win the game, and bring on Henderson/Allen to sure things up in the latter stages of the game.

Really looking forward to a Boxing Day win for the Reds tomorrow!

 

 

 I have gone for a draw but nothing would delight me more than to be proved wrong and for the MIGHTY REDS come away with 3 points.Prove me wrong lads and make my day.

Michael Owen slumping off as useless 20 minutes still to go.
Dark rain .......no ......sleet

We are leading four nil and he slinks away shoulders hunched into the dank dark stinking tunnel.

He freezes    Behind him a deafening roar from the away supporters enters his brain.

Its five.

He recalls the glory days of Anfield  The Bernabau  St James and the Old Toilet.

He realises he and life is like an aquarium.

Eventually all the sh*te sinks to the bottom.

it's going to be a tough fixture, but i'm hoping for a 1-0 to us 

Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique; Henderson, Gerrard, Lucas; Downing, Suarez, Shelvey.

2-0 redmen. Suarez and a Gerrard pen.

2-0 Liverpool, Gerrard brace.

We're going to destroy them! I can't wait!

Michael Owen slumping off as useless 20 minutes still to go.
Dark rain .......no ......sleet

We are leading four nil and he slinks away shoulders hunched into the dank dark stinking tunnel.

He freezes    Behind him a deafening roar from the away supporters enters his brain.

Its five.

He recalls the glory days of Anfield  The Bernabau  St James and the Old Toilet.

He realises he and life is like an aquarium.

Eventually all the sh*te sinks to the bottom.

That cracked me up

--------------------Reina---------------------

---------Skrtel-----Coates-----Agger--------

--Johnson---------Lucas----------Enrique--

------------------Gerrard---------------------

--Sterling-------------------------Downing--

-------------------Suarez---------------------

Agree with this but shore it up with Henderson or Allen ? against Stoke ? are you joking ? both of them are too lightweight for stokes anti football bully boys.  Shelvey or Downing to start, with the other being swapped about 60 if we are ahead. They've got a decent record at home this season, it has to implode some time, especially as they are so aggresive, the ref will start to pull them up sometime.  We on the other hand, although I'm not fully confident we are improving much, i.e. lucky against west ham, sh*te against villa and a win against an insipid fulham. I do think our on the floor passing football will conquer their mainly route one hoofing game. We just need to keep the game at a high tempo and I thing we can come away with a 2 - 0 win, and hopefully, no serious injuries. Another must win to stay in contention of the top 4. Probably our most difficult game of the 5 starting with west ham. Of the five I would have put stoke down as more difficult than villa, but thats history now, another 3 points a must.

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Think Shelvey should start this one, he ain't going to be bullied about and won't shy away from the physical battle, probably might throw a heavy tackle or two. Just hope he doesn't get sent off. Sterling ain't strong, but he's persistent and his speed might cause them all sorts of problems. Suarez is showing signs he's got his frustration handled, but this game might be a real test for him. Hope he keeps it under control.

My heart says we're going to scrape a 2-1 win, my head says this is going to be a frustrating 1-1 draw. They're just too difficult to beat, and I'll be damned if they "play" like they did at Anfield and still have 11 men on the pitch by the final whistle. I still have a hard time getting my head around that.

Come on, red men!!

Oh, and Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Love Shelvey but some of his questionable challenges are starting to worry me.  Got a feeling that against Stoke if he starts he might go in on another rash one and get carded.  Would keep him on the bench and bring him on for Gerrard at some point.  Didn't think these words would ever come out of my mouth, but I hope Downing starts.  There, I said it!

I see the outcome of this game as being simple - if we score two goals we'll win - Stoke are sh*te; they don't and can't score goals.

I believe we might see Coates in this one - to counter the only threat Stoke carry - high balls. If they come at us at all, which I doubt, we'll F***ing tank them. Two goals will be enough.

Stoke are poor at best - however they are able to defend at home and we are a touch sloppy at the back.

Hope for a good old fashoned boxing day battering today - where we thump 6 or 7 past them, but that's just me being silly I think! Will take a 0 - 2 win today, anything but a loss to be honest..!

Cant wait for MOTD tonight, round at the inlaws so cant watch this - first game I have missed in about 3 years...

