Liverpool vs Stoke- Pre-Match Analysis

At last. After a long summer of waiting, the time is finally upon us. At 12:45 on Saturday, Liverpool will get the 2013/14 Premier League season underway. They entertain Stoke at Anfield in their opening fixture, and most fans will be expecting a win.

When one takes a good look at Stoke, it is clear why the weight of expectation is with Liverpool. Stoke have appointed a new manager since the end of last season, replacing Tony Pulis with Mark Hughes. Admittedly they have had the whole of pre-season to adapt to his style of play, but it is clear from the poor start Liverpool made last year under the then newly appointed Brendan Rodgers that often, more than just a couple of months and a handful of games is needed. On top of this, their activity in the transfer market has hardly been inspiring. They have brought in two new players on free transfers, signed full-back Eric Pieters from PSV for just over 3million pounds, and bought Maurice Edu from Bursaspor for an undisclosed fee. None of these signings are bad in themselves, though I doubt that any of them will be setting the Premier League alight this season! Man for man, the Liverpool squad is (on paper at least) far superior.

However, Stoke’s pre-season has been relatively successful. They have played 5, winning 3, drawing 1 and losing 1. The key figure, however, is that they kept clean sheets in all of their last four matches. Towards the end of last season they were not as solid at the back as they had been, but it seems that they may have re-found their defensive form. Admittedly the games they have played were against relatively weak opposition, Genoa being the pick of their opponents, but the signs, for them, are promising.

Add to this the fact that Liverpool are renowned for their slow starts to the season (they have failed to win an opening day fixture since the 2008/09 season, which was incidentally the last time they qualified for the Champions League), and the fact that, as we saw against Celtic, we have a tendency to dominate a game and yet still fail to score, and our victory is not as secure as one might think at first glance.

Saying this, I do still think that Liverpool will manage to win the game. The Celtic game was the only match which we failed to score in, and our overall pre-season form in front of goal has been exceptional. Coutinho has continued to shine, scoring and assisting with apparent ease. Raheem Sterling has also proven himself to be ready for another run with the first team, playing some dazzling football in pre-season as well as scoring prolifically. He continued his goal-scoring form on international duty, scoring for the England U21’s against Scotland. New signing Iago Aspas has also looked threatening in front of goal, and Jordan Henderson, Steven Gerrard, Luis Alberto, Joe Allen and Jordan Ibe have also been on target for Liverpool. Daniel Sturridge also scored twice in a behind-closed-doors game against Newcastle. The fact that there are now so many potential goal-scorers in the team gives Brendan Rodgers the option to change things around if we are failing to score, which I think will be the difference from last season.

This is how I think the team will line up:  

                                                       Created using @footy_formation

 Before the transfer window closes I would ideally like to sign another centre-back for the first team, although to be fair Toure has impressed me a lot in pre-season. He will certainly be adequate to deal with Stoke’s mediocre attack. Aspas could play as a right forward in place of Sterling, but I think Stoke will find it very hard to cope with Sterling’s trickery and on-the-ball skill. If we are failing to score, I would expect Rodgers to replace Sturridge, who isn't fully match fit yet anyway, for Aspas. Joe Allen may also come on for either Lucas or Gerrard, as he has done very well in pre-season, and has shown himself to be good going forward as well as dictating the play from a central position.

To sum up, it would be a mistake to underestimate Stoke, who, though they don’t have the most inspiring squad, are solid at the back. However, I think that, unlike last season, we now have enough attacking options to find a way through the Stoke defence, and get our season off to a winning start.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013