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Saints V Liverpool The Preview

Saints take on Liverpool at St Mary's looking to repeat their victory over the Merseyside men earlier in the season.

If one game looks like it will be a classic to watch then it is this one, both teams are known for their attacking play and in recent months both have also been known for being a bit lax at the back, so on current form a festival of goals should be on the cards.

Hopefully 32,000 in the stadium and those watching on TV won't be disapointed and the game will live up to its billing.

For Saints the two big questions will be whether Dejan Lovren is ready to return at the back and whether Wanyama will return to the centre of midfield, for me the inclusion of Lovren is crucial, not only is Yoshida too error prone for me, I also feel Jose Fonte is a far better player alongside the Croatian.

In midfield as big a Jack Cork fan as i am, I think tha this is one of those games when we need the power of Wanyama in the side instead of Cork, we need to get amongst the midfield and stop Gerrard being able to get time on the ball to put those killer balls through.

Liverpool's strength is the passing of Gerrard being able to split defences and the speed of Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling getting on the end of them, that is why Im a little worried that our high pressing game might be a little too much like paying into their hands, we need to leave as little room as possible between Boruc in goal and our back line, if we squeeze up it will give Gerrard the chance to get balls into that space and Im afraid I dont put much money on our defenders being quicker to the ball than their three forward men.

When we won at Liverpool, one of the few occasions they have failed to score, they pushed us back meaning that our high pressing game couldnt be used, the downside of that for them was that the space wasn't there and we were able to deal with their attacks and play them at their own game by breaking fast and catching them at set pieces.

Set pieces could be the key to winning the game, Liverpool have been caught out a lot lately at those and we need to utilise our abilities at every opportunity, the winner at Liverpool was indeed from a set piece and we have several key men who come to the fore, be it from corners or from free kicks either crossing into the box or having a dig.

We need to do this again tomorrow, no one is saying we shouldnt play our own game, we just need to adapt that game to ensure we can deal with the style of play we are up against, the alternative is to try and outscore them in what will truly be an up and down game, being honest in Suarez they have a player who alone has scored as many as our front three, add to that Daniel Sturridge the only Englishman to outscore Jay Rod and that is telling you their firepower.

That being the case Mauricio Pochettino has to show that he has the tactical nous to take on Liverpool, not fall into their trap and then take the game by the scruff ot its neck.

When i have seen Liverpool play this season on the TV their games tend to fall into two categories, they either get a grip early and never look like losing, or from the start they misfire and never quite look like winning, I know in recent weeks they have bucked that trend, but I do feel that if we get a grip on the game and dont allow them to play to their strengths, then we can get something out of this game.

Perhaps the key factor though will be desire, certainly that desire has dragged Liverpool through a couple of dodgy games lately, with the disappointment of recent weeks will they have more desire to win than us, this could be a key key factor.

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