Stoke are poor at best - however they are able to defend at home and we are a touch sloppy at the back.

Got it in one mate, F***ing spoilers who can score with one lucky break, what comes of absolutely no threat whatever and players committing themseves to far forward for too long, we have the individual skill to get two or three past the fuckers before they park the bus.

Tough game this, figuratively and literally

Stoke have had the hoodoo over us for a few years now, and they've only conceded 3 goals at home all season. Coupled with the fact we've found it difficult to score goals (up until recently), and we've never won at the Britannia in the league, I'd be happy with a 0-0

Or we take our new found scoring ability and pop them 0-3

Well today we will see how we can battle, tough game, but one we can win if we apply our selfless, get stuck in battle and our supiriour skills will shine through

I see the outcome of this game as being simple - if we score two goals we'll win - Stoke are sh*te; they don't and can't score goals.

Agreed. I had this argument with my (Stoke fan) house mate only yesterday. He was banging on about how good their defence was, saying he's surprised Shawcross hasn't moved to someone like ManUre and telling me that Begovic (sp?) had been linked to them. He struggled to understand my point that none of them are that great at all, it's just that they play a system where they tend to have at least 8 outfield players behind the ball. A fact backed up by the number of 0-0 draws they "achieve".

Anyway, being from Stoke with a lot of Stoke supporting friends, colleagues, housemate and girlfriend, this is a HUGE game for me! Shame I can't go as I'm out of town but I'll be glued to a stream, perched on the edge of my seat!

This will be a battle tonight....need to be strong in the midfield cannot afford any passengers in this one.....come on redmen onwards and upwards !

If Luis scores against Stoke again - does he get to keep them? I reckon he could use a gn"owen"me in"his front garden!

I'm not confident about this game but we could just as easily play them off the park and get a good win.

A draw could be called a decent result but we need to win as many games as possible to keep our confidence up.

Our record at their ground is poor, I actually think its because we try to pander too much to Stoke's strengths but it works against us. Apart from last season:

1) We won in the League cup
2) The PL game we totally outplayed them but missed some sitters (surprise surprise), they won a penalty from a rare counter attack.

The only change I would make is bring in Wisdom. Downing deserves to start again. This would be my lineup.



              Reina
Wisdom Skrtel Agger Johnson
           Lucas
      Gerrard   Shelvey
Downing                Enrique
            Suarez

No doubt Stoke will try and get at Suarez in any way they can.

abhorrent excuse for a team

Love the expression

Following a resounding win for Liverpool, I await Tony Pullis' accusations that our players fall over too easily, it wasn't fair because we wouldn't let them have the ball, and he couldn't understand the refs reason for their 7 yellow cards.  All engineered to distract from the continued asaults our players are surely going to have to endure. This outfit are a disgrace to the Prem and more akin to the sunday league.
 sh*t, we need to win this just to enhance the age old saying, "cheats don't prosper" anything less than a win will send the wrong message out to football on the whole.   C.O.Y.M. REDS.

Be extremely impressed if we get a win here.

They've conceded 3 goals at home all season, gunna be really tough.

Hey all

In India here trying to figure out time difference And how many hours till kick off. Any help please?

Looking forward to a cold night at the Britannia. Going to be tough but hopefully we come away with 3 points. Suarez at the double for a 0-2 win to us. 

Hate games against Stoke - just like playing Wimbledon.  As abhorrent as they are, they play to their strengths and it is up to us to be able to break them down.  If we take our chances we will win, and I agree that if we score 2 we should win this.

Could be fairly dour, and an early goal like Sat is exactly what we need.

Must take our chances, to get anything from this game, if Stoke score first they will sit back and defend. All in all a draw would be a satisfactory result, although obviously hoping for a win and all three points.

Just hope like others have said we play to our strengths and don't worry too much about there "tactics" we will turn them over if we take our chances.... but i am well prepared for the dry fixture this could be so a big line of pro plus might be in order 

Hey all

In India here trying to figure out time difference And how many hours till kick off. Any help please?

Looking forward to a cold night at the Britannia. Going to be tough but hopefully we come away with 3 points. Suarez at the double for a 0-2 win to us. 

