Premier League
Sunday 7th April 2013
Anfield
Liverpool VS West HamAnfield
Another Sunday afternoon kick off, another encounter with a team that plays in claret and blue. Following up on victory over Aston Villa last week, this one doesn't have quite the same edge. For starters there is no need to look for any immediate redemption in that Villa may have beaten us at Anfield but our record against the Hammers makes much more pleasant reading. Secondly, with the fact that they're perched in a relatively safe midtable slot there is no real danger of them coming to Anfield desperate for a point. That's not to say they won't make it hard for us. We only have to look to their manager for proof of that.
It would take a miracle or some other unforseen sign of the apocalypse, but I sense that we'll have a lot of the ball this afternoon. Allardyce's men tend to take a hot potato approach to the game of football and if any of them hold onto it any period of time it will inevitably be followed by a demand to kick it high and long. The middle of the park will need to be claimed as quickly as possible and I would be shocked if Henderson wasn't included to assist with that. We saw in the game at Upton Park earlier on in the season how they can over run us if we back off, Diame in particular was spectacular that day and part of the reason why we got back into it was that he was forced off via injury.
More than anything we need to keep West Ham on the back foot as the precise thing they're very good at is our Achilles heel right now. Defending set plays will be key and Carlton Cole will no doubt be looking to rough up our centre halves much as he did in the reverse fixture. Hopefully Jamie Carragher's calming influence as of late will limit these moments to an absolute minimum. Looking out alongside Carra in defence, it could be a good day for Glen Johnson to find some form again. He was almost on a par with Luis Suarez in terms of effectiveness at one point - and let's be fair, no-one was ever really going to get close to him so that's a compliment in itself - but has cooled off as of late. Johnson has scored against West Ham in our last three encounters with them. Hopefully that's a trend which will continue today.
In terms of shape, because we're almost certain to be afforded a lot more space, I'm wondering whether Rodgers will opt to put Sturridge in there and go with the two in midfield. If that were the case, it would require one of Coutinho or Downing to be benched to work properly - Lucas and Gerrard in a flat midfield could get outmanoeuvred very quickly - and it would be unfortunate if either one had to miss out. Certainly the temptation would be there to go with the same team that won at Villa Park last week and given that I'm not sure how well Sturridge's injury is coming along then it's tough to gage. I can certainly see the need for added attacking threat given how they'll sit deep and require a lot of work to break down but would hate to see it come at the expense of our shape in the middle of the park.
The temptation is there to say that with Everton playing Spurs, there are points to be dropped for those above us. Truth is, that doesn't matter any more. We simply have to get as many points as possible and whatever wants to align in front of us we will have to accept. Even though this is likely to be a very attritional game of football and at times very uneasy on the eye - Allardyce will do that to you - I think we're doubly fortunate in that West Ham don't have that much to play for either and Andy Carroll isn't playing. He would have something to prove and has been in decent form for them as of late. Joe Cole meanwhile will try to come back and haunt us but I have a feeling this may be just one in a catalogue of limp performances at Anfield for him. Some games have a lot riding on them or a multitude of angles that at any time could spark the match into life. This isn't one of them. Get the points and move on.
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