Liverpool will travel to West Bromwich on Saturday to face their former manager’s team, whilst Luis Suarez faces a late fitness test for the game.
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| Luis Suarez, the man of the moment, faces a late fitness test for Saturday. |
The build up to this game has centred largely around one man who has been capturing the headlines in one way or another. Luis Suarez, Liverpool’s star signing from Ajax, has taken the Premier League by storm since joining in January. As he continues to impress with his footballing ability, controversy looms over the Uruguayan’s shoulders.
Two weeks ago, when Liverpool played out a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United, Patrice Evra made claims after the game, that Suarez has racially abused him. Liverpool boss, Kenny Dalglish, has this week called for a swift end to the allegations, as he does not want his number seven distracted from the game. It is not the first time Evra has accused somebody of racism, after he pointed the finger at a Chelsea groundsman in 2008 after United lost to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It was eventually settled when nothing could have been, or was proven. It seems whenever a fixture with great significance doesn’t go his way, it is all to easy for Evra to bring out the race card.
Luis Suarez’s abilities have been earning him the back pages since his first game for Liverpool. The tricky striker earned heaps of praise from his teammates and the media, when he scored twice to bring his team back from a goal down at the Britannia Stadium on Wednesday in the League Cup.
Defenders in the Premier League are finding Suarez a handful to play against and become easily wound up by his mind games, which works to his advantage. ‘El Pistolero’, as he is also referred to, has also recently received stick from Alex Ferguson for diving. He is a modern day striker and will dive if the opportunity is there to win a free-kick or a penalty, just as the majority of Premier League footballers do. He is no different to any of Alex Ferguson’s players who like to throw themselves around in spectacular fashion.
As Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson both return to the squad for Saturday’s 3 O’clock kick off, West Brom will be hoping that the knock Suarez picked up in Liverpool’s win against Stoke, will keep him out of this fixture. The home side are themselves without their new star man, with striker Shane Long out for six weeks with a knee injury sustained against Aston Villa, in their 2-1 away win last Saturday.
The Baggies are currently in 12th position and the last time the two teams met in April, Roy Hodgson got one over on the team that sacked him after just four months on the job. Both teams are unbeaten in four Premier League matches and if it hadn’t of been for the woodwork in recent games, Liverpool would be a lot higher in the league. Dalglish will be expecting a lot more clinical finishing from his team, as they try and prevent themselves from slipping too far away from the top four.
Predicted Line-ups:
WBA: 1 Foster, 3 Olsson, 23 McAuley, 28 Jones, 11 Brunt, 12 Reid, 14 Thomas, 21 Mulumbu, 33 Scharner, 5 Tchoyi, 24 Odemwingie
Subs: 13 Fulop, 20 Shorey, 25 Dawson, 7 Morrison, 22 Gera, 31 Cox, 17 Dorrans
Liverpool: 25 Reina, 2 Johnson, 23 Carragher, 37 Skrtel, 3 Enrique, 26 Adam, 21 Lucas, 19 Downing, 18 Kuyt, 8 Gerrard, 9 Carroll
Subs: 32 Doni, 34 Kelly, 5 Agger, 14 Henderson, 11 Maxi, 39 Bellamy, 7 Suarez
This article is also published on www.whatculture.com
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