Its at 1:10am mate, on ESPN and ESPN HD

This game could be as dry as my turkey yesterday

We have to do it. It's a cold winter night at the Britannia.

Redmen 2 - 0.

Goals by Suarez and Downing

Got it in one mate, F***ing spoilers who can score with one lucky break, what comes of absolutely no threat whatever and players committing themseves to far forward for too long, we have the individual skill to get two or three past the fuckers before they park the bus.

So true  - hope we learn from the Villa game. If we get 1 early the game is our, but if we cant score I expect us to dominate, hit everything aside the back of the net and lose 1 - 0 to their only attack.7

Still, we should and can wing this! Come on you mighty mighty reds..!

Hey all

In India here trying to figure out time difference And how many hours till kick off. Any help please?

1:15am kick off in Mumbai mate, if my calculations are correct.

I think Carra will play today because of his aerial presence. Think we'll go with something like this..............


                       Reina

       Skrtel      Carra      Agger

Johnson                               Enrique

                Lucas     Gerrard

 Downing                        Sterling
         
                     Suarez

I think Carra will play today because of his aerial presence. Think we'll go with something like this..............


                       Reina

       Skrtel      Carra      Agger

Johnson                               Enrique

                Lucas     Gerrard

 Downing                        Sterling
         
                     Suarez

Carra's aerial presence? Did you mean Coates?!

just got to win today nothing else will do, we should be able to pass these of the park and I fancy Luis will be chomping at the bit to score and celebrate with a nice dice in front of Pulis,

You know who I'd start today? Suso. I know everyone will say he's lightweight, but I think his flair and creativity will be necessary against a stern team like Stoke. He's one of the few players who can pull a trick and then pick a pass. I'd start him for that.

I'd go with something like this:

Reina
Skrtel    Agger
Johnson                Enrique
Lucas   Allen
Gerrard
Suso                 Sterling
Suarez

Maybe Sahin instead of Allen?

Stoke don't concede goals. Stoke don't concede goals at home.

The first goal in this game is gonna win it, hopefully it's Suarez, or one of his teammates, that get it.

Well hopefully our last game with one forward, lets hope we start scoring today come on reds

Hey all

In India here trying to figure out time difference And how many hours till kick off. Any help please?
 

Kick off at 1:15 AM IST. Live on ESPN.

Howard Webb to give us a penalty....

Take a 1-0 deflection of a Shawcross or Huth Elbow.

In a confident mood about this one, think we will take the three points. We are a far better side and play better football.

I'd go with this side tomorrow:

--------------------Reina---------------------

---------Skrtel-----Coates-----Agger--------

--Johnson---------Lucas----------Enrique--

------------------Gerrard---------------------

--Sterling-------------------------Downing--

-------------------Suarez---------------------

Subs; Jones; Carragher; Henderson, Sahin, Shelvey, Allen, Suso.

I'd go with Coates alongside Skrtel and Agger at the back for his height and strength.

In midfield I'd have Lucas in the defensive position allowing both Johnson and Enrique to join the attacks. Gerrard should be given a 'free role' supporting an unchanged front three.

Although our bench may not be full of attackers but I think if we can score early we will win the game, and bring on Henderson/Allen to sure things up in the latter stages of the game.

Really looking forward to a Boxing Day win for the Reds tomorrow!

 

 

Love that line-up mate
And as many said, if we can score it's most likely we win the game.
Come on redmen !

Its at 1:10am mate, on ESPN and ESPN HD

Thanks mate. I take it that's Indian standard time

Would love to see a Suarez brace like he did in the League Cup against them, but we all know how difficult Stoke are to beat at home, so I'd take a draw but would love us to win.

Know a few who are going to this, cheer on the Redmen Kopites, sing loud and proud.

Live on Sky tonight......will be glued.
Come on you mighty REDS !!!!

Hello all, haven't posted in a long time but I think this is as good a place as any to start again.

I'm confident of a win, especially after the Fulham game but we have to approach it in the same way and not give them a chance to get a foot in and bully us off the ball and out of the game.

