Liverpool FC Forum

only me » Sat Apr 18, 2015 9:01 pm wrote:Question,if we qualify to the finals and manage to lose somehow to Arsenal are we still assured a European spot as the gunners get CL football next year?

Yes we get Europa League even if we are beaten (as long as Arsenal remain in top 4)

cardiff-red » Sun Apr 19, 2015 6:13 am wrote:

only me » Sat Apr 18, 2015 9:01 pm wrote:Question,if we qualify to the finals and manage to lose somehow to Arsenal are we still assured a European spot as the gunners get CL football next year?

Yes we get Europa League even if we are beaten (as long as Arsenal remain in top 4)

Cheers

Lucas Leiva has been ruled out of Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final with Aston Villa at Wembley due to injury.

The ECHO understands the Brazilian midfielder damaged his thigh during a training session this week and the decision has been taken that he won't be involved in the capital.

The loss of Lucas is a major blow for boss Brendan Rodgers with the holding midfielder having been influential in the recent wins over Blackburn and Newcastle.

Lucas did travel with the rest of the squad to London but Reds medical staff expect him to be sidelined for one to two weeks.

Missing out on the showdown with Villa will be a devastating setback for Lucas, who was forced to sit and watch Liverpool's three trips to Wembley during the 2011/12 season as he recovered from rupturing his cruciate ligament.

Steven Gerrard starts... Mario Balotelli is on bench

Official team.....


Liverpool's XI: Mignolet, Lovren, Skrtel, Can, Moreno, Gerrard, Henderson, Allen, Coutinho, Sterling, Markovic.

Substitutes: Jones, Johnson, Toure, Lambert, Manquillo, Borini, Balotelli.

cardiff-red » Sun Apr 19, 2015 11:10 am wrote:Lucas Leiva has been ruled out of Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final with Aston Villa at Wembley due to injury.

The ECHO understands the Brazilian midfielder damaged his thigh during a training session this week and the decision has been taken that he won't be involved in the capital.

The loss of Lucas is a major blow for boss Brendan Rodgers with the holding midfielder having been influential in the recent wins over Blackburn and Newcastle.

Lucas did travel with the rest of the squad to London but Reds medical staff expect him to be sidelined for one to two weeks.

Missing out on the showdown with Villa will be a devastating setback for Lucas, who was forced to sit and watch Liverpool's three trips to Wembley during the 2011/12 season as he recovered from rupturing his cruciate ligament.

That will probably mean that Gerrard will play, not ideal on a big pitch like Wembley, especially against a team of limited grafters. One thing the Villa players (Delph, Cleverley, Richardson, Sinclair, Westwood etc) can do is run all day which Gerrard can't (not really surprising though considering he is 35 in a few weeks)
Gerrard should be left on the bench and brought on with half an hour to go when the game has slowed down and players are starting to tire.
Personally I'd go with this team and try to hit them with pace -

                                              Mingolet

                           Can               Lovren            Skrtel

      Sterling                    Allen            Hendo                 Moreno

                                  Coutinho         Markovic

                                            Sturridge

Having Lovren in there is not ideal but as there is no Sakho we don't really have an option.
If he has to play we may as well play him centrally up against Benteke, he maybe error prone but he is decent in the air.

Sturridge is injured buddy, i posted official lineup above your post and below too

Official team.....

How will that line-up work exactly? Is Henderson at RWB again? Would have preferred it if we stuck with the recent change in formation, with the 4-3-3.

Lucas is probably our most important midfielder at the moment and it's bad that he's injured, but on the other hand, I'm not really comfortable with both him and Gerrard in the same line-up, and since Gerrard was bound to start no matter what, I guess the fact that Lucas is out for this is not so bad, or has a bright side at least.

Not a good start. Villa team looks quite strong, both Nzogbia and Benteke playing high. We've reverted to our back three and with skrtel and Stevie back we look a bit disjointed. Hopefully we'll settle into the game but likely to be close.

just wondering if kane asked for more than 100k per week from spurs?
does sterling really believe he's worth more than that?

Poor stuff so far ,we are nervous ,sloppy really disappointing.

The Little Magician !!!!

Coutinhooooooo......

Get in

That was quick ....we are so soft mentally today