Team News
New signing Alexander Hleb will have to wait for his debut as he picked up a minor injury on international duty. James McFadden also limped off during Scotland’s last gasp win over the mighty Liechtenstein but should be fit. Nikola Zigic may return to the starting lineup after scoring in both games for Serbia.
Fabio Aurelio and Dirk Kuyt are definitely out meaning that one time blues target Paul Konchesky should make his debut. Joe Cole will serve the last game of his ban on Sunday.
Last Meeting
Our last meeting took place at St Andrews on Easter Sunday and ended 1-1 with Liam Ridgewell cancelling out Steven Gerrard’s goal. I remember Lee Bowyer missing a sitter in the second half.
Recent Form
Blues have a started the season well and could have been in the top four if we had held on to our two nil lead against the ten men of Bolton. Liverpool on the other hand have made a stuttering start in the league and were beaten 3-0 by Man City in their last away game.
At St Andrews Blues are unbeaten since 26th September last year.
Outlook
Yay! Football is back. It really does seem a long time since we last played. Since then we had an excellent transfer deadline day although I don’t expect to see much of our new signings on Sunday.
Usually when we go into fixtures against the big clubs the expectation is that any point gained is a bonus but Liverpool has always been different. Our record against them in recent years has been as good as against anybody. We are definitely their bogey team. That was of course against Rafa Benitez’s reds and he often helped us by making strange decisions. I suspect Roy Hodgson won’t take Torres off if it’s still 1-1 in the second half.
Our unbeaten home run will have to come to an end eventually and this will be a big test but it would be nice to be able to take it to a year. I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to walk away from St Andrews after a defeat. As always Liverpool’s threat will come from Gerrard and Torres but I think Dirk Kuyt will be a big loss for them. He doesn’t score a lot but he gets through a hell of a lot of work. For us it’s a shame that Hleb is unlikely to be there and I think it’ll be too early to throw in Beausejour from the start so it’ll probably be back to the side that played Blackburn. The combination of Zigic’s size and Jerome’s pace will cause them problems and Gardner should get the nod ahead of Bowyer with the form he is in. If we can stop Gerrard running the show we are in with a decent chance. I think it’ll be another draw.
My prediction 2-2 Jerome and Ridgewell for us.
think hleb is in squad?? thought he was having a late fitness test?
Since I wrote that reports have suggested that he may be available. Beausejour definitely won’t start though as he’s not even in Birmingham.
yeah read that, not got a work permit yet!!!