Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers goes into tomorrow’s meeting with Sunderland with a number of questions hanging over his head — and for the first time in over a month, none of them will have to do with whether or not his side have a chance of taking full points against or if this is the match that ends up getting him the sack.
Coming off back to back wins against Stoke City and Leicester City, the Reds go into their third match in the span of a week looking to continue their ascent up the table, but with the spectre of a do or die meeting with FC Basel in the Champions League midweek just over the horizon. Anything but a win against the Swiss club will see the Anfield outfit drop out of the competition they missed so dearly during their five year absence, so the question now becomes what matters more: domestic pride or European progression?
That, of course, isn’t to say that Liverpool can’t emerge victorious in both, but tired legs and tired minds certainly comes into play. We saw Rodgers drop his captain to the bench when Stoke City visited Merseyside last weekend, and with Sunderland coming off a massive loss at the hands of Manchester City on Wednesday, the Northern Irishman could very well take that gamble again with not only Steven Gerrard, but a number of other key players as well.
Mario Balotelli, who was earlier today charged by the Football Association over a social media post made in extremely poor taste, remains sidelined with a groin injury and is expected to still be out of action when Basel come to town, leading to suggestions that Rickie Lambert could find himself resting on the bench alongside his skipper on Saturday. Martin Skrtel and Raheem Sterling are two other names that are being suggested could be left out of the starting eleven with an eye to Tuesday’s meeting, but on the back of their recent form, it’d be unwise for Liverpool to even consider taking the Black Cats for granted.
They may have arrested their slide with a couple of wins, but the Reds are still far from their scintillating best. Expecting Sunderland, who have a small squad to begin with and a number of injury concerns going into tomorrow’s match, to pull off a result at Anfield after playing three matches in a week may be a bit hopeful, but there’s no reason to rule out the possibility. Injuries to Adam Johnson and Emmanuele Giaccherini have may have left the Black Cats short of options up top, but if Gus Poyet’s side can bag an early goal like Connor Wickham’s strike against Manchester City, and with Wes Brown back in contention for a spot, defend like they did in the goalless draw against Chelsea, there’s no reason that they can’t leave Anfield with a at least little something for their troubles.
Which, of course, would be the worst possible result for Liverpool. With that little bit of momentum and goodwill behind them, the squad could well be ready to turn the corner that their manager — and certainly the supporters — would have hoped they would have already been well around by this point in the season. A serious lack of confidence on the pitch has hindered them on the back of mounting expectations following last years stellar campaign, and the only way to fix that is by winning matches. If there’s another way to do it, I must not be privy to it.
It’s easy to talk about what an important fixture we have on the horizon, but for me anyway, this one is right up there with it even though, with all due respect, it’s just a run of the mill meeting with Sunderland. If we navigate this one, confidence is going to grow and, in my opinion, we’ll be well set up when Basel come to town. Lose this one though, and we’ve gone one step forward and five steps back — when your confidence is this fragile, the regular two steps just isn’t accurate.
–Steven
