On Wednesday the Reds travel to Lyon for day four of the Champions League group stage.
Following the nightmare at Craven Cottage we need a victory to keep our qualifying hopes alive. A win at Lyon will still keep us in 3rd place, however a win with 2 clear goals would be best in case we end up with the same points as Lyon at the end of the group stage.
After beating St. Etienne on Saturday, Lyon are ready to give us a good run. It is going to be a tough game and the French outfit knows that beating us will guarantee them a spot in the 2nd round. However a draw will pretty much secure them a spot as well. A loss for us will mean that Fiorentina would have to lose their three remaining games, and we would have to beat them by 3 goals. This is not the first time we were in this position as the echoes of the 2007/08 season (when Liverpool had to beat Marseille, Porto & Besiktas in order to qualify) can be heard again. In that same season Liverpool won away to Marseille after losing at Anfield. Am I the only one sensing some déjà vu?
Steven Gerrard, Martin Kelly, Martin Skrtel, Glen Johnson, Fabio Aurelio and Albert Riera are still injured. Alberto Aquilani might start on the bench after missing out the Fulham game due to illness. Daniel Agger should also make a return after nursing a back injury. Philipp Degen will not feature as he is not part of the Champions League squad while Rafa is hoping that Fernando Torres will be fit to start.
Suggested starting lineup: Reina, Insua, Carragher, Agger, Kyrgiakos, Kuyt, Babel, Mascherano, Lucas, Benayoun, Torres.
It is do or die, come on Reds.
-Antoine
antoine@empireofthekop.com
A version of this was also published on ITV’s blog
Remember this?
http://www.footylounge.com/films/macguyver/the-rafalution-mkb-cc-video_63628c7a7.html
Have faith, fellow Reds, and we’ll never walk alone.
We must 2morrow!!Cmon U REDMEN!!
4-4-2 with Kuyt and Babel start up front, Benayoun on the right, Aurelio on the left. Save Torres for the last 30 minutes.