This Tuesday, Liverpool
face Champions League holders Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Since their 3-0
battering in the reverse fixture, the reds have drawn 0-0 with Hull ,
edged past Swansea in the League Cup and lost
1-0 to a depressingly average Newcastle
side. Even if we were in our scintillating form of last season it would be
tough to get any sort of result away to the Spanish giants – in this sort of
form, it is extremely hard to see anything other than a thrashing.
As if things weren’t hard enough for us already when Real
came to Anfield, Gareth Bale is expected to return to the side for this game.
This means that our defence – currently one of the worst in the league – will
be up against a front three of Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale. On top of this, Real
don’t have a clash with Barcelona around the
corner this time out; it is Liverpool with the big fixture ahead (against Chelsea ). Due to this,
they won’t show mercy and ease up like they did last time, meaning that we could
be in for a huge score. There is even a worry that irony could deal up a cruel
scenario whereby Madrid
break our record of the biggest ever Champions League margin of victory.
Liverpool will surely be hopeful of stopping ‘Los Blancos’ from scoring more than
eight times, but the very fact that it has to be entertained as a possibility
shows just how bleak the situation is.
We can’t even rely on the goals of Daniel Sturridge to help
us out. He is still sidelined, having been out of action ever since the 3-0 win
over Tottenham. It is no coincidence that this game was our last convincing
performance; his movement and excellent combination with Raheem Sterling bring
a fluidity to our attack that has been severely lacking in recent weeks. It
will come down to Mario Balotelli to score in this game, and if the last few
games are anything to go by then that seems unlikely. He isn’t playing
particularly badly; whilst he’s missed a few chances that he should probably
have taken, the main problem is the lack of service he is receiving. Brendan
Rodgers is stubbornly continuing to play Balotelli as a lone striker, and as
such is failing to get anywhere near the best out of him. If Rodgers refuses to
play the diamond when up against Newcastle ,
it seems unlikely that he’ll be prepared to take the risk away to Real Madrid.
If Sterling was
played up front with Balotelli, we might be able to score early on, unsettle
the hosts and possibly even snatch a point from the match. As it is we’ll
probably attempt to apply some early pressure, make a couple of half-chances
but fail to take them and then get ripped apart by the sheer quality of Real.
The one thing that works in Liverpool ’s
favour is that they have absolutely no expectation on them whatsoever. As an
ardent LFC fan, I tend to be optimistic going into games. Even I have written
us off for this one. This feeling is surely shared by the players from both
sides, and it could have an effect. For Liverpool ,
it will hopefully allow them to play with total freedom; there’s nothing to
lose, so they can just go out there and try to emulate the lovely football that
they created last season. For Real, it could lead to complacency. Modric has
already come out and said that the team were “saving energy” in their last game
against the reds. This attitude might lead to mistakes, which if Liverpool manage to capitalise on could lead to a shock
result.
I don’t think that we’ll put in a performance as poor as the
one against Newcastle .
If there is one thing guaranteed to get a team fired up, it’s a game against
one of the biggest teams in the world. I am hopeful that Liverpool
can make a good account of themselves, and finish the game with their pride
intact. However, whilst there is a remote chance that Real will pay the price
for underestimating us, I personally can’t see us getting a result. My final
score prediction is 5-1 to Real Madrid.
-James Martin
Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013
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