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      Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)

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      RedPuppy
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      Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Oct 18, 2009 08:08:26 pm
      LIVERPOOL vs Lyon

      Liverpool will look to boost their hopes of qualifying from Champions League Group E when the Reds do battle with Lyon at Anfield on Tuesday.

      Rafa Benitez's side suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat away to Fiorentina last time out in the competition, and know there is little room for error in their remaining four fixtures.

      The two sides have never met before in competitive action, but it promises to be an exciting affair in front of the Kop.

      The opposition

      Lyon have been the dominant force in French football over the last decade.

      Les Gones won seven consecutive Ligue 1 Championships between 2002 and 2008, three of which were lifted by former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier.

      However, Lyon have been unable to transfer their domestic dominance to the European stage and are without any continental trophies in their honours list.

      Nonetheless, Claude Puel's side have collected six points from six so far in Group E having comfortably beaten Fiorentina and Debreceni.

      They are also yet to concede a goal and will provide a stern test at Anfield.

      The boss

      Claude Puel took up the reins at Lyon in June 2008 to become their fourth different manager in as many years.

      The 48-year-old is revered at Monaco, having spent 22 years at the club as a player and later manager.

      Puel made his reputation as a tigrish defensive midfielder with the Stade Louis II outfit. A one-club man, he clocked up just shy of 500 appearances for Les Rouge et Blanc, helping them to two league titles.

      After finally hanging up his boots in 1996, he was offered a role as coach for Monaco's reserve team.

      He made the step up to first team boss three years later and led the team to the league title in his first season at the helm.

      However, he failed to scale those heights again at Monaco and was relieved of his duties in 2001.
      Lille was to be Puel's next destination, where he steered the unfancied French club into second and third place finishes, as well as the last 16 of the Champions League in 2007.

      The lure of Lyon proved too hard to resist for Puel in 2008 as he replaced the departing Alain Perrin. (From OWS) http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/match/next/

      Well, when the draw was made this was a no-brainer but now I am not so sure. Will the Dynamic Duo be fit? If so, will they be Dynamic or not?
      Will Alberto Aquilani be fit and if so will he play, or be on the bench? Will HorG have the balls to turn up?

      No idea who Rafa will pick or the formation, but one thing for sure, we better win and the Crowd better turn up also.
      bigvYNWA
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #1: Oct 18, 2009 08:14:46 pm
      We'll stuff em 4-0 ;)

      Hmm, no it'll be a tough one, but surely after Saturday our team will be up for it? If i was them i would be bloody well wanting to be proving a big point.
      As for the Dynamic Duo, i can see maybe the bench but i wouldn't be sure of them being fully fit with such a short turn-around, and with manure after this one i would be wanting to not stretch the muscles of them to much unnecessarily.
      corballyred
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #2: Oct 18, 2009 08:16:29 pm
      I think this will be a very tough game and I think we will struggle to get 3 points if Gerrard and Torres are out, if I was offered 1-0 I would take. I think Lyon are going to suprise a good few on Tuesday. If we perform anything like with did yesterday we will get beaten. After Real and City Lyon spent more than anyone else in Europe during the Summer.
      Ross
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #3: Oct 18, 2009 08:27:59 pm
      Very good side.

      Looks like they made some intelligent signings over the summer too following the departure of Benzema.

      Not expecting this to be a walk over - at all.

      Just praying on the 3 points really.
      chats
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #4: Oct 18, 2009 08:35:33 pm
      Hopefully Gerrard and Torres are back because we F***ing need them.
      johnstop
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #5: Oct 18, 2009 08:40:10 pm
      Who cares about performance we just need the 3 points and NO MORE INJURIES PLEASE.
      GERNS
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #6: Oct 18, 2009 11:47:41 pm
      The way things have been going of late, I don't feel over confident about this one. Just need the three points to get our season back on track.
      JD
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #7: Oct 18, 2009 11:56:47 pm
      If we win - great.

      If we lose - the yanks are fu**ed and we can concentrate on the Premier League.

      Win. Win.
      Gow
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #8: Oct 18, 2009 11:58:59 pm
      I've got 2-0. I'm glad it comes so soon after yesterday. A good tough game to get us back on the straight and narrow. What's the score with Gerrard and Torres for this one? Bearing Sunday in mind.
      JD
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #9: Oct 19, 2009 12:02:11 am
      I've got 2-0. I'm glad it comes so soon after yesterday. A good tough game to get us back on the straight and narrow. What's the score with Gerrard and Torres for this one? Bearing Sunday in mind.

      Them not even being on the bench suggests to me that they won't start. And in any case - I'd rather have them fit for the United game and not risk them.

      Wasn't it last year we had an even worse start after 3 games and then won the last 3 in the groups?

