EPL : Liverpool versus Fulham

Poolman SG

Venue : "Fortress" Anfield

Date : 5th Feb 2005

Time : 10.55pm

LIVE on MaxTV ESPN 23

From SkySports : Liverpool need to close the seven-point gap on neighbours Everton and will be buoyed by their impressive display at Charlton in midweek.

Rafa Benitez's side seem to have overcome a poor patch of form and star striker Fernando Morientes will be pleased that he got off the mark at The Valley.

Dietmar Hamann is back from suspension and should replace Igor Biscan but Benitez is unlikely to tinker too much with his line-up as The Reds eye a place in next season's UEFA Champions League.

Harry Kewell is close to a return and may get a spot on the substitutes' bench, possibly alongside Antonio Nunez, who is no longer suspended after his sending off in the FA Cup defeat to Burnley, and fit-again Vladimir Smicer.

Fulham have a dreadful record at Anfield, they have never won at the famous old ground, but Chris Coleman's side have gone eight matches undefeated and will strive to frustrate the home side.

Coleman has received a ringing endorsement from Chelsea's Jose Mourinho ahead of the trip to Merseyside and is finally able to take a full squad into a Premiership game this season.

Summer recruit Claus Jensen is fit enough to play and Ian Pearce and Alain Goma are also in the party for the trip north.

"It's a nice problem to have," assistant manager Steve Kean told FFCTV. "We've got lots of players coming back.

"There's 19-20 in the squad. Clarky [Lee Clark] is back with a bang, Claus is also back, along with Ian Pearce and Alain Goma."

Looks a tough game ahead for L'pool . Confused

When you expect them not to win against Charton , they won . And it's the Best Away Win in 40 years ! Laughing

When you think they'll win , they surprise you with some crap display .
Sad

I'll be catching up this match on TV , a tough 1-0 victory .

It has to be Nando ! Nando ! Nando !

Medicated Oil SG

Liverpool have been giving all the gamblers and fans some major heartattack with their inconsistent display of football.

Now, no one is starting any pre-match prediction in this forum any more.

For the past few matches, after the saints victory over the Reds, all the teams playing Liverpool are deploying a 1-5-4 formation.

The reason is simple.

Liverpool's approach to the game is alway through the central path and lacking in wing play.

So, just plant lots of players in front of goal and you can stop Liverpool.

Two of the goals scored yesterday was from wing play and that is an rare occassion.

Biscan started out for Liverpool yesterday but he was unable to plug the hole in the mid-field and letting opponents going past him.

Only when Didi substituted Biscan, the stability is there.

Gerrard was in the mood to play yesterday and was all around the field and at times leaving a gap in the midfield area when he move too forward.

Despite certain weakness that is exsistant in the present team, the team have gradually becoming to believe themselves and have dug deep to produce this deserving victory.

Airbus330Captain SG

Well , most important is we got the 3 points. The performance to be frank was not very convincing especially with the shakey defence. Luckily for us, Fulham was wasteful with a couple of their chances, if they have put those chances in, the result would have been very different. Rafael needs to work on the defence, you cant defend like that especially playing in CL.

Poolman SG

Stevie G's first half were terrible last night i thought ?

Because of Garcia's and SG's lack of communication on the pitch , it caused us Andy Cole's equaliser .

I thought he should chase after the loose ball instead of staring at Garcia ?

Nando's first Anfield goal was a World Class header hor ? Laughing

Long time never see L'pool score like that .

2nd goal : That SG's free-kick reminded me of Damien Duff's free-kick for Chelsea that kicked MU out of Carling Cup Final . I thought that goal should be credited to SG , not Hyypia .

Also Murphy ever took like that and scored once too.

L'pool's third is like sky-drop for Baros to score , even Baros also stunned by the rare & sudden opportunity. Well done Traore for winning that loose ball , and Morientes' slip to Riise , a well set-up goal !

Well done to Fulham , they did gave us plenty of problems upfront with Boa Morte , Cole and Radzcinski !

Why did our defense so loose last night huh ??? Rolling Eyes

X-men SG

Why Garcia wasn’t make to warm the bench? He sucks! Can’t even hold on to the ball, kept losing it to the opponent.

frOst^~^nOva SG

i hate the look of garcia's "alamak!" look everytime he loses possession. he seem to be too lightweight and liverpool always lose possesion thru him. sigh... hopefully he start to get better coz the cross he delivered for morientes's goal was top class too! Wink

Medicated Oil SG

Ah Ben is trying out the spanish potion that won him the spanish league for two season.

I think he is trying to incorporate some spanish playing style into Liverpool.

But, so far, the spanish players that he have signed are all not good enough.

Josemi, Nunez, Pellegrino and Garcia are struggling to fit into the english game.

Garcia is trying his best to fit into the physical side of English Game.

Due to his height, he alway bullied from the ball.

He have not yet developed the ball holding skill that Baros possessed.

I think he may request to be post back to Spain to avoid further leg damage.

It is good to see the present team fight for a win, instead of settling for a draw.