Norwich vs Liverpool (Away) 20th September 2015

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Liverpool vs Norwich​

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Premier League Fixture​

Sunday 20th September 2015, Kick Off: 16:00pm​

Anfield (Capacity 45276)​

 

[KeiranShikari]

I prefer this crest.

 

[Suffolk Canary]

They're in a pretty crap place after the last few weeks, so you could say this is probably the best time to play them.  Or you could say they'll be desperate to put things right in front of their own fans, suppose it depends whether you're a glass half full or empty kinda guy!

 

[Fenway Frank]

I'm quietly confident, which usually means we're in for a hammering. I work with a fake scouser so really hope we get a result.

 

[morty]

If we get any kind of result here I reckon we could get Brendan his P45.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Thank god Suarez isnt playing!

 

[eatonparkboy]

To be fair, we have had a decent start and probably only a point short of our best expectations. The fixtures were kind to us and we did well.

Now, despite Liverpool's poor start, we will walk into a cauldron. Their fans will be looking for something, whether it is a win or Roger's head. And the atmosphere at Anfield can be intimidating and hostile and I expect Liverpool, with Coutinho back, to come at us from the start. It will be a great test of our resilience and new found confidence and ability.

This one one of the pluses of being in the Prem. Big matches like this get you wound up days before and the rush (pardon the pun) is better than any drug. 

 

[Dubai Mark]

A couple if key players back, at home and wanting to make up for a couple of disappointing performances, means we will have to be at our best. Start well and silence the kop, keep a clean sheet and frustrate the home crowd by half time and who knows what could happen, we have some quality that means we could come away with something.

 

[Wiz]

Our greatest danger is the referee!!

 

[It's Character Forming]

Pressure definitely on them.  This is a game neutrals will expect them to win, to say nothing of their fans, and a defeat could mean the manager gets sacked.  It's as close to a must-win game for them as you can get at this point of the season.  They're actually below us in the table which shows you how much they need a win here.

Could go either way - they'll be all over us and if they get an early goal we'll be struggling.  If we can hold out they will start to get anxious and the crowd will get nervous.

I'm not going which bodes well as I missed the 1-1 draw and I was there for the 5-0. 

For me our attitude is important - I hope and expect we won't go there to just soak up pressure (like we did when we lost 5-0).  Benteke is not as good as Suarez but he's still a top class striker.  As long as we give it a real go I'll be happy.  But I can just see us getting something out of this.

 

[Suffolk Canary]

  Benteke is not as good as Suarez but he's still a top class striker.  As long as we give it a real go I'll be happy.  But I can just see us getting something out of this.

Benteke couldn't do anything against United (other than a moment of brilliance),because he played about 4 CAMs and no one who could actually put the ball in the box. I think packing out the midfield will be our best shot, so their playmakers like Firminho, Coutinho, Lallana etc dont have the time and space to pick Benteke out. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Wes starts on the bench and Dorrans comes back in for this. 

 

[eatonparkboy]

Benteke couldn't do anything against United (other than a moment of brilliance),because he played about 4 CAMs and no one who could actually put the ball in the box. I think packing out the midfield will be our best shot, so their playmakers like Firminho, Coutinho, Lallana etc dont have the time and space to pick Benteke out. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Wes starts on the bench and Dorrans comes back in for this. 

I do hope not. I think Dorrans was unlucky to miss out against Bournemouth but while Wes is in this apparent form then surely you have to milk it.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

I'm not going which bodes well as I missed the 1-1 draw and I was there for the 5-0.

I AM going, and the only Liverpool game I went for was the 1-1. I hope that is a good omen!

 

[KeiranShikari]

For me, if Dorrans comes back in it will be for one of the wingers. Redmond hasn't been too hot in the last couple of games.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Am I right in thinking that Bassong didnt play in any of the games we got a good hiding?

I only really remember Ryan Bennett's half-hearted efforts whilst Suarez plundered at will

 

[KeiranShikari]

He certainly played in the 5 - 1 at Liverpool and the 7 - 0 at Man City.

Obviously some of the goals should have been avoided but honestly, I think the team were defending in the way they were told ie. dropping deep. Then after a few go in they're confident and ours is smashed, the floodgates our open. I have a feeling we'll be pressing a lot more and generally going for it when we face the big boys this season. We'll probably get smashed a couple of times but it'll be less embarrassing. 

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

As you've identified, this is the first time we've seen Alex Neil's Norwich against the big boys. In Scotland it was apparently a no fear in your face approach to the top teams.

Will be very interesting to see how he handles this new type of challenge, and if his approach doesnt work, how quickly he tries something different.

Personally I would be delighted if he set up to try to hurt Liverpool. Id rather we gave ourselves a chance of getting something out of the game and risk embarrassment, than simply to try to keep the score down.

I found Hughton's attempts to keep the score down in the face of certain defeat far more embarrassing than any potential scoreline.

Dont falter at the final hurdle - your goal is almost nigh, for you will never be a failure 'til the day you fail to try...

 

[eatonparkboy]

We do have the players to counter attack and if Liverpool stretch too much there is pace aplenty to hurt them. We will be pushed back a lot at Anfield but our width might just find them in two minds and there aren't many better than the role that Jerome plays at the moment. 

 

[GJP]

I found Hughton's attempts to keep the score down in the face of certain defeat far more embarrassing than any potential scoreline.

But we did record wins against Arsenal, Man Utd and Man City under Hughton. We also only very narrowly lost some other fixtures against the big 4/5/6. Though there were a couple of times we got smashed.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

But we did record wins against Arsenal, Man Utd and Man City under Hughton. We also only very narrowly lost some other fixtures against the big 4/5/6. Though there were a couple of times we got smashed.

Hughtons approach initially worked. When we had the famed unbeaten run we really did look the business. Bassong and Turner were a defensive partnership as good as I've seen at the club for that purple vein of form. Getting a goal and the attrition football really was successful for that period. What changed after that is hard to know, but we soon seemed to forget how to attack, and our approach became one of fear and resignation rather than determination.

Maybe that approach just has no longevity. Works at first but sucks the life and will to live out of players and supporters both. Maybe we could play like that at first because it was new and we still had momentum.

Maybe its a domino effect. Get through the first half without conceding and the opposition enter the second half with time ticking away and the pressure builds on them. Concede in the first 10 minutes, knowing your gameplan is to defend the point you started off with and the gameplan is skittled and the floodgates open.

So many times I think 'if only we could have got to half time without whoever it is getting a soft goal'. I really hope we can cut out the soft goals. Its far too easy to get a gift from us at present