                                                Reina

Johnson                 Skrtel                   Agger                 Enrique

                                                Lucas

Downing                              Gerrard                                  Suso

                                           Allen

                                                      Suarez

That'd be my XI but personally I'd like to see more of Sahin as he seems to have dropped off the radar a bit.

just got to win today nothing else will do, we should be able to pass these of the park and I fancy Luis will be chomping at the bit to score and celebrate with a nice dice in front of Pulis,

I don't think it will be so easy. They are hard to break down at home. They will batter Luis as well. I honestly think getting out of there with a draw and Luis uninjured may be a good result.

Would love to see a Suarez brace like he did in the League Cup against them, but we all know how difficult Stoke are to beat at home, so I'd take a draw but would love us to win.

Know a few who are going to this, cheer on the Redmen Kopites, sing loud and proud.

Live on Sky tonight......will be glued.
Come on you mighty REDS !!!!

Always in complete AWE when it comes to our travelling KOP.
I feel confident as always that we will win. I think Stoke are perfect for us to dominate and destroy.
I really do not like Pulis so if Luis get a hatrick that will do me just fine.

I don't think it will be so easy. They are hard to break down at home. They will batter Luis as well. I honestly think getting out of there with a draw and Luis uninjured may be a good result.

Just got one of those feelings that today is the day.

Would be lying if I said I was looking forward to this one.

Can't see many goals in it obviously, hopefully we nick one from somewhere and stay solid at the back.

Just got one of those feelings that today is the day.

Hope so mate. Oh how I hate Stoke and Tony Pulis' baseball cap.

Hello all, haven't posted in a long time but I think this is as good a place as any to start again.

I'm confident of a win, especially after the Fulham game but we have to approach it in the same way and not give them a chance to get a foot in and bully us off the ball and out of the game.

                                                Reina

Johnson                 Skrtel                   Agger                 Enrique

                                                Lucas

Downing                              Gerrard                                  Suso

                                           Allen

                                                      Suarez

That'd be my XI but personally I'd like to see more of Sahin as he seems to have dropped off the radar a bit.

Welcome back BigRed .

Thanks mate. I take it that's Indian standard time

Aye, 1:10am IST. It's going to be a long night, hope you've got a cuppa warmed up and ready

Results haven't really gone our way, so we need at least a point in this one. But a win would allow us to keep pace with the teams ahead of us.

Would have won this last season if Hendo could finish. We can win this one.

Really hope we win this now after the Mancs' latest lucky escape

Would like to see Sahin and Shelvey today, I feel they are more likely to make an impact than Allen or Henderson. Maybe push Shelvey forward?

                            Reina

Johnson       Agger      Skrtel        Enrique

                          Lucas

               Sahin             Gerrard

Sterling                                     Shelvey

                         Suarez

Hope that our players especially Suarez, receive at least some protection from th Ref, against this pub team who aren't reknowned for their footballing skills

I wouldn't put Sahin in he'll have his nose broken

I'd play the same team as the Fulham game but swap Suso for Sterling.

Rumours on twitter that the team is unchanged from Sunday's line-up.

I hope we smash these thugs!  COME ON LIVERPOOL!

I'd play the same team as the Fulham game but swap Suso for Sterling.

Good for me....

Rumours on twitter that the team is unchanged from Sunday's line-up.

I hope we smash these thugs!  COME ON LIVERPOOL!

Yes, lots of rumours. Possibly started by one person and everyone jumped on it.

I'd play the same team as the Fulham game but swap Suso for Sterling.

Either one is good for me, but I'd be inclined to keep Suso in to try and unlock their defence, which I know that Sterling could also do.

Welcome back BigRed .

Cheers mate :-)

Bib theory anyone? Seems to work a charm.

Cheers mate :-)

Alright, you big ginger Santa!

Hoping we batter these lot tonight, and like that don't have to wait another god-knows how long for back-to-back Premiership wins!

Plus I hate them, awful, awful team.

Come on Reds!

Hoping Lucas runs rings around Nzonzi, remember him shoving Lucas in the face a while back, horrible pr**k.

LFC starting XI v #SCFC: Reina, Johnson, Enrique, Skrtel, Agger, Lucas, Gerrard, Shelvey, Suso, Downing, Suarez #YNWA

Locked.

Live thread here: http://www.lfcreds.com/reds/index.php/topic,44130.0.html