      Pepe

      Johnson - Agger - Skrtel - Insua

      Benayoun - Mascherano - Leiva - Riera

      Kuyt - Ngog (Liverpool's most lethal attacker this season)

      for me.
      whyohwhyohwhy
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #10: Oct 19, 2009 12:22:41 am
      If Nando and Stevie aren't 100% then definitely keep them aside for Sunday.  Without them I think I'd prefere to see a 4-4-2 as well.  I don't know who I'd pick to partner Kuyt though.  Eccleston maybe  :f_tongueincheek: 
      dunlop liddell shankly
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #11: Oct 19, 2009 12:29:24 am
      If Nando and Stevie aren't 100% then definitely keep them aside for Sunday.  Without them I think I'd prefere to see a 4-4-2 as well.  I don't know who I'd pick to partner Kuyt though.  Eccleston maybe  :f_tongueincheek: 

      Only need five more now to partner Kuyt on the bench. ;)
      bigvYNWA
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #12: Oct 19, 2009 12:34:04 am
      Only need five more now to partner Kuyt on the bench. ;)

      Smartarse ;)
      dunlop liddell shankly
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #13: Oct 19, 2009 12:38:53 am

      When did we sign him? ;)
      LFC-LCFC
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #14: Oct 19, 2009 12:39:13 am
      The lack of strikers in our club is annoying :( So its a choice of Ngog, Kuyt or Voronin up front (never want to see Babel within 500 miles of Anfield unless hes on the opposing team).

      Id probably go for Kuyt - Voronin up front. I know I know...Voronin...but you got any better ideas? Eh? EH?!
      JD
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #15: Oct 19, 2009 12:58:40 am
      I just don't want Babel to play.  To be honest I'm pretty appalled that he has made it in to the 100 club.  I'm sure he will because of the squad limitations and the injuries.

      But still.
      muck
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #16: Oct 19, 2009 07:09:15 am
      Lyon lost 2-0 at home to Sochaux at the weekend. I think we will put in a decent performance and win this.
      JD
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #17: Oct 19, 2009 12:23:26 pm
      Lisandro poses threat to Reds
      By Aimee Lewis

      "Lisandro is better than Rooney," says the iconic Portuguese defender Jorge Costa in a matter-of-fact voice.

      The former Porto captain is on a speakerphone and has been on the road for at least four hours, so there is a temptation to put his claim down to weariness.

      However, the man known as "the tank" during his playing days goes on to reassert his belief with the conviction of one of his uncompromising tackles, as if to make sure nothing has been lost in translation.

      "I know Lisandro very well. He's a top player. He plays like Wayne Rooney but his technique is better. He is capable of being one of the best strikers in Europe," Costa tells BBC Sport.

      "He has the quality to play in England, Spain or Italy."

      When the draw was made for the Champions League group stages at the end of August, Liverpool fans could have been forgiven for doing a little hop and a skip in glee.

      Olympique Lyonnais, arguably the strongest of their three opponents, had recently finished a disappointing third in Ligue 1 and, over the summer, had sold the outrageously talented Karim Benzema and playmaker Juninho.
      He perseveres, much like Rooney. If he loses the ball he'll start again. If he misses a shot he'll try again. He won't let it get him down
      Lyon coach Remi Garde

      One French journalist even warned that the club was in danger of "slipping inexorably towards mediocrity".

      But Benzema's departure to Real Madrid for about £35m heralded the arrival of a diminutive Argentinian striker for a little more than half that price and Lisandro Lopez, known as "the warrior" or, more commonly, as "licha bianca" (the one who wears you down) has quickly won the hearts of Lyon fans with his dynamism, passion and instinctive goalscoring ability.

      The club's record signing received a standing ovation after a 90th-minute equaliser on his league debut against Le Mans and a hat-trick against Anderlecht in the second-leg of the Champions League play-offs had the fans on their feet and chanting his name.

      The three goals in Brussels were all very different: a delightful chip over the goalkeeper, a thrusting run to beat two defenders and finish at the near post, and a powerful shot from outside the box.

      Indeed, only three months into his French "sojourn" and a poll of football supporters in France has deemed Lisandro to be a better player than his predecessor Benzema.

      His opponents, too, have been quick to make their admiration known. "I love his rage," extolled Paris Saint-Germain striker Mevlut Erding in L'Equipe.

      Shy off the pitch and keen to avoid the glitz that often follows footballers, the 26-year-old has played down his lofty status, insisting he has "much work ahead".

      Yet should he play at Anfield on Tuesday, and in whatever position - he has so far been deployed as a lone striker, wide on the left and behind a striker - Costa predicts a taxing night for Jamie Carragher and co.

      Asked how Liverpool's defence, which has recently been uncharacteristically porous, could stifle the Argentina international, Costa pauses before laughing: "I wouldn't want to be playing against him. Liverpool's defence will find him tricky.

      "He's not a typical number nine. He plays in the centre or on the wing and has a special gift for scoring goals. He is not very tall but he is a good header of the ball."

      Lisandro's arrival in France's culinary capital was no knee-jerk reaction to the departure of the home-grown Benzema - it was a transfer two years in the making.

      On 6 November 2007, Remi Garde, then a Lyon scout and now a member of the club's coaching staff, travelled to Portugal to look at a Buenos Aires-born attacker, who was starting to find his feet at Porto after an indifferent start to his career in Europe.

