Liverpool ‘v’ Man City – Preview

With pockets guarded and jewelery securely hidden away, Man City travel to Merseyside to face a Liverpool team still harbouring hopes of winning the Premier League. The Blues were appalling in their previous fixture in the League, away at Portsmouth, although they did improve and manage a draw in midweek in the UEFA Cup against FC Copenhagen. Liverpool are second in the table, trailing Manchester United (booooooo) by eight points, although with a game in hand. They started the campaign brightly, but recently, following a bizarre and out of character outburst by manager Rafael ‘It’s good for us’ Bénitez, have fallen by the wayside, only managing to scrape draws against Stoke and Hull, sides they should be comfortably beating.

Team News

Blues boss Mark Hughes faces a number of tricky selection dilemmas as he ponders his starting eleven. Notable absentees include Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Johnson, Martin Petrov and Valeri Bojinov, through a mixture of suspension and injuries. It is pleasing to see Bulgarian powerhouse Bojinov on the mend after suffering two extremely serious injuries which have kept him out for the best part of two seasons. He started a reserve-team match last week, although it will take time for him to regain match fitness and to be considered for the first team. After missing the midweek UEFA Cup game through ineligibility, ‘Nifty Nige’ de Jong is expected to be recalled, though who he will replace remains a mystery. Shaun Wright-Phillips is suspended following his three match FA ban, so the Blues may summon Elano from the bench or they could push Pablo Zabaleta out to the right-wing.

Elano could be set for a recall to the City side as they search for that elusive away win

Liverpool are also heavily weakened by injuries and suspensions, notably being deprived of the services of Steven ‘eeeeeeerrrrrmm’ Gerrard and Xabi Alonso. Former City winger Albert Riera will probably start on the left, and Israeli international Yossi Benayoun is pushing for a starting berth ahead of Dirk Kuyt.

My Team

                                         Given

Zabaleta          Dunne                        Onuoha         Bridge

                      de Jong                       Kompany

Elano                                 Ireland                         Robinho

                                         Bellamy

Subs: Hart, Richards, Garrido, Weiss, Evans, Caicedo, Vassell

Key Battles

Fernando Torres ‘v’ Richard Dunne

Food-lover Dunne enjoyed a decent enough return in midweek, but he will face a much tougher test on Sunday when he comes up against star Spanish striker Torres. Despite having a relatively poor season by his standards, Torres is debatebly the world’s best striker and has the ability to change any match in an instant.

Javier Mascherano ‘v’ ‘Nifty Nige’ de Jong

Both these holding midfielder are craftsmen at their trade, so it will be fascinating to see who comes out on top. Dutchman de Jong rarely leaves his own half, preferring to concentrate on stopping attacks and quick distribution, but he will have to operate further forward if he is to have any impact on this game.

Robinho ‘v’ Robinho

Whichever Robinho turns up may well decide the outcome of this match. Will it be the £32.6 million world superstar, full of trickery, endeavour and end-product, or will it be the lacklustre and lazy Robinho, who shirks out of tackles and displays poor attitude? Only time will tell.

Which Robinho will we see? The one celebrating after scoring a goal, or the one who is picking his nose and looks disinterested?

Verdict: Liverpool 2 – 1 Man City

Despite missing a couple of key men, Liverpool will possess enough quality to defeat the Blues, thus prolonging their abysmal away record. Goals to be scored by Fernando Torres, Albert Riera and Craig Bellamy.