Liverpool FC Forum

maypaxvobiscum » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:38 pm wrote:Surely Lampard will play? He's their VC.
Their 3rd captain(Cech) and captain Terry may not play.

They'll want to rest Lampard I think. Matic and Obi Mikel won't be available for them for the Atletico fixture so I'm sure they'll both play. Won't be surprised if we see Ba instead of Torres and even youngsters such as Kalas at RB and Ake at CB but that'll be too much to ask .

damjan193 » Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:44 pm wrote:

maypaxvobiscum » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:38 pm wrote:Surely Lampard will play? He's their VC.
Their 3rd captain(Cech) and captain Terry may not play.

They'll want to rest Lampard I think. Matic and Obi Mikel won't be available for them for the Atletico fixture so I'm sure they'll both play. Won't be surprised if we see Ba instead of Torres and even youngsters such as Kalas at RB and Ake at CB but that'll be too much to ask .

I don't think Lampard can play in the second leg next Wednesday and neither can Mikel (both were booked) so there's a reasonable chance that they'll be in the starting line up on Sunday.
Playing Tuesday-Sunday-Wednesday isn't that much of an ask, teams regularly play 3 games in a week so it wouldn't surprise me if this wasn't all just a smoke screen and they turn up Sunday with a full strength side.
I find it hard to believe that they are prepared to flush 8 months hard work down the toilet when they still clearly have a chance of winning the league. Wouldn't trust that Mourinho as far as I could throw him.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:07 pm wrote:

damjan193 » Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:44 pm wrote:

maypaxvobiscum » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:38 pm wrote:Surely Lampard will play? He's their VC.
Their 3rd captain(Cech) and captain Terry may not play.

They'll want to rest Lampard I think. Matic and Obi Mikel won't be available for them for the Atletico fixture so I'm sure they'll both play. Won't be surprised if we see Ba instead of Torres and even youngsters such as Kalas at RB and Ake at CB but that'll be too much to ask .

I don't think Lampard can play in the second leg next Wednesday and neither can Mikel (both were booked) so there's a reasonable chance that they'll be in the starting line up on Sunday.
Playing Tuesday-Sunday-Wednesday isn't that much of an ask, teams regularly play 3 games in a week so it wouldn't surprise me if this wasn't all just a smoke screen and they turn up Sunday with a full strength side.
I find it hard to believe that they are prepared to flush 8 months hard work down the toilet when they still clearly have a chance of winning the league. Wouldn't trust that Mourinho as far as I could throw him.

Chelsea will play without at least 3 starters which is great for us ,a safe estimate that Hazard will be rested as well. All the rest is Biz is usual but i would love to face Mikel or Lampard then Willian.
We need to ignore the noise and keep the course.

I thought that only Mikel is suspended for the second leg. If Lampard is suspended as well then I guess he might play against us.

hopefully we wont be concentrating too much on what the plastic fooker says. "its not my decision " i will have to speak to the club about it    what a knob-head 
he a lying toe-rag in my book as winning is everything to the man and he has got to be the worst loser ever. make no mistake about it he will be here to scab a win regardless of the side he fields.
hope we hammer them 

Just heard on the radio that Abramovitch has told Mourinho he can pick any side he wants for the game at Anfield, if Mourinho thinks he has to play a weakened side Sunday to give Chelsea the best chance of winning the CL then the Russian is fine with that.
This is all a big smokescreen IMO, no club would throw 8 months hard work down the pan when they still have a chance of winning the title, teams play on a Sunday and a Wednesday all the time.
He'll turn up with his best side Sunday and all the press will be hailing him as a master of mind games.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Apr 24, 2014 7:31 am wrote:Just heard on the radio that Abramovitch has told Mourinho he can pick any side he wants for the game at Anfield, if Mourinho thinks he has to play a weakened side Sunday to give Chelsea the best chance of winning the CL then the Russian is fine with that.
This is all a big smokescreen IMO, no club would throw 8 months hard work down the pan when they still have a chance of winning the title, teams play on a Sunday and a Wednesday all the time.
He'll turn up with his best side Sunday and all the press will be hailing him as a master of mind games.

It's not totally correct. Chelsea needs Liverpool and City to lose at least twice to have a chance winning this ,compared to a unique opportunity to reach the CL finals.
It's a calculated risk that they have to take risking further injuries to their starters.

only me » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:39 am wrote:

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Apr 24, 2014 7:31 am wrote:Just heard on the radio that Abramovitch has told Mourinho he can pick any side he wants for the game at Anfield, if Mourinho thinks he has to play a weakened side Sunday to give Chelsea the best chance of winning the CL then the Russian is fine with that.
This is all a big smokescreen IMO, no club would throw 8 months hard work down the pan when they still have a chance of winning the title, teams play on a Sunday and a Wednesday all the time.
He'll turn up with his best side Sunday and all the press will be hailing him as a master of mind games.

It's not totally correct. Chelsea needs Liverpool and City to lose at least twice to have a chance winning this ,compared to a unique opportunity to reach the CL finals.
It's a calculated risk that they have to take risking further injuries to their starters.

I'm 50/50 on this.