      With 12 minutes remaining, he outmuscled and outjumped the Marseille defence to direct Ricardo Quaresma's cross into the top corner for the winning goal. The stadium erupted and Garde headed home to inform his employers he had spotted a star.

      "He played fantastically," recalls Garde, a former Arsenal midfielder. "He was running everywhere, much like he did against Manchester United at Old Trafford last season. He was very impressive.

      "I watched him a lot last season, too. He works hard for the team. He perseveres, much like Rooney. If he loses the ball he'll start again. If he misses a shot he'll try again. He won't let it get him down.

      "We knew that attracting a player like Lopez would take a long time. He's just at the start of the story of his Lyon career, but he's doing very well. He works for the team, has speed and is strong mentally."

      Lyon spent about £70m in the summer on rejuvenating a squad which had to come to terms with the end of their Ligue 1 dominance (since 2002 no club other than 'Les Gones' had won the title). As well as Lisandro, Aly Cissokho was purchased from Porto, Brazilian Michel Bastos came in from Lille, and France forward Bafetimbi Gomis arrived from St Etienne.

      The quality of the signings was not questioned - only Lionel Messi, Steven Gerrard and Miroslav Klose were more prolific than Lisandro in last season's Champions League - but Lyon coach Claude Puel has admitted to being surprised at how quickly the new faces have "hit it off".

      Lyon, who are leading Ligue 1 and Group E of the Champions League, will head across the Channel full of confidence, even though they have won only once on English soil.

      Garde believes the new signings have brought cohesion and defensive stability to the team. "There is probably a better balance between all the players, which has not been the case in previous seasons," he says.

      "Of course, the departure of two key players was a big loss for us. It's a surprise that Lisandro has fitted in so quickly, but we knew he had a strong temperament. I think he is in life as he is on the pitch: he fights for everything and has done everything to try to settle in.

      "Karim was the child of the house. He was able to make the difference himself, create a chance by himself. He was able to play with others and do a lot more assists. He was a big talent, but the team relied too heavily on Karim's talents. We're a different team now. When we don't have the ball we work hard to gain the ball - defensively we are much better."

      Liverpool have been less than inspiring in Europe this season. A laborious 1-0 victory over Debrecen was followed by a 2-0 defeat in Fiorentina, but Garde refuses to see the Merseysiders' recent failings as a plus for Lyon.

      "All the Liverpool players will be up for this match and will be motivated," he says. "They may not be in the best form, but with a club as big as Liverpool you are always worried that they are going to wake up and bite you.

      "Anfield is a wonderful place to play football. It has a magnificent atmosphere, the kind you dream of when you are a young player. You can feel that all the fans are behind the team in red, but we will look forward to it.

      "We have to be careful when we play such a big club. We'll have chances to score, but in this kind of game errors will determine the result. Both teams will have one or two chances. We will give everything to win."
      Story from BBC SPORT:
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/europe/8309715.stm
      FabulousAurelio
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #18: Oct 19, 2009 02:11:27 pm
      Gerrard should be in the squad. Torres is still out.

      http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5638097,00.html

      Mixed news on Reds duo
      Gerrard back in training but Torres sits out

      Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard returned to training ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Champions League clash with Lyon but Fernando Torres sat out once again.

      Both players missed the defeat to Sunderland at the weekend after suffering groin injuries whilst on international duty.

      Gerrard is now back working with the rest of the squad and Rafa Benitez will hope he comes through unscathed to take his place in the side against Lyon.

      However, Torres' absence from training on Monday morning leaves him more doubtful for the encounter at Anfield.

      The Reds desperately missed their star duo on Saturday as Darren Bent's freak goal condemned them to a fourth league defeat of the season.

      Liverpool will now be desperate to bounce back from the disappointment in a crucial week at both European and domestic level.

      They are currently third in Champions League Group E ahead of home and away games against current leaders Lyon.

      Benitez's men are also seven points off the pace in the Premier League and face a key game at home to fierce rivals Manchester United this Sunday.
      brilad
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #19: Oct 19, 2009 02:33:14 pm
      Well according to s.s.n three of lyons back four are injured so i hope for a go for it approach with two strikers up front even if it means playing voronin up front with kuyt .....rather him than that bag of sh*te babel..come on red men..
      Ross
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #20: Oct 19, 2009 03:18:10 pm
      Yeah I just read on SSN too that Torres is out.

      At least Gerrard's back though.

      If like you say some of their defenders are injured then that's encouraging. Shouldn't need that to be the case though.
      Madscouser
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #21: Oct 19, 2009 03:56:45 pm
      Clean sheet would be nice.

      Then actually scoring a goal would be good.

      If we dont get three points from this one, we are seriously screwed.
      LFC-LCFC
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      Re: Pre Match: Liverpool vs Lyon (Champions League 20/10/09 7:45pm)
      Reply #22: Oct 19, 2009 04:00:49 pm
      Everyone whos also going to the game, make sure to show your support for Rafa!

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