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Stadium: Anfield Stadium
Referee: Michael Oliver
Kick-off: 8:30 PM (IST), Saturday, 19th of January
Having fallen to a flat first-half performance at Old Trafford last weekend, Liverpool welcome Norwich City to Anfield in an attempt to bounce back and get their hopes of European qualification back on track. They currently sit in eighth position on 31 points, just 3 points off Arsenal, who occupy the last European spot at 6th, although the Gunners do have a game in hand.
Norwich, on the other hand, earned a goalless draw against a toothless Newcastle last time out and will be looking to do better against the Reds than they have done in recent times. They currently sit in twelfth position on 26 points, although a win could theoretically take them back into the top half of the table.
Liverpool: L W W W L
Liverpool’s fortunes have been on the rise lately, thanks largely to the performances of Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez, who have been well complemented by the defence. From being in the bottom half of the table at the beginning of the season, with no hope in sight, to coming within 3 points of European qualification has been a good journey for Rodgers’ inexperienced squad.
In recent weeks, however, results have been mixed for the Merseysiders, with 3 wins and 3 losses in their last six league games. These include two 3 – 1 defeats, one 2 – 1 defeat, two 3 – 0 wins, and a 4 – 0 win. Thus, the good sign is that Liverpool have scored in each of their games for the last eleven fixtures, while defence may need to hold slightly more firm.
Norwich City: L L L W D
Last weekend provided much needed respite for Chris Hughton’s side, who stopped a slide of four consecutive losses with a tame draw against the Toon. Whilst Norwich’s fall from grace has been rapid, coming as it has right after their ten match unbeaten streak, the draw against Newcastle will count for nothing when they come up against Liverpool; a side which they haven’t beaten in nearly 20 years.
In fact, the last two times these teams have met, the Canaries have let in 8 goals, with 6 coming from Suarez alone. In addition, the fact that last weekend’s clean sheet was the only one they’ve kept in their last twelve fixtures will be of little comfort to the travelling fans.
Liverpool: Jose Enrique, Martin Kelly, John Flanagan, Oussama Assaidi.
Norwich City: Andrew Surman, John Ruddy, Steven Whittaker, Steve Morison.
Luis Suarez
The controversial Uruguayan has scored a hat-trick in each of his last two games against tonight’s opponents, and is a good bet to add to his tally this time around. He has scored 5 times in his last five matches, and 15 times overall in the league, putting him second in the list of top scorers, only behind Robin van Persie. Suarez’s goals tend to come in clutches, against weaker opponents, and if that is the case tonight, one might even expect him to overtake Manchester United‘s hitman, at least until their game against Tottenham.
Robert Snodgrass
The Scottish international has been a consistent performer for the Canaries this season, with his tireless running and intelligent play. His tally of 4 goals and 3 assists for the season barely does justice to his performances, and Liverpool would do well to keep that in mind. Especially with the return of Grant Holt, and the likelihood of him being pitted against Glen Johnson, who might again play at left back, Snodgrass might send in more than one dangerous cross into the box.
A home win. In spite of some of the fighting performances that Norwich have put up earlier in the season, they seem to have forgotten how to do so of late, and have seemed particularly fragile at the back. Last week’s clean sheet might have given them a bit of confidence though, and one may expect them to not quite be as generous to the Liverpool attackers as they have been in the recent past.
