Liverpool Match Thread

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Sunday 10th March 2013.
Kick Off @ 1600hrs GMT.

By Steve Wilson BBC Match of the Day commentator

Liverpool pair Daniel Sturridge and Martin Skrtel are available to face Tottenham after recovering from injury.

Sturridge has overcome a thigh problem and could make his first appearance since 17 February, while Skrtel is likely to be a substitute.

Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon is doubtful after suffering a hamstring injury against Inter Milan.

Emmanuel Adebayor returns to the squad after missing Thursday's game because of a knee problem.

Tom Huddlestone and Clint Dempsey are doubts with respective knee and calf injuries.
MATCH PREVIEW

In 1912, the Titanic sank; in 1985, Microsoft Windows software was launched. An awful lot of stuff happened in between, but in all that time Tottenham Hotspur never once navigated their way from Anfield with a victory to celebrate.

All they ever seemed to get from Liverpool was repetitive strain injury from constant bending to pick the ball out of their net.

That was 73 years of Tottenham effort largely wasted; then along came my good friend Garth Crooks with the only goal of the game in March 1985 and the run was ended.

These days Spurs usually take on Liverpool with much more confidence. They have won seven and lost only of three of their last 12 meetings in league and cup.

The key protagonists in the latest encounter will almost certainly be Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale. The latter has 14 goals in his last 14 games for Tottenham, the same as Liverpool's Uruguayan over the same period.

Suarez may be Bale's only serious rival for the title of Footballer of the Year, and both will have the choice of staying put or moving on for many millions of pounds in the summer. Keeping them happy is their respective managers' first priority.

Champions League football is the key to keeping top players smiling and Liverpool will not be able to offer Suarez that next season. Nevertheless if Liverpool finish the season strongly, I think Suarez is likely to have seen enough in the green shoots of their recovery, and in the early impact of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, to decide it's worth sticking around.

You'd hesitate to say that Brendan Rodgers has made a terrific start at Anfield, but there does seem to be a sense of stability and measured, proactive planning for the future which can only be healthy.

Champions League football is there for the taking for Tottenham. If they can avoid defeat at Liverpool this weekend and against Chelsea and Manchester City in April, they would be virtual certainties for at least third place and be in a strong position to persuade their supercharged Welshman to stay.

Andre Villas-Boas has done tremendously well after a slow start when some Spurs fans were unconvinced and hankering after Harry Redknapp. After their destruction of Inter Milan on Thursday night hopes are high that Spurs may even secure a Champions League place whilst winning the Europa League at the same time.

Now that would give the old cockerel on White Hart Lane's West Stand roof something to crow about.
MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

Tottenham have won four of their last five games against Liverpool (W4, L1).
Spurs won 2-0 at Anfield in May 2011, but that is their only victory in their last 18 Premier League games away to Liverpool.

Liverpool

Liverpool's last six league victories have seen them record a winning margin of at least three goals (3-0 twice, 4-0 twice and 5-0 twice), scoring 24 unanswered goals. In total, they have won eight matches by at least three goals this season - a league high.
The Reds have scored 22 Premier League goals in 2013, the highest tally in the top flight prior to this weekend.
Luis Suarez is the third different player to have scored at least 20 Premier League goals for Liverpool, following in the footsteps of Robbie Fowler and Fernando Torres.

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs are unbeaten in 12 league games, their longest run without defeat since a 14-match streak between November 1984 and March 1985.
They have won their last four league games, and have been beaten in only one of their previous 16 matches (W11, D4, L1).
Gareth Bale has scored seven times in Tottenham's last five league games.
If the Welshman scores against Liverpool he will become the first Spurs player to net in six consecutive Premier League matches. The last Spurs player to manage that feat in the top flight was Garth Crooks between December 1984 and January 1985.

looks like im going to have to rely on a stream today.

shame lennon may be a doubt

Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto, Parker, Livermore, Sigurdsson, Dembele, Bale & Defoe

links ??/

http://worldsucks.altervista.org/

FFS !

1 1. we are playing okay. for the goal we had verts and dawson both furthist forward lol.

if only we had a decent striker like suarez.

this game couldbe over if our players was not so greedy

walker braindead

defoe 1 goal in 14 games is a cnut

and as for ekotto.
thrown game away

f*cking Disco Benny, Clumbsy oaf !!!

Defoe walker benny and parker, sh*t today.....

lets be honest ekotto looks like given a pen away every week yet we stil think hes class.

oh well back 2 4 points if the scum win that game in hand.

