please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Hello and welcome to the official match thread for Saturdayâs Barclays Premier League encounter between Liverpool & Fulham. The game is scheduled to take place at Anfield on Saturday 22nd December 2012 at 5.30PM. ESPN will be showing the game (Sky channel 417) and build-up will begin at 4.30PM. talkSPORT have the radio rights to the game. Preview. Liverpool welcome Fulham to Anfield on Saturday in what will be the first game in a busy Christmas & New Year period for both sides. The Christmas & New Year period is always a congested time of year with Liverpool scheduled to play five games in sixteen days & Fulham scheduled to play five games in fifteen days! A busy schedule for both sides so a win on Saturday for either side will give them confidence going into this important period. Both sides will be going into the game on the back of disappointing defeats in their last Premier League game. The home side, Liverpool, were firm favourites to beat an Aston Villa side that had scored just four goals away from Villa Park before their trip to Anfield. However, Villa produced an excellent display of counter-attacking football to beat Liverpool 3-1 and collect the three points which moved Paul Lambertâs side to 14th place and three points clear of the relegation zone. The key man for Villa was Christian Benteke. The Belgian international scored twice & provided the assist for the other goal as Villa took the three points back to Villa Park. It was an excellent performance from the Villa frontman and it gave Aston Villa a fully deserved victory. It wasnât the result Liverpool were looking for and leaves them going into Saturdayâs game on the back of a disappointing result & performance. The away side, Fulham, also go into the game on the back of a defeat. They visited Queens Park Rangers who were the only side left in the top four divisions of English football without a win in the league. However, they are now under the management of Harry Redknapp and he was able to secure a first win for Q.P.R in his fourth game in charge of the West London side. The key man for Q.P.R was Adel Taarabt. The playmaker, who is known for his inconsistency, produced one of his better performances and gave Q.P.R a much needed victory. From the Fulham point of view, it was extremely disappointing and Martin Jol stated that he felt Fulham simply werenât good enough. It extended Fulhamâs poor away record this season which leaves them with just 1 win from their 9 leagues games away from Craven Cottage. Jol will be looking for a response and the chance to double their away wins with a victory at Anfield. Moving onto Saturdayâs game and both managers will see an added importance added to it due to the aforementioned results for both sides. They say that the sign of a good team is how they bounce back from setbacks and this game gives Brendan Rodgers & Martin Jol the opportunity to prove that theory. For the home side, Luis Suarez will be a key player. The striker has been in fine form this season and has 10 league goals in 16 league games and 13 goals in all competitions. He returned from a one-match suspension in Liverpoolâs last game against Aston Villa but wasnât able to get on the scoresheet. He is still Liverpoolâs only senior striker and much of the attacking creativity and goals will come from him. One man who knows all about his attacking creativity & goals is the Fulham manager! Martin Jol managed Suarez whilst he was at Ajax and gave the striker the captainâs armband. This seems an inspired decision from Jol as the striker thrived on the responsibility and scored 49 goals in the first full season he was captain! An impressive record which Jol is fully aware of and he will be looking to negate the threat of Suarez. Apart from Suarez, who seems very likely to start, the team Rodgers plays is more difficult to predict. In his pre-match press conference, Rodgers spoke about how he felt the likes of Joe Allen & Raheem Sterling could do with a rest. It will be interesting to see if Rodgers does decide to rest these two and who he could bring in. Limited options do limit the replacements Rodgers can call upon but Jordan Henderson would seem to be the favourite to replace Allen if the Welsh international is left out of the starting 11. Henderson has impressed in recent appearances for Liverpool and could be given the opportunity to start a league game and impress the manager. On the wings, options are very limited. With Oussama Assaidi struggling with a knee injury, the options in the wide attacking positions become almost non-existent. Stewart Downing or Jose Enrique could move to a wide attacking position depending on what Rodgers wants to do. Both have played in the wide left attacking position and both in the left-back position so it will be interesting to see who plays where if they are both given a starting place by Rodgers. The away side, Fulham, will be looking to Dimitar Berbatov to provide the attacking threat. The striker joined Fulham for around £5M but the fee was