Sunday, August 29, 2010

Premier League Preview: Liverpool vs. West Bromwich Albion

Liverpool will be desperate to build on Thursday's Europa League play-off triumph over Trabzonspor by recording their first win of the 2010-11 Premier League season against newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

Reds fans will undoubtedly still be reeling after the club's dismal 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in their last league outing, although the 2-1 win out in Turkey, without influential twosome Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, will have helped repair the damage.

While only two games into the new domestic season, Roy Hodgson will no doubt be under pressure to deliver a victory at Anfield with the Merseyside outfit already five points off the pace and having only picked up one point against two potential rivals for a top four finish.

With Javier Mascherano on his way to Barcelona and Dirk Kuyt committing his immediate future to the club, the Reds can now begin to focus on the challenges that lie ahead this term, albeit with the signing of a left-back before the close of the current transfer window seemingly still a priority.

West Brom's start to life back in the Premier League has been something of a mixed bag, although following the 6-0 trouncing at the hands of Chelsea on the first weekend of the season, boss Roberto Di Matteo will be delighted to have recorded a 1-0 win against Sunderland last Saturday.

The Baggies will be hoping for more of the same from recent signing Peter Odemwingie following his winner against Steve Bruce's side, and after the capture of former loan star Marc-Antoine Fortune from Celtic, Di Matteo certainly has options up front.

Albion haven't recorded a victory over Liverpool since 1981 and they will be hoping their luck will change at Anfield, where they have failed to grab a win since way back in 1967. The last time the two sides met on Merseyside, Robbie Keane grabbed a brace as the Reds triumphed 3-0 in the Premier League back in 2008.

TEAM NEWS

Liverpool

Having been kept back for the trip to Trabzon, both Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard should return to action at Anfield on Sunday.

Javier Mascherano's protracted move to Barcelona appears to be coming to a close and the Argentine will almost certainly be left out of the Reds' squad for the third consecutive game.

Joe Cole will definitely miss out as he serves the second game of his three-match suspension following his red card against Arsenal, while Daniel Agger and Milan Jovanovic could return to the side having missed out against Trabzonspor.

Possible Starting XI: Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger; Kuyt, Lucas, Gerrard, Jovanovic; Torres, Ngog.

West Bromwich Albion

The Baggies made a number of changes for their League Cup victory over Leyton Orient on Tuesday and there will likely be recalls to the starting XI for the likes of Peter Odemwingie, Chris Brunt and Graham Dorrans.

New signing Marc-Antoine Fortune may have to settle for a place on the bench if his international clearance is granted in time, while Jerome Thomas (ankle), Joe Mattock (foot) and Ishmael Miller (thigh) look set to miss out.

Possible Starting XI: Carson; Jara, Olsson, Tamas, Cech; Barnes, Morrison, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Brunt; Odemwingie.

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