I just hope Pardew goes back to making shocking substitutions for this game. Ba>Perch Cabaye>Lovenkrands Tiote>Alan Smith
I think Santon will start. Pardew has spoke alot about him in the last few days and hinting he will start. As for Ben Arfa I think he will start from bench, he said himself he is nearing 100%. Likely will be: Krul Simpson-Colo-Williamson-Santon Obertan-Tiote-Cabaye-Gutierrez -----------Best-Ba---------------
Great post OP. Really worried about this one, Liverpool have been threatening to spank someone for a while now and it just hasn't worked out for them one way or another, I'm worried we'll be on the receiving end. A draw without Carroll scoring would be fine with me, he can score a hat-trick if he wants as long as we win.
Wouldn't worry about us thrashing you...we've been saying for weeks we're due to give a team a hiding but it just hasn't happened. I think 99.9% of Reds would happily take a scrappy 1.0 tomorrow
I've been saying it for the last 5 games, but refuse to do so for this one...this was always the hardest fixture of December.
Depends, at the mo, may not be until about the 15th as Senegal seem to have cancelled their friendlies!!
I was going to put 100% of Reds fans would take 1.0 but adjusted down to 99.9% when I remembered dear old KPR
tbh after seeing liverpool struggle against blackburn i think we could really give em a headache and i really do believe if its 0-0 come the 2nd half we will grab a win with pardews 2nd half tactics shift which always seems to work out
Lawro predicts... Luis Suarez's suspension over his gesture to fans at Fulham means Andy Carroll plays against his old club - or, if he doesn't, then his non-appearance would tell its own story. He will be up against a lot of old team-mates, and will obviously be keen to impress, but as I said on Match of the Day after Liverpool's draw with Blackburn, I just think Carroll has lost some of the edge which made people afraid of him when he played for the Magpies and used to knock defenders all over the place. He put a lot of fear into people when they came to St James' Park, and I don't think he does that anymore. Maybe it's because he doesn't play that regularly - he could be one of these players who needs that - but he definitely needs a goal. Still, it would be typical of the way football goes if Suarez doesn't play and then Liverpool go out and score more than one goal without him, whether or not it is Carroll who gets them. It's like Groundhog Day watching Liverpool at Anfield at the moment - they make a load of chances but if the opposition keeper is not outstanding then they hit the post and bar or the finishing is not up to scratch. That has limited the goals they have scored and meant they have dropped points while staying unbeaten at home. As for Newcastle, their victory over a poor Bolton side on Boxing Day was a huge result for them because it meant they got back to winning ways after a six-game wait. The Magpies are going to be rather in limbo for a few weeks from the middle of January when Demba Ba goes to the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, and I cannot see them getting anything from this game either. Prediction: 2-0
If Santon plays we will be a lot stronger at full back but I fear Pardew may start Raylor, if he does all your wingers have to do is run at him, he's actually a decent full back if you don't run at him but once someone does he can't deal with it. Gutierrez players a defensive winger role to help us carry Raylor through the game so that will make it a bit tougher for your wingers. As for Simpson I don't rate him at all but he's been playing well recently as he's fighting for a contract so hopefully he will put in a good shift. Our defence will be able to cope with Carroll better than Bellamy so if Dalglish knew what he was doing, gladly he doesn't, he should start with pacey strikers such as Bellamy. Williamson will block out any aerial threat and he's solid like a rock. However he also has the agility and pace of a rock so if you use pacey strikers and run at our defence you will get the most joy. We can deal with long balls and crosses no problem and Coloccini reads the game incredibly well and is brilliant at cutting out short and long passes. Basically we can deal with anything other than players directly running at us with the ball at there feet. As for Best he's been off form recently but Ba on current form probably the best striker in the premiership at the minute and as I'm sure your aware he has the ability to unpick any defence no matter how well they are playing. Also BenArfa is a quality player, he's a magician with the ball and hopefully he will get the start he deserves in place of Best but it's more than likely Pards will start Best and bring on BenArfa at around 60-65 minutes.
