What an important few weeks this has been for Rafa Benitez and his side’s hopes for the remaining months of the season.
Indeed, the early days of March have been kind to the Spanish manager, with the mid week victory against Inter Milan sealing the Reds’ place in the closing stages of the Champions League, and the recent upsurge in Premiership form seeing his side claim pole position in the race with Everton to 4th place.
This upsurge in form also sees Liverpool as the Premiership’s in-form team, with the side boasting a record since the humiliating F.A. Cup defeat to Barnsley of played 4, won 4, with 13 goals scored, and only 3 goals conceded.
That this is a thoroughly impressive run of results is unquestionable, and will no doubt be helping to ease Benitez back in to the affections of his American paymasters.
The last few weeks have also seen Benitez begin to utilise a new 4-5-1 formation, which seems to have unleashed Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres on to the defences of fellow Premiership and Champions League teams with devastating effect.
Now it is Reading’s turn to find themselves in the firing line against this fearsome duo, a fact that will no doubt please all those affiliated with Liverpool, who will be seeking revenge for the Reds 3-1 defeat at the Madejski Stadium in the early months of the season.
However, a cautionary note would have to be shown by the poor results that Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal recorded after their mid week Champions League exertions. Liverpool must avoid these kinds of laboured performances if they are to continue to be ahead of Everton in the fight for the final Champions League qualifying place.
There can be little doubt that Reading manager Steve Coppell will be allowing himself any time to dream of an unlikely repeat performance of his side’s early season Premiership victory against their illustrious hosts on Saturday.
For Coppell much more important things will be dominating his mind, such as his Reading side’s position in a Premiership table that sees the Royals sitting in 14th place, three points ahead of 18th placed Bolton.
However, a small degree of hope has been generated by his side’s victories in their last two games against Middlesbrough and Manchester City.
These results came at a very important time for Reading, and arrested an alarming slide down the table which had seen the team lose for nine consecutive Premiership games.
When one considers the current form being exhibited by Liverpool however, it will be a minor miracle if Reading can avoid falling back in to these losing habits come Saturday.
In the unlikely event that Reading manage to take some points back home with them, it'll be thanks to the defence reaching a level that they have been largely unable to so far this season to deny a repeat of Fernando Torres’ hat trick against the Royals in the September meeting of the sides in the Carling Cup.
However, the last two games has seen the Royals not only claim two victories, but the much-derided Reading back line has also managed to keep two invaluable clean sheets.
Reading must take as much heart as possible from these results, and attempt to use these as a platform to launch a staunch resistance against the red hot Liverpool forward line. If this is to happen, then maybe an unlikely haul of points could be claimed by a Reading team desperate to avoid the dreaded fall back in to the Championship.
FORM GUIDE
Liverpool:
11th March vs. Inter Milan (A) won 1-0 (CHAMP LG)
8th March vs. Newcastle United (H) won 3-0 (PREM)
5th March vs. West Ham United (H) won 4-0 (PREM)
2nd March vs. Bolton Wanderers (A) won 3-1 (PREM)
23rd February vs. Middlesbrough (H) won 3-2 (PREM)
Reading:
8th March vs. Manchester City (H) won 2-0 (PREM)
1st March vs. Middlesbrough (A) won 1-0 (PREM)
24th February vs. Aston Villa (H) lost 2-1 (PREM)
9th February vs. Everton (A) lost 1-0 (PREM)
2nd February vs. Bolton Wanderers (H) lost 2-0 (PREM)
TEAM NEWS
Liverpool:
Rafa Benitez has no new injury scares to report from his side’s mid-week Champions League tie against Inter Milan, and as such only Steve Finnan (hamstring) and Andrei Voronin (knee) remain unavailable for selection for this home game against Reading.
Squad: Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Hyypia, Aurelio, Babel, Benayoun, Mascherano, Pennant, Gerrard, Lucas, Kuyt, Riise, Torres, Itandje, Voronin, Crouch, Arbeloa, Kewell, Leto.
Reading:
Reading will travel to Anfield with question marks existing around the possible participation of Ivory Coast international Emerse Fae due to a bout of malaria. Otherwise, club captain Graham Murty (knee) and Brynjar Gunnarsson (groin) remain a week away from being available for selection, whilst long term injury absentee Glen Little (achilles) will not be able to be considered for Premiership action for around another month.
Squad: Hahnemann, Rosenior, Bikey, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Oster, Harper, Matejovsky, Cisse, Hunt, Doyle, Long, Kitson, Federici, Sonko, Kebe, Fae, De La Cruz, Duberry, Convey
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Liverpool: Whilst Spanish sensation Fernando Torres has been stealing the headlines in recent weeks, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has been excelling in Rafa Benitez’s new 4-5-1 formation. With this system, Benitez seems to have finally found a way to accentuate all the positive attributes of Gerrard’s play, such as his drive, determination, and willingness to attempt ambitious through balls, whilst at the same time removing his skipper from the dogmatic realm of central midfield.
This tactical switch has also seen a destructive partnership develop between Gerrard and Torres, and if this continues to bloom on the pitch against Reading then the Liverpool fans can expect another goal filled afternoon for the men in red.
Reading: With Liverpool’s current winning streak seeing them score 13 goals in 4 matches, Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann should be expecting anything but a quiet game come Saturday. That the United States international has managed two clean sheets on the trot in the victories against Manchester City and Middlesbrough is also no mean feat when one considers the fallibility of the Reading defence. However, the searing pace and clinical finishing of Fernando Torres should push the questionable Reading backline to their limit.
With this is mind, it is clear for all to see that for Reading to hold any hopes of taking any points back home to Berkshire their American goalkeeper needs to be at his obstinate best.
