Trabzonspor v Liverpool Thursday 18:30 [Match Thread]

MementoMori

So off to Turkey with a 1-0 lead in what I could see being a tricky encounter.
Think it could be a nervy encounter and would gladly take a 0-0 now.

Only 17 games to go to Landsdowne Road.

A rumoured ITK team below - seems plausible to me especially Soto coming in after his performance last week. The CM pairing of Poulsen and Lucas surely can't be as bad as they were then, can they?

In addition to the guys missing named in the article Jovanovic doesn't seem to have travelled.

Bench doesn't exactly look the stongest and I would have thought it would have been improved a fair bit if Insua and El Zhar were on there ahead of Eccelston and one of Shelvey/Spearing.

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Reina

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Johnson----Skrtel

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Soto

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Aurelio

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Poulsen---Lucas

---

---

Kuyt

---

Cole

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Pacheco

---

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Babel

---

Subs: Gulacsi, Kelly, Carra, Spearing, Shelvey, N’Gog, Ecclestone

Injured/Rested/MIA
Torres
Gerrard
Maxi
Agger
Jovanovic
Mascherano
Jones - bought too late to be listed in the squad
Insua
El Zhar

Stevie to miss Trabzon clash
25th Aug 2010 - Latest News

Liverpool will be without star duo Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres for their Europa League trip to Trabzonspor, Roy Hodgson today confirmed.

Gerrard has a back problem while the club has decided not to risk Torres playing a third successive game following his injury troubles.

Both are expected to be fit for Sunday's clash with West Bromwich Albion.

Hodgson will also be without Daniel Agger (concussion) and Maxi Rodriguez (illness) for the jaunt to Turkey.

The boss told Liverpoolfc.tv: "Steven Gerrard unfortunately has had a recurrence of the back problem which he gets from time to time. Hopefully it won't stop him playing on Sunday.

"The same applies to Agger for Sunday. He played in the game on Monday which was to some extent against medical advice. He wanted to play but felt a bit sick after the game. That's mainly due to the concussion he suffered, so it would be foolish for us to risk him on Thursday.

"Maxi is sick. He's in bed at the moment with a bit of gastroenteritis, so he's out of the question."

Hodgson added: "With Fernando Torres we've made the decision that we don't wish to risk him three games in a row at this stage of the season with him having done so well to get back this quickly."

Meanwhile, Hodgson admits his side faces a tough challenge against Trabzonspor after failing to kill off the tie at Anfield last week.

The game finished 1-0 - but the gaffer knows the Turks will be a different proposition in their own backyard.

"We missed a golden opportunity to kill the game off at Anfield and now we've got it all to do," he said. "It's going to be a very tough ask for the players in a difficult place.

"They are one of the two or three best teams in Turkey at the moment and Turkish football is of a very high standard.

"Everyone who's been to Trabzon tells me it's a remarkably difficult place to play. They're a hostile and fanatic crowd and it's a difficult pitch.

"But if we come through it we'll come through it stronger."

The length of the journey east means Hodgson will have little time to prepare his side for Sunday's clash with West Brom.

He added: "It's hard - there's no question about that. This Europa League is in some ways harder on a squad than the Champions League because you get more teams from the far eastern part of Europe.

"Then you are playing Sunday-Thursday-Sunday, so you need a very big squad.

"The best way for this not to impact upon our league form is to win the game."

Liverpool squad v Trabzonspor: Reina, Gulacsi, Hansen, Johnson, Kelly, Skrtel, Carragher, Krygiakos, Aurelio, Cole, Spearing, Poulsen, Lucas, Pacheco, Shelvey, Babel, Kuyt, Ngog, Eccleston.

deisedevil

Trabzonspor are 7/2 to qualify. Sounds good to me.

mike65

Not sure if I care that much, a nervy draw.

MementoMori

mike65 wrote: »

Not sure if I care that much, a nervy draw.

Really want to get to the group stages as I think it could potentially signifcantly increase the chances of giving fringe players and promising youngsters game time.

To varying degrees all of the following members of the squad, would be likely to benefit from these games - in terms of gaining experience, pushing for a first-team spot, match fitness

Soto, Jones, Maxi, Lucas, Poulsen, Babel, Kelly, Pacheco, Dave, Wilson, Ayala, Darby, Shelvey, Amoo, Eccelston, Gulacsi,

If we went out tonight we would be looking at just the League Cup and possibly the FA Cup depending on opposition to give the fringe players a chance.

