With a trip to the Santiago Bernabéu just over the horizon and Chelsea coming to town next weekend, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers assurances that his team are only focused on this weekends meeting with Newcastle United sounds a bit hollow.
Maybe that isn’t fair at all; with table as tight as it is, the Reds will need to pick up points at St. James Park if they want to keep pace with the pack in the race for a Champions League spot, but I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve started to look ahead to what’s just around the corner. You can say that’s a bit disrespectful to the Magpies, but if the roles were reversed, I think they’d be whispering — and worrying — about Real Madrid as well.
But they don’t have to worry about lining up against the reigning European champions only a matter of days later, do they? It seems almost ridiculous, after five years on the outside looking in, to complain about a meeting with Real Madrid in the Group Stages of the Champions League, but with injuries and a steep learning curve combining to make Rodgers life in the Liverpool hot-seat that much harder, finding a good balance between domestic and European competition isn’t getting any easier.
Coming up against a Newcastle United side that’s finally finding their feet isn’t about to help either. After knocking Manchester City out of the League Cup on Tuesday, confidence will be running high at St. James Park and it’s safe to say that Magpies boss Alan Pardew, who has picked up seven points over the last three matches, won’t be the only one expecting to get something out of this match — the fans are starting to believe again too.
Considering the Reds recent run of form, it’s hard to blame them. Although they found their own way through to the quarter-finals of the League Cup, Liverpool’s win over Swansea City came in a much less convincing manner with last minute goals from Mario Balotelli and Dejan Lovren coming at a time when the Anfield outfit looked almost certain to be heading for its second goalless outing in as many matches. Couple that with their draw with Hull City and the unconvincing win over Queens Park Rangers and a trip to St. James Park is looking more menacing than ever.
That, of course, passes over the positives from the win over the Jacks and the draw with the Tigers a little too easily though. It’s safe to say that Liverpool looked far more menacing with two strikers on the pitch during the last half-hour against Hull City and it comes as little surprise that Mario Balotelli’s equalizer against Swansea City came when he was brought on to partner compatriot Fabio Borini in attack or that the Reds pushed the Swans to the final whistle.
While there may be few similarities, for the time being anyway, between the barnstorming Liverpool of last year and the almost pedestrian looking one of these first few months, one thing that has remained consistent is their willingness to fight until the very end. We may be running into problems all over the pitch, but we’re going to keep coming at you no matter what; not only Newcastle, but Real Madrid as well, would do well to keep that in mind when we roll in to town.
–Steven