DEFOES CONTRIBUTION TO THE GAME IS AN ASSIST TO LIVERPOOL!
14 games defoe got 1 goal and today all he did was..

suarez did more then bale and defoe combind

overall thought we were the better team, some slack passing agreed and but for those 2 stupid mistakes from walker and defoe we had that game won. dissapointing when you take the lead like we did but their allowed an off day with the mistakes so cut em some slack today .

Loughtonlegend wrote:DEFOES CONTRIBUTION TO THE GAME IS AN ASSIST TO LIVERPOOL!
14 games defoe got 1 goal and today all he did was..

suarez did more then bale and defoe combind

Bale two assists,don't talk bollox, here comes the scapegoats

cut em some slack today ??

WE Were sh*t !

no scapegoats. suarez got 50 goals in 2 years.
defoe 1 in 15 never scores at big away teams.
every season second half of the season he stops scoring.

admit it hes sh*t and too greedy.

ratings
lloris 5. awfull decesion to come that far off hes line
walker 2. braindead.
dawson 6. not hes best game
verts 6. hes job is to defend.and could of cost us another pen.
ekotto. 2. lets be honest hes been geting away with that for ages now. he didnt even care.
parker7. decent game.
dembele9 best player today
stiggerson.7 worked hard but should of past to defoe for 3 1.
bale 6 another averge game. taken them stupid long free kicks.
jake 7 decent game.
defoe 4. is it 14 or 15 games now 1 goal. compare him up front to suraez.
just like the inter game when he wouldnt pass. waste of space.

subs. holtby. i not worked out what he does yet. seems to offer nothing.

carrol came on to late

Loughtonlegend wrote:ratings
lloris 5. awfull decesion to come that far off hes line
walker 2. braindead.
dawson 6. not hes best game
verts 6. hes job is to defend.and could of cost us another pen.
ekotto. 2. lets be honest hes been geting away with that for ages now. he didnt even care.
parker7. decent game.
dembele9 best player today
stiggerson.7 worked hard but should of past to defoe for 3 1.
bale 6 another averge game. taken them stupid long free kicks.
jake 7 decent game.
defoe 4. is it 14 or 15 games now 1 goal. compare him up front to suraez.
just like the inter game when he wouldnt pass. waste of space.

subs. holtby. i not worked out what he does yet. seems to offer nothing.

carrol came on to late

But you do this after every loss, we ain't lost f*ck knows how long and but for two mistakes would have won this two, I f*cking knew we would get these knee jerk reactions, the other night EpWalkers getting back to his best, now his brain dead, Lought you make me sick, we are all disappointed, but you go over the top every time.

Loughtonlegend wrote:ratings
lloris 5. awfull decesion to come that far off hes line
walker 2. braindead.
dawson 6. not hes best game
verts 6. hes job is to defend.and could of cost us another pen.
ekotto. 2. lets be honest hes been geting away with that for ages now. he didnt even care.
parker7. decent game.
dembele9 best player today
stiggerson.7 worked hard but should of past to defoe for 3 1.
bale 6 another averge game. taken them stupid long free kicks.
jake 7 decent game.
defoe 4. is it 14 or 15 games now 1 goal. compare him up front to suraez.
just like the inter game when he wouldnt pass. waste of space.

subs. holtby. i not worked out what he does yet. seems to offer nothing.
carrol came on to late

Bale, another average game? set up two goals, your a f*cking idiot.

I agree with Lought about Holtby, not sure what he offers us, he seems to run around like a chicken with no head.

was not one mistake was it. there was loads.
okay walker didnt mean to do it. neither did defoe

but ekotoo meant to. hes always fouling people in the box.

untill we get a player like suarez or berbatov we wont go that next step.

we got away with it aganst inter because lets face it they are not the inter of old. but today we could of killed the game but they all want the glory.

i said back in december defoe wont get 20 prem goals and since then he has 1 goal. and dont give me that crap hes been out. hes never scored 20 prem goals

djfitzo wrote:

Loughtonlegend wrote:ratings
lloris 5. awfull decesion to come that far off hes line
walker 2. braindead.
dawson 6. not hes best game
verts 6. hes job is to defend.and could of cost us another pen.
ekotto. 2. lets be honest hes been geting away with that for ages now. he didnt even care.
parker7. decent game.
dembele9 best player today
stiggerson.7 worked hard but should of past to defoe for 3 1.
bale 6 another averge game. taken them stupid long free kicks.
jake 7 decent game.
defoe 4. is it 14 or 15 games now 1 goal. compare him up front to suraez.
just like the inter game when he wouldnt pass. waste of space.

subs. holtby. i not worked out what he does yet. seems to offer nothing.
carrol came on to late

Bale, another average game? set up two goals, your a f*cking idiot.

f*cking idiot.???
Bit strong Fitzo, what ever happened to freedom of speech????