Manchester City vs Liverpool pre-match thread

[BringBackSwales]

Just a question; if Gerrard picks up a yellow against us (10 yellows before 2nd Sunday in April), does he get a 1 or 2 game ban? 2 would mean he misses the Chelsea game.

2 game ban - the 2nd one of which would be Chelsea.

Cut off date is this sunday,so does a card v us count onto the 9 he has or does he start again.? Btw,we must have a few close to the limit too.

as far as I know this is the last game that counts - so if Gerrard is booked he misses the next two; I think Zabba is ok unless he gets 2 yellows, as he has 8 and had the most of any City players - not getting booked v Soton means he is ok with 1 booking v red dippers

 

[Matty]

Is Coutinho injured? He came off at half-time and it seemed a strange one if tactical?

If Lucas plays, then Fernandinho has 90 minutes to book a guaranteed World Cup place.

As long as Nasri does not start, I have an increased sense of confidence.

It's Monday now. Imagine the pressure cooker on Saturday night in Merseyslide.

Nasri will surely start??

If I were picking the midfield 5 (I assume we'll go with 5) at this point then I'd be going for Toure and Fernandinho, with Silva, Nasri and Milner in front of them. Either Aguero or Dzeko up front, depending upon fitness. Back 4 is likely to be Zaba, Kompany, Demichelis (which scares me against the pace and movement of their front players) and then Clichy/Kolarov, although I suspect Clichy will get the nod.

 

[akcity]

As someone else pointed out a draw on Sunday would mean we could draw at Goodison as well and still have it in our own hands.

....and if Liverpool and Chelsea draw then we can drop even more points...a draw at Palace would do me.

2 draws for Liverpool would be catastrophic, does that mean they can't win the league that they have already been awarded lol.

 

[BlueAnorak]

When was the last time we won at Anfield or Godison?
winning at one is fairly rare. Winning at both is nearly as rare as rocking horse manure.
We have to go for the win. A draw lets Chelski in.

 

[Blue_Rossy]

A draw would be fine. But I will be surprised if it ends that way. Either City will dictate the game as we did at Spurs and United, or Liverpool will streamroller us similar to 2010/11. Don't really see anything in between.

I see it that way aswell. Lets hope its us smiling at the end of the match!<br /><br />-- Mon Apr 07, 2014 3:33 pm --<br /><br />

A draw is more powerful for us than them due to diminishing games.

Not being negative but simply outlining a scenario which is hardly beyond the realms of fantasy;

- If we draw our 2 tough trips to Merseyside and win the other 5 winnable games, we get 87 pts with a healthy goal diff, probably around +65

- If Liverpool win the 4 other games they have, with a draw with City, they get 87 pts and probably a goal diff around +60

- Chelsea can get 87 pts max but with a trip to Liverpool, that means either Pool or Chelsea will drop points.

What i'm trying to say is - if we draw our games on merseyside, dont sh*t yourself, i think we're in a good position

I actually feel a bit better now mate lol, seeing as its put like that. +1

 

[Tourist since 1971]

Match of the season for me, win it and we really are in the driving seat. As far as football is concerned I am not that worried about coping with LIverpool, but with Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez darting around the penalty box and acting like mobile skittles I think bookings, sending offs and penalties are almost guaranteed given the incompetence on show this season by the twats in yellow. If we manage to keep 11 on the park, and the ball off the penalty spot I really can't see us losing.

 

[tonea2003]

When was the last time we won at Anfield or Godison?
winning at one is fairly rare. Winning at both is nearly as rare as rocking horse manure.
We have to go for the win. A draw lets Chelski in.

april 2009 at goodison 2-1 robinho and ireland

may 2003 at anfield 2-1 anelka 2

 

[Blue_Rossy]

Match of the season for me, win it and we really are in the driving seat. As far as football is concerned I am not that worried about coping with LIverpool, but with Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez darting around the penalty box and acting like mobile skittles I think bookings, sending offs and penalties are almost guaranteed given the incompetence on show this season by the twats in yellow. If we manage to keep 11 on the park, and the ball off the penalty spot I really can't see us losing.

I hear u mate, I'm actually more worried about the officials than i am of suarez and co. Thats how bad the refs are lately. Especially when giddypool are averaging 2 pens a game lol.

 

[gungho-tactics]

When was the last time we won at Anfield or Godison?
winning at one is fairly rare. Winning at both is nearly as rare as rocking horse manure.
We have to go for the win. A draw lets Chelski in.

It won't be easy but winning there isn't impossible. Both Rodgers and Martinez like to use different formations during games to stop other teams from playing in their usual way. I wouldn't be surprised if Liverpool use a 3-4-3 and Everton use a 4-3-3 against us.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Of course we expect Klanfield to be a cauldron and our players need to rise to the occasion. But that said, I think this game is won, drawn or lost depending on how Pellegrini sets us up.

If we play a high line with Vinny making tackles on the half way line as he tends to, Gerard will murder us with balls over the top to Sterling or Sturridge both of who have real pace and will cause MDM and Zabba no end of problems.

For me, we need to sit a little deeper and I'd fill the resulting gap with an extra midfield player, Garcia. I'd play a back four with Clichy for his speed and I'd have either Garcia or Fern sitting deep, probably Fern. So 4-1-4-1

This would mean we'd have to lose Navas, but honestly that's a small sacrifice for the huge gain of the extra holding midfield player and allowing Kompany and MDM to sit back a little. I still think we have more than enough firepower to get goals with Yaya, Nasri, Silva and Aguero running at them, especially with Yaya have the freedom to go forward some more. It also de-risks it a bit because we are not dependent on Yaya doing so much defending, which as we know, sometimes he can't be arsed with.

If we need to score goals later on, we could bring on Dzeko for Aguero and Jovetic for Garcia and go 4-4-2. And perhaps Navas' fresh legs for Nasri as they tire.