With the media fixated on the fact that this will be Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard’s last match at Anfield before he moves to Major League Soccer this summer, you’d do well to remember that there’ll actually be football played to coincide with the festivities.
A guard of honour and a mosaic on the Kop will great the 34-year old as he makes his way down the tunnel that he’s known so well during his 17-years with the Reds first team. Although he’s determined not to cry when the time to say goodbye finally comes, I’m sure there won’t be too many dry eyes in the house, not to mention the millions that will be watching around the world. That being said, even when the ref blows the final whistle, we all know it won’t exactly be the definitive goodbye — for Gerrard and Liverpool, this is more of a see you soon kind of situation.
Sooner rather than later of course since there’s still next weekend’s meeting with Stoke City to navigate before time is called on his final season with the Anfield outfit, but also soon as in we know that he’ll be back with the Reds in the future in some sort of capacity. Whether or not he’ll return on loan when the MLS season ends remains to be seen, but Gerrard will be looking to go out on a high just in case he never steps out onto the pitch in the famous red shirt again.
Given Crystal Palace’s record at Anfield, that shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish. You have to look all the way back to 1991 to find the last time the Eagles won away to the Reds and based on their current form they don’t look like they’ll upsetting that trend anytime soon. Clear of the drop zone and with their top flight status assured for another season, Alan Pardew’s side has nothing but pride left to play for, and on the back of a four match winless streak, it doesn’t look like that’s much of a motivator.
Losses to Hull City and West Bromwich Albion were quickly followed up by narrow reversals at the hands of Chelsea and Manchester United with the Eagles finding the net only once during that dismal run. Jason Puncheon, whose stunning free-kick broke that scoreless streak last weekend against the Red Devils, could find his way back into the starting eleven based solely on that effort and Lee Chung-yong could finally make his full debut for the London side after moving to the Capital from Championship side Bolton Wanderers earlier in the year.
Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho returned to full training earlier this week and could be in contention for a recall after overcoming a hamstring injury and divisive striker Mario Balotelli could play some part after missing last weekend’s draw with Chelsea, but all eyes are sure to be on Gerrard come Saturday. In his pre-match press conference, the midfielder said he wanted to play as many minutes as he could before he move to the LA Galaxy at the end of the campaign and there’s little doubt that boss Brendan Rodgers, who was full of glowing praise for the 34-year old in his own presser, will accommodate him anyway he can. With Champions League football now outside of their grasp, there’s no reason not to give the Reds legend a final run in the sun.
He deserves nothing less and in reality much, much more.
–Steven
