Tuesday, December 25, 2007

EPL Match Preview: Derby County vs. LiverpooL

The last time these two sides met, at Anfield on the first of September, the Rams lost 6-0 in an abject display that proved to be only Premiership appearance for Bob Malcolm this season.

Malcolm, to the relief of most sane Derby fans, is now on loan at Queen’s Park Rangers, and the manager that brought him to Pride Park, Billy Davies, is now four games gone and gradually, like Malcolm, being forgotten as Paul Jewell begins to build a side to his own blueprint.

On Saturday evening, after Liverpool had imperiously swept aside a strong Portsmouth side seeking for their seventh consecutive away win at Anfield, you’d have said that Derby would have no chance in this game.

Especially if you’d taken the time to compare the fortunes of the two club’s record signings.

Fernando Torres scored twice on Saturday, and showed once again why Benitez was willing to invest (allegedly) £26.5 million in his magical feet and fresh-faced looks. Dispatching his chances on Saturday with lethal ease, he looked simply unplayable.

Contrast this with Derby’s record signing, Robert Earnshaw, who simply hasn’t played. The diminutive Welshman has been a perennial bench warmer this season, making limited and ineffectual appearances.

A good job then that Derby signed Kenny Miller. The driven Scotsman clinically converted one of Derby’s chances at Newcastle on Sunday, and his liveliness brought a genuine edge of threat to a much more focused and confident performance from Derby, who managed to pick up only their second away point of the campaign.

Significantly, they also managed to score two goals in a game for the first time since the opening day draw with Portsmouth at Pride Park.

Jewell had been forced into tweaking his line-up once more on Tyneside, due to Claude Davis managing to injure himself in the warm-up for the second time this season. With Leacock moving in to the back four, and Pearson and Barnes operating together in central midfield, the Rams looked defensively frail.

But they managed to produce a performance of confidence and verve, exemplified by Barnes’s clinical first-half goal. Their competitive spirit helped them to push Newcastle all the way, and there are genuine reasons for optimism coming into this fixture.

However, Newcastle, even at hom, do not represent the same level of challenge as Liverpool. Derby dithered too often in their own box on Sunday, a failing that has proved their downfall too often this season, and Torres, Kuyt, Gerrard and the rest may not prove as impotent in front of goal as Newcastle if presented with the same opportunities.

Derby played Newcastle as though it was a cup-tie, and recreating a ‘cup-tie’ atmosphere at a full (yet again) Pride Park may represent their best way of helping to upset the odds. However committed and aggressive they are though, their defenders will have to raise their game another two or three levels to cope with Liverpool’s potency in attack.

The Reds will be in no mood for mercy as they look for a Christmas charge. Anything less, and the title race could be officially over in ten days.


FORM GUIDE (last 5 League Games, most recent first)

Derby

Newcastle United (away) drew 2-2

Middlesborough (home) lost 0-1

Manchester United (away) lost 1-4

Sunderland (away) lost 0-1

Chelsea (home) lost 0-2

Liverpool

Portsmouth (home) won 4-1

Manchester United (home) lost 0-1

Reading (away) lost 3-1

Bolton Wanderers (home) won 4-0

Newcastle United(away) won 3-0



TEAM NEWS

Derby County

Derby are down to the bare bones, with only sixteen fit first teamers to choose from on Sunday. They will wait to assess the fitness of Claude Davis and Stephen Bywater, who damaged a shoulder at Newcastle. Bywater’s absence would be a real blow, as, despite the number of goals conceded, he’s been Derby’s most consistent performer this season.


Liverpool

With Rafa’s endless rotation, who know what line-up he’ll pick for what he’ll regard as one of Liverpool’s lesser challenges this season. However, with the side beginning to look settled and strong on Saturday, he’d be ill-advised to tinker too much.


PLAYERS TO WATCH

Giles Barnes (Derby County)

The youngster is beginning to show signs of the talent that so illuminated the Rams’ successful promotion push last season. The way in which he converted his chance on Sunday shows his growing capabilities at this level .Expect flashes of brilliance tempered by lackadaisical naivety.

Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

The young man from Madrid looks unstoppable at the moment. Expect Derby’s dithering defenders to be embarrassed at least once by him.

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