I think the issue is the ref will be Martin Atkinson who sometimes has an agenda so Suarez would want to be told that beating up the 12 year olds Chelsea send out will not go down too well. I think in the spirit of cooperation we should call this one 1-0 right now and all just walk away happy. Mourinho really wants to win the cl, by any means so he can't do that without his massed defense. We just need to hope for the best and a city f up v palace frankly
Maureen playing games again! What a creep the guy is!! He knew before last night's match the outline of what his team(s) he would play last night and on Sunday. But then he pretends that he doesn't have the authority to make those decisions. Who does he think he's fooling? If maureen chose a significantly weakened side for Sunday with the size and quality of the squad he has then Chelsea would face action from the PL, the FA and maybe directly from City!! IT'S JUST A MAUREEN CON. Typically the BBC are reprting that he might
I believe it will be announced at some point today that Ramires will be banned for 4 games. And as Gez mentioned, a weakened Chelsea squad is still strong.
Really would love another Arsenal, Everton, Tottenham x2 performance. Just don't see it though, we are gonna have a nervy tough end to the season and think we will rely on city dropping points.
How do you see them lining up then? Assuming that Terry, Ramires and Cech will all be out, and possibly even Hazard. ---------- Schwarzer ------------ Ivanovic--Luiz--Cahill--Azpilecueta ----------Matic-Mikel------------ --Schurrle---Willian----Salah------ --------------Ba----------------- I see them wanting Willians work rate, Mourinho seems to favour him in the bigger matches so I reckon he'll get the nod ahead of Oscar. Salah, Schurrle and Ba are all in purely because they'll be fresh + the 2 wide players will give them a lot of pace on the counter. Ramires ahead of Mikel if he isn't suspended. Ivanovic and Luiz both in. Still a very strong side.
Easily enough to compete with us. Target the lack of Terry at the back, but with Matic in midfield, we will get bullied.
Another point though, with Terry out, do they want to risk any of that defence against us, leaving them a weakened team against Atletico.
Don't really have much choice do they? Thinking about it, I can see them keeping cole in, moving Azpil to RB, Ivanovic to CB and putting Luiz in midfield ahead of Mikel ---------- Schwarzer --------- Azpil--Ivanovic--Cahill--Cole--- ---------Matic--Luiz----------
I don't think so, we don't have these big physical players like Toure, Matic but the energy we have from the likes of Hendo and Allen make up for that. Against Chelsea I go Allen and Lucas again in midfield.
Of all of that defence, Schwarzer, Azpil, Ivanovic, Chahill and Luiz will be required to play next week. Can he risk them, or is Jose bluffing? I guess we will see Sunday.
Also worth noting, Lampard can't play in the 2nd leg, so is free to play against us and may have to. Matic and Salah can't play champions league, so likely to play against us. Cole will be risked instead of Azpil/Ivanovic.
Maureen saying he'll field a weakened team and openly saying the CL is their priority is a total disgrace and should draw immediate rebuke from the EPL, as he's downgrading the value of their competition. Just by seeing a teamsheet without a host of their first choice players would give your side a massive lift on Sunday and is imo completely unfair on both City and the integrity of the best league in the World.
I would love it if Luiz plays CB, he likes to get out of position a lot and Liverpool attackers and Stevie G passing can exploit that!
Exactly. A weakened Chelsea team is a strong team nevertheless. All he is doing is setting the stage for either a ready-made excuse or bragging rights should he emerge with a win. Maureen should be thankful his weakened team doesn't inlcude the quality of Aspas, Cissokho and Kolo.
Whatever team they put out will be strong enough to compete with us so there's no room for complacency. As ever, I think we just need to go at them from the start. I haven't seen much of Schwarzer recently, but I doubt he's as good as he was. We'll have to get near the bugger first, though.
You already know that the team that he puts out at Anfield will have enough 'names' in it to protect him and the club from any sanction. I would love him to field a weakened side and for us to have an easy victory however, I'm sure that Rodgers isn't taking any notice of the hype and will seek to win the game no matter what players he selects.
