Liverpool vs Stoke City preview: Reds look for positive start

Brendan Rodgers

Barclays Premier LeagueAnfieldKickoff: 12:45 GMT, 17:15 ISTReferee: Martin Atkinson

For the 23rd season in a row, Liverpool fans are looking ahead to the new Premier League season with one thing on their mind, “This season is our’s”.

While the title will most likely turn out to be a bridge too far, Brendan Rodgers’ realistic ambition should be to finish in the top 4 to regain a place in Europe’s elite competition, the Champions League. Liverpool have been given a kind start to the season, and Rodgers must be hoping to capitalize on the luck of the draw and make a strong statement with a positive start to the season.

The first game on the long road to success will be against a Stoke City minus Tony Pulis at Anfield. The Reds would dearly love to make Anfield a fortress and there would be no better way to start than a win on opening day.

Brendan Rodgers has made four summer signings so far and two of them, in goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and centre-back Kolo Toure, look certain to start.

Rodgers will have to do without the mercurial Luis Suarez for the first six games (maybe even beyond, with the ongoing transfer saga), and much of the creative burden will fall on little Brazilian Philippe Coutinho, whom the Anfield faithful have taken to wonderfully well, and there will be pressure on Daniel Sturridge to ensure that the curse of the missed chances doesn’t strike Liverpool again this season.

Inspirational skipper Steven Gerrard will once again be the Reds’ talisman, and him staying injury-free is key to Brendan Rodgers’ plans.

Stoke City replaced the long-serving Tony Pulis with Mark Hughes at the helm, and ‘Sparky’ would like to set right his recent failures in the Premier League, most notably with QPR last season.

Hughes has not made any signings from an attacking point of view, with the two signings made being former Barcelona youngster Marc Muniesa on a free transfer, and left-back Erik Pieters from PSV Eindhoven.

Stoke’s goalscoring threat will most notably come from Jon Walters and Peter Crouch with Matthew Etherington, Jermaine Pennant and Charlie Adam looking to provide ammunition to the frontmen. It will be interesting whether Stoke stick to their brand of robust football, or whether Hughes has brought about a change.

With this being the first game of the season, there will be considerable interest in seeing how both sides perform, and a win for either would be a huge fillip ahead of what is a long, gruelling season that awaits us.

Stoke would like to be as far away from a relegation dogfight as possible, and Liverpool as close as they can get to the top four. It promises to be thrills and spills galore.