On one hand Chelsea are outsiders, of us and city, for the title. Like you rightly say, they require both teams to lose at least once and city twice. I can't see it happening.

However, they won't want to be turned over by a large margin. A heavy defeat could bring a lot of unwanted attention and pressure for their CL game.

I really can't see us losing this, however a win may be a big ask. I pitching for a draw but hoping for a tight win, 2-1 or 1-0.

only me » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:39 am wrote:

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Apr 24, 2014 7:31 am wrote:Just heard on the radio that Abramovitch has told Mourinho he can pick any side he wants for the game at Anfield, if Mourinho thinks he has to play a weakened side Sunday to give Chelsea the best chance of winning the CL then the Russian is fine with that.
This is all a big smokescreen IMO, no club would throw 8 months hard work down the pan when they still have a chance of winning the title, teams play on a Sunday and a Wednesday all the time.
He'll turn up with his best side Sunday and all the press will be hailing him as a master of mind games.

It's not totally correct. Chelsea needs Liverpool and City to lose at least twice to have a chance winning this ,compared to a unique opportunity to reach the CL finals.
It's a calculated risk that they have to take risking further injuries to their starters.

If they beat us at Anfield and we draw our next game away at Palace (which is not beyond the realms of possibility) they would be behind us only on goal difference going into the last game of the season, anything could happen then.
Palace may even beat us, they've beaten Chelsea and Everton (at goodison) recently and that's an Everton side that have tonked Arsenal and United in the last few weeks.
League titles are often decided in the last few games and more often than not there's a twist in the tale in there as well.
One of the most famous was when we won the double in 86, Everton led the table basically all season and when they brushed aside the other top teams in head to head games it looked like they had the title sewn up, then with 2 games to go they lost to an already relegated Oxford. Gary Lineker famously wore a new pair of boots for that game instead of the ones he'd been wearing all season and missed a string of absolute sitters.
If I was in Chelsea's position I certainly wouldn't be throwing in the towel.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:33 am wrote:If they beat us at Anfield and we draw our next game away at Palace (which is not beyond the realms of possibility) they would be behind us only on goal difference going into the last game of the season, anything could happen then.
Palace may even beat us, they've beaten Chelsea and Everton (at goodison) recently and that's an Everton side that have tonked Arsenal and United in the last few weeks.
League titles are often decided in the last few games and more often than not there's a twist in the tale in there as well.

for fux sake, yakka mate. stop it will yer? i'm nervous enough already.

only me » Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:39 am wrote: Chelsea needs Liverpool and City to lose at least twice to have a chance winning this ,compared to a unique opportunity to reach the CL finals.
It's a calculated risk that they have to take risking further injuries to their starters.

Ignoring  what impact goal difference may have, Chelsea are still in with a strong shout for the title, granted they'd need to win all of their remaining games and Liverpool to lose two of their three remaining games with City  losing just one of their remaining four for Chelsea to actually take the title.

IMO It's not beyond the realms of possibility that City could lose one game and if Chelsea managed a win against us they'd be breathing right down our necks and it would really put the pressure on us for our two remaining fixtures.

Sundays match is huge for both us and Chelsea, whatever Mourinho says I'd be surprised if he didn't field his strongest available team.

Don't forget as well that City have still got to go to Goodison and Selhurst Park to play Everton and Palace and with the likes of Toure, Aguero and now Silva on the injured list those games are by no means shoe ins either.
I really hope Chelsea come here with a weakened line up but if we were in their position I wouldn't be throwing in the towel given the tough games that us and City have still got to play.

andy_g » Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:44 am wrote:

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:33 am wrote:If they beat us at Anfield and we draw our next game away at Palace (which is not beyond the realms of possibility) they would be behind us only on goal difference going into the last game of the season, anything could happen then.
Palace may even beat us, they've beaten Chelsea and Everton (at goodison) recently and that's an Everton side that have tonked Arsenal and United in the last few weeks.
League titles are often decided in the last few games and more often than not there's a twist in the tale in there as well.

for fux sake, yakka mate. stop it will yer? i'm nervous enough already.

Sorry mate!     If it's any consolation my anxiety status over Sundays game has gone beyond merely 'nervous' and has now moved into 'positively flapping' territory.
This game is bigger than those 2 CL finals IMO and to lose the title from this position (5 points clear with 3 games to go) would be f## king unbearable.

It's all relative anyway. A weakened Chelsea is still a team filled with players that would walk into most other EPL sides.

He'll be starting with the likes of Schwarzer, Cole, Cahill, Luiz, Lampard, Schurrle, Ba, Oscar and Mikel.

If he was trying to distract us pre-game it looks like it is working. We just need to focus on the game and not all the smoke and mirrors Jose conjures up.

mkingdom » Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:01 am wrote:It's all relative anyway. A weakened Chelsea is still a team filled with players that would walk into most other EPL sides.

He'll be starting with the likes of Schwarzer, Cole, Cahill, Luiz, Lampard, Schurrle, Ba, Oscar and Mikel.

If he was trying to distract us pre-game it looks like it is working. We just need to focus on the game and not all the smoke and mirrors Jose conjures up.

Distract "us"? I doubt any LFC players are regular posters here