officially undisclosed. (As are many transfer fees nowadays) He is currently Fulhamâs top scorer in the league with 5 goals and is an integral part of Martin Jolâs Fulham side. In some quarters, Berbatov is labelled as languid and laid-back on the football pitch but these perceived criticisms seem unfair. The striker has excellent movement off the ball and is able to link the play well between the midfield & the attack. These traits could see Berbatov play just in behind Mladen Petrić in the lone striker role. The Fulham team could also see two ex-Liverpool players make another return to Anfield. John Arne Riise & Alexander Kačaniklić will make a second return to Anfield after both played in Fulham 1-0 win at Anfield at the back end of last season. Riise seems likely to continue at left-back for Fulham and can look forward to a good reception from the Liverpool fans after serving Liverpool for seven years between 2001 & 2008. The other ex-Liverpool player that seems likely to make an appearance is Alexander Kačaniklić. The left-sided winger was part of Liverpoolâs youth system between 2007 & 2010 before moving to Carven Cottage in part of the deal that took Paul Konchesky from Fulham to Merseyside. He has impressed for Fulham since returning from a fruitful loan spell with the nPower Championship side Watford. He impressed for the Hertfordshire side in the middle of last season and was then recalled by Fulham. He has since started to secure most first-team appearances for Fulham and this season could be considered his breakthrough season. He scored in Fulhamâs 5-0 win over Norwich on the opening day of this season and has provided assists and goals for Fulham since then. If he starts on the left-hand side, he could link up with Riise and create a strong attacking basis on that side for Fulham to exploit. So, an interesting game in prospect. With both sides looking to bounce back from defeats, it should create a good game. Can Liverpool & Brendan Rodgers bounce back from a disappointing result & performance with the three points on Saturday? Or will Martin Jol be able to secure another victory at Anfield for Fulham? Youâll find out the answers to this, and more, on the official match thread on the Not606 Liverpool board! Do join in. (That includes the guests that read this thread! Sign up and get involved in the match chat.) Injury News. Liverpool. Martin Kelly: ACL Knee Injury. Oussama Assaidi: Knee Injury. Fabio Borini: Foot Injury. Fulham. Neil Etheridge: Leg Injury. Mahamadou Diarra: Knee Injury. Simon Davies: Thigh Injury. Bryan Ruiz: Hamstring Injury. *Indicates player will have a late fitness test and could be available for Saturdayâs game. Suspension News. Liverpool. No suspensions currently recorded. Fulham. Steve Sidwell: Suspended for one game after picking up five yellow cards this season. Liverpool 4 - 0 Fulham Goalscorers: Liverpool... Martin Skrtel: 8th minute. Liverpool... Steven Gerrard: 36th minute. Liverpool... Stewart Downing: 51st minute. Liverpool... Luis Suarez: 91st minute. Liverpool: Reina - Johnson Skrtel Carragher Agger Enrique - Downing Gerrard Allen Sterling - Suarez SUBS: Jones Wisdom Lucas Henderson Sahin Shelvey Suso - Liverpool Substitution: Suso comes off to be replaced by Raheem Sterling. (71st minute) Liverpool Substitution: Jonjo Shelvey comes off to be replaced by Joe Allen. (74th minute) Liverpool Substitution: Lucas Leiva comes off to be replaced by Jamie Carragher. (83rd minute) - Fulham: Schwarzer - Riether Hughes Hangeland Riise - Dejagah Karagounis Baird Frei - Rodellega Berbatov SUBS: Stockdale Senderos Briggs Tavares Richardson Kasami Kacaniklic - Fulham Substitution: Alex Kacaniklic comes off to be replaced by Hugo Rodallega. (45th minute) Fulham Substitution: Kieran Richardson comes off to be replaced by Kerim Frei. (54th minute) - YNWA.
Takes time. Post first, then you do the poll. Shows how dedicated you are to Liverpool with your speed.
Fulham play some good football. Do we rest Stirling for this one? I am in two minds with this. Allen out, Sahin in.
or undedicated that I didn't know! Can't see Fulham winning but I'm torn between whether you'll win or draw.
Thinking it is this judging by the bibs.... ------Gerrard----Lucas---------- -----------Shelvey------------- Suso-------Suarez-------Downing/Enrique
Personally I like this idea: ---------------Reina---------------- --Wisdom--Skrtel--Agger--Johnson-- ----------Lucas-----Sahin---------- ----Sterling---Gerrard---Enrique----- --------------Suarez--------------- That should keep control of Fulhams midfield well. Skrtel can handle Berbaflop.
Here are some photos from training! please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Think he will be rested, he needs it imo, not been as sharp of late, same with Allen. BUT not sure why we aren't giving Hendo a bit more of a run now he is playing OK and Sahin a chance to play in the deeper role. Tbf though, we have what 4 games in 2 weeks or something like that?
I'd take a draw if it was offered. Surprisingly Mark 'The Bollock' Lawrenson has you down for the win.
