Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Liverpool vs. Real Madrid: What To Look Out For At Anfield...

Lassana Diarra takes great care with the ball, but is not so disciplined when defending.

Liverpool will look to break into the space around and behind him.

There will be a gap between Real's defence and midfield for them to try and exploit.....and nobody does that better than a rampaging Steven Gerrard, who is playing his 100th European game for Liverpool tonight.

He spent most of the first leg on the bench, following his recovery from injury, but these are the nights when he comes into his best form.

Pepe is the big lumbering central defender who will return to the Real team tonight.

He is a physical presence for them, but can sometimes go wandering and be caught out of position. Fernando Torres, if fit, will look to make the most of that.

Liverpool have more cunning and craft in their central midfield pairing of Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso.

They will look to control the tempo of the game and provide a guard to the back four, too.

They will look to run the game.

You cannot underestimate a team who turn up with Real's quality.

Take your pick from Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Arjen Robben, Sergio Ramos, Gonzalo Higuain and, of course, Raul, with 64 Champions League goals.

Rafa Benitez seems rattled by criticism, but he has to prove he can take Liverpool all the way in the League.

We know he is a great negotiator of these Champions League knockout games, but that is not enough for Liverpool supporters.

Madrid, with Raul, know only one way of playing - attack, attack, attack. They might start slowly, but then we will have to see what they have.

Surely they will not go down without a fight, but I expect Liverpool will have too much in the end.

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