Chucky the tree

I don't really care about the EL but I think a lose here could be huge after Monday. With Masch off, Kuyt rumoured to go having no European football to offer and another big blow to the players confidence it would put Roy under even more pressure which is the last thing we need.

MementoMori

Chucky the tree wrote: »

I don't really care about the EL but I think a lose here could be huge after Monday. With Masch off, Kuyt rumoured to go having no European football to offer and another big blow to the players confidence it would put Roy under even more pressure which is the last thing we need.

Yeah missed this - failing to get through to the group stages would add a heap of pressure to Roy after Monday. Would also mean a hit on the match revenue/TV appearance funds side of things.

I'm not massively pushed about winning this but if we get a result tonight it would most likely mean a minimum of 8 games (couldn't not see us qualifying out of the group stages; which would mean at least one two legged knock-out tie)

Going from the squad that travelled tonight with Jovanovic rested and Dave on the bench, I think it's clear that the EL is rightly being seen as 2nd in priority compared to the league and I wouldn't be too concerned about it having a negative impact on progress in the league.

therokerroar

Liverpool will go through.

rossie1977

even when liverpool were getting to the final stages of the champions league they were losing in turkey against turkish opposition, i expect trabzon to take off where city left off on monday night

liverpool out of europe in august

emc2

Is this not a 5:30 kick off?

Yakult

For roys sake, a convincing win would be good.

Unearthly

Is this on tv?

mike65

ESPN dunno about here

stumpypeeps

Would I be a bit cynical in suggesting Torres and Gerrard were left behind in the hope we get knocked out?

Surely less games travelling around Europe with our squad could only be a good thing?

stumpypeeps

mike65 wrote: »

ESPN dunno about here

Setanta Ireland

Yakult

Unearthly wrote: »

Is this on tv?

LFC Tv again Im guessing

Bukman13

stumpypeeps wrote: »

Would I be a bit cynical in suggesting Torres and Gerrard were left behind in the hope we get knocked out?

Surely less games travelling around Europe with our squad could only be a good thing?

If Liverpool get knocked out tomorrow it is highly probable that they will lose their 1st seed/pot status in the Champions League for next season (Assuming they qualify), which will likely mean a tougher Champions League group, more difficult games earlier in the season putting more pressure on the squad's depth.

Even if Liverpool decide to not take the EL that seriously, the group stages would provides a great opportunity for the young/fringe players to gain good experience playing away in Europe.

I can't see any huge benefits in Liverpool intentionally getting knocked out.

DOC09UNAM

Hope liverpool lose 2-0

MementoMori

Confirmation that Jova is being rested.

Boss explains Jova absence
25th Aug 2010 - Latest News

Roy Hodgson expects Milan Jovanovic to be back in contention for Liverpool's Barclays Premier League clash with West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

The Serbian winger did not travel to Turkey for Thursday's Europa League clash with Trabzonspor after figuring in all five of the Reds' fixtures so far this season.

However, Hodgson confirmed Jovanovic could return to face the Baggies.

The manager explained: "He's very, very tired after Monday's game. It's all a bit new for him. He's played every game and played more minutes than any other of our players.

"Like Fernando, it would have been a bit risky to push him into the game tomorrow night."

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/boss-explains-jova-absence

flahavaj

Tricky game for the Pool here. Would be the end of a miserable week for the club to be out of Europe in August.:eek:

Finical

Hopefully see Pacheco. I can see us going through aslong as we defend well, I'd say we need a goal though. Don't know where that will come from with feck all creativity.

5starpool

I can see a very disjointed performance coming up again unfortunately. Hopefully not though, and hopefully Pacheco can show some of his underage form in the first team.

Mr Alan

getting knocked out of europe altogether would be an absolute nightmare-in august, jesus. our top players wanna win trophies and play in europe-even if its only the uefa cup, other players we may be buying wanna play in Europe, i think it would be hugely detrimental to us to not go through. i think we will though so its all good.

Chardee MacDennis

squad for tonight apparently

Starting: Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Kyrgiakos, Kelly; Poulsen, Lucas; Kuyt, Cole, Aurelio; Ngog.
Subs: Gulacsi, Skrtel, Spearing, Pacheco, Shelvey, Babel, Eccleston (not yet confirmed).

JimsAlterEgo

can't see pool scoring, 0-0 is best they can hope for

spockety

So this is only on Setanta Ireland (UPC), or ESPN?

There is no freebie option for a Sky subscriber?

kippy

This is a really tough game for Liverpool.
Big players not fit/rested/working out transfer deals with other clubