Following Liverpool’s defeat to Aston Villa last weekend & narrow win against Ludogorets in the Champions League earlier in the week, they now come up against ‘Big Sam’s’ physical West Ham side.
On Saturday Liverpool will be up against not just a physical side, but one with quality too. The Hammers brought in 9 players over the summer including big names Alex Song (on loan from Barcelona) and Mauro Zarate.
Known for their quick starts, high pressure and high intensity, Liverpool will be looking to come out the blocks and gain an early lead. West Ham however will no doubt line up to frustrate Liverpool and dismantle their flow. A tactic used against Liverpool last year on a number of occasions, most notably in the clash with Chelsea at Anfield.
This is something Liverpool have struggled to cope with and ultimately find a solution for. It’s not for the lack of possession or creativity, more so the ideas. Against Aston Villa Liverpool brought on Lambert and Borini in the 71st minute injecting more physical presence in the Villa box but still the result remained the same and Liverpool just didn’t look like scoring.
Last year circumstances were slightly different, Liverpool were conceding goals but also outscoring opponents. With the loss of Suarez and with plenty of new faces brought in it will inevitably take some time to reach that level, I am sure that with Sturridge and Balotelli leading the line Liverpool can reproduce that quality but until then, and for the minute, Rodgers and his team will be looking at ways to overcome such teams.
Do you think Liverpool need a plan B?
My line up against West Ham would be a 4-4-2 Diamond (4-1-2-1-2). Usually I would go with a 4-2-3-1 with Sterling and Lallana wide but I think West Ham are going to set up slightly different, perhaps going with a 4-3-3 which he performed well against Hull in the week. I also think Borini changed the game when he was brought on against Ludogorets so he warrants a start for me (plus he scored a peach in training).
Here’s my team………. let me know what you think or who you’d change.
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