Indeed, the early days of March have been kind to the Spanish manager, with the mid week victory against Inter Milan sealing the Reds’ place in the closing stages of the Champions League, and the recent upsurge in Premiership form seeing his side claim pole position in the race with Everton to 4th place.
This upsurge in form also sees Liverpool as the Premiership’s in-form team, with the side boasting a record since the humiliating F.A. Cup defeat to Barnsley of played 4, won 4, with 13 goals scored, and only 3 goals conceded.
That this is a thoroughly impressive run of results is unquestionable, and will no doubt be helping to ease Benitez back in to the affections of his American paymasters.
The last few weeks have also seen Benitez begin to utilise a new 4-5-1 formation, which seems to have unleashed Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres on to the defences of fellow Premiership and Champions League teams with devastating effect.
Now it is Reading’s turn to find themselves in the firing line against this fearsome duo, a fact that will no doubt please all those affiliated with Liverpool, who will be seeking revenge for the Reds 3-1 defeat at the Madejski Stadium in the early months of the season.
However, a cautionary note would have to be shown by the poor results that Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal recorded after their mid week Champions League exertions. Liverpool must avoid these kinds of laboured performances if they are to continue to be ahead of Everton in the fight for the final Champions League qualifying place.
There can be little doubt that Reading manager Steve Coppell will be allowing himself any time to dream of an unlikely repeat performance of his side’s early season Premiership victory against their illustrious hosts on Saturday.
For Coppell much more important things will be dominating his mind, such as his Reading side’s position in a Premiership table that sees the Royals sitting in 14th place, three points ahead of 18th placed Bolton.
However, a small degree of hope has been generated by his side’s victories in their last two games against Middlesbrough and Manchester City.
These results came at a very important time for Reading, and arrested an alarming slide down the table which had seen the team lose for nine consecutive Premiership games.
When one considers the current form being exhibited by Liverpool however, it will be a minor miracle if Reading can avoid falling back in to these losing habits come Saturday.
In the unlikely event that Reading manage to take some points back home with them, it'll be thanks to the defence reaching a level that they have been largely unable to so far this season to deny a repeat of Fernando Torres’ hat trick against the Royals in the September meeting of the sides in the Carling Cup.
However, the last two games has seen the Royals not only claim two victories, but the much-derided Reading back line has also managed to keep two invaluable clean sheets.
Reading must take as much heart as possible from these results, and attempt to use these as a platform to launch a staunch resistance against the red hot Liverpool forward line. If this is to happen, then maybe an unlikely haul of points could be claimed by a Reading team desperate to avoid the dreaded fall back in to the Championship.
FORM GUIDE
Liverpool:
11th March vs. Inter Milan (A) won 1-0 (CHAMP LG)
8th March vs. Newcastle United (H) won 3-0 (PREM)
5th March vs. West Ham United (H) won 4-0 (PREM)
2nd March vs. Bolton Wanderers (A) won 3-1 (PREM)
23rd February vs. Middlesbrough (H) won 3-2 (PREM)
Reading:
8th March vs. Manchester City (H) won 2-0 (PREM)
1st March vs. Middlesbrough (A) won 1-0 (PREM)
24th February vs. Aston Villa (H) lost 2-1 (PREM)
9th February vs. Everton (A) lost 1-0 (PREM)
2nd February vs. Bolton Wanderers (H) lost 2-0 (PREM)
TEAM NEWS
Liverpool:
Rafa Benitez has no new injury scares to report from his side’s mid-week Champions League tie against Inter Milan, and as such only Steve Finnan (hamstring) and Andrei Voronin (knee) remain unavailable for selection for this home game against Reading.
Squad: Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Hyypia, Aurelio, Babel, Benayoun, Mascherano, Pennant, Gerrard, Lucas, Kuyt, Riise, Torres, Itandje, Voronin, Crouch, Arbeloa, Kewell, Leto.
Reading:
Reading will travel to Anfield with question marks existing around the possible participation of Ivory Coast international Emerse Fae due to a bout of malaria. Otherwise, club captain Graham Murty (knee) and Brynjar Gunnarsson (groin) remain a week away from being available for selection, whilst long term injury absentee Glen Little (achilles) will not be able to be considered for Premiership action for around another month.
Squad: Hahnemann, Rosenior, Bikey, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Oster, Harper, Matejovsky, Cisse, Hunt, Doyle, Long, Kitson, Federici, Sonko, Kebe, Fae, De La Cruz, Duberry, Convey
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Liverpool: Whilst Spanish sensation Fernando Torres has been stealing the headlines in recent weeks, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has been excelling in Rafa Benitez’s new 4-5-1 formation. With this system, Benitez seems to have finally found a way to accentuate all the positive attributes of Gerrard’s play, such as his drive, determination, and willingness to attempt ambitious through balls, whilst at the same time removing his skipper from the dogmatic realm of central midfield.
This tactical switch has also seen a destructive partnership develop between Gerrard and Torres, and if this continues to bloom on the pitch against Reading then the Liverpool fans can expect another goal filled afternoon for the men in red.
Reading: With Liverpool’s current winning streak seeing them score 13 goals in 4 matches, Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann should be expecting anything but a quiet game come Saturday. That the United States international has managed two clean sheets on the trot in the victories against Manchester City and Middlesbrough is also no mean feat when one considers the fallibility of the Reading defence. However, the searing pace and clinical finishing of Fernando Torres should push the questionable Reading backline to their limit.
With this is mind, it is clear for all to see that for Reading to hold any hopes of taking any points back home to Berkshire their American goalkeeper needs to be at his obstinate best.
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