Crunch Time For LiverpoolBy Tim Robertson If Liverpool is to save its season, it has to win at Middlesbrough on Saturday. Sunday's 3-0 defeat at Arsenal has left the Merseysiders in ninth place and sporting the worst away record in the Premiership. This is hardly the start to the season that the supposed title challengers were expecting. According to the preseason odds, Liverpool was going to be challenging Manchester United and Chelsea this season. Instead, the gap between it and first place is 14 points - three less than it has dropped in not winning a single match away from Anfield in the league all year. Unbeaten at home, Liverpool has drawn one and lost five of six away games this season. Play in the FREE $15,000 NFL Betting Handicapping Contest every week all season long! Put your bankroll over the TOP and sign-up now at SBG Global!Join SBG Global and start winning CASH today! Setting the industry standards with fast, free, secure and reliable deposit and withdrawl options, for over a decade SBG Global has been the World's most respected Online Sportsbook, Online Casino, Poker Room and Racebook! With up to 265% in total Bonuses for this 2011-2012 NFL Season, sign up to SBGGLOBAL.COM for their Unmatched Bonuses and Phenomenal Customer Service right now!! Despite that, left-back John Arne Riise insists he is still gunning for the title, claiming only "cowards give up," but goalkeeper Pepe Reina was perhaps being more realistic when he admitted Liverpool's season is now about finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League. "Fourth place is our target now, we have to fight for that," Reina said. "The championship is probably too far away for us because mathematically Manchester United and Chelsea are very superior. "We have a lot of confidence in Europe, and that is a target as well. We are probably a better team in the Champions League than in the Premiership," he added, referring to Liverpool 's unbeaten record after four games in Europe this season. Manager Rafa Benitez has always seemed more comfortable tactically in the Champions League - which Liverpool won only two years ago - than the Premiership, but unless the Reds figure out the cause of their away-day blues, they won't even qualify for next season's competition. "I cannot understand why we play so bad away from Anfield, I really can't," Riise said in the wake of Sunday's defeat. Several key members of the squad have had a week of international duty to clear their heads before they go to the Riverside for Saturday's evening kickoff. When they return to their day jobs, they will face a Middlesbrough team that has taken 12 of 18 points at home this season but suffers from the same travel sickness as Liverpool . Given Middlesbrough 's strong home form, it is perhaps surprising that WagerWeb.com has Liverpool as a slight favourite in what is likely to be a tight contest. But then it is difficult to shake the idea that Liverpool is one of the top four clubs in the country. There is more than enough talent in the squad. The problem for Benitez seems to be finding a way to use it all. The Spaniard spent the summer assembling one of the best collections of strikers in the league, signing speedster Craig Bellamy and lethal finisher Dirk Kuyt to complement Peter Crouch, Robbie Fowler and versatile midfielder/forward Luis Garcia. But 12 games into the Premiership season, Benitez is yet to decide on his best pairing, with the result being that he has several deeply unsettled players of whom only Kuyt, with five goals, is performing. The bigger issue is in midfield, however. With Liverpool, so much depends on how Steven Gerrard is playing, and Benitez is not getting the best out of his skipper. The coach has preferred to partner Mohamed Sissoko with Xabi Alonso in the middle of the park, pushing Gerrard out onto the right, where he has less influence on the game. Sissoko's shoulder injury has given Benitez the ideal opportunity to move Stevie G back into his preferred central role. But when the teams lined up at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, Benitez had inexplicably chosen to put Bolo Zenden in the middle with Gerrard still on the wing. He realized the error of his ways after 70 minutes, bringing on Jermaine Pennant and moving Gerrard inside, but by then it was 2-0 and too late. Gerrard must play in the center, even if in the long-term this requires switching to the same diamond formation which Chelsea uses to accommodate both Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack in front of ball-winner Michael Essien. As long as Gerrard remains on the wing, Liverpool can expect to be on the outside looking in when it comes to the battle at the top of the Premiership. --- by WagerWeb at 1800-sports.com on November 18, 2006
World Cup Star Players
Featured
|
|
© 1800-Sports.com
1998-2011. All rights reserved.
Information contained in this Web site is intended for recreational purposes only. Access to information contained in this Web site is void where prohibited