If we play the game and not the occasion, I don't see any reason why we can't come away with something. On paper, we are the better team. On our day, we are the better team. Even when we weren't at our best, we still beat them. They need us to get caught up in it and they need us to play with a little bit of fear cause that's the only way they'll take this game from us.
Everyone is bigging them up and forgetting what we can do, and quite frankly, I'm happy to go into this as the underdog. All the pressure is on them, despite how much they try and shift it to us. They need a win, whereas we could walk away with a win or a draw and be more than satisfied. If we go there, play our game and take it to them, then I'm rather confident. It's if we see them as this big scary team with a big scary atmosphere and let them play, then we will get beat.
We will also get beat if we don't cover up the space between the midfield and the defence. Southampton got in there far too many times and they're just a poor mans Liverpool. Toure and Fernandinho get caught too high up the field, neither of them tend to sit but when Garcia came on, he just sat there and suddenly, the Southampton threat was minimalized ten fold. So he potentially could be an option for this game, just as necessary protection. They will look to run in behind, both from midfield and with the front two, so I hope we do something to counter that. Arsenal went there and played a high line and got absolutely taken apart. They will move all over the place, and we have to be switched on at all times.
It's a massive occasion for the Scousers. They want the league, they want it for the 96 and they want it for Gerrard. Their biggest threat could be themselves. If they go too hard in this game, it could always backfire. If they are too committed, they could easily get a red or give away a penalty. Your decision making in games like this becomes very nervy and those Liverpool players won't have played in anything like this before. We've been there and done it.
Whatever the media says, we are in a much better position in this game than everyone even realises. We win this game and we are then very very comfortable in the driving seat. We could lose a game and still go and walk the league. But if we were to win this game, it's a massive massive step towards the league. If someone offered me a draw now, I'd take it, and I'm sure most others would. Going there and keeping the title in our hands is the imperative, and I think we are more than capable.
I'm absolutely shitting myself already for this, but if I was Pellers, I'd go for:
Hart
Zaba
Vinnie
MDM
Kolarov
Garcia
Toure
Nasri
Navas
Silva
Negredo
That is a world class team, and even now I still look at it and wonder if it will be able to do the job. I am a prime example of what a game of this magnitude can do to your thinking. That team is head and shoulders above the Scousers, but suddenly, in a big game, you start to doubt it. I just hope the players are mentally stronger than I am.
I'll go for 2-2, or 2-1 City, with a Negredo goal thrown in there somewhere. Either way I'd be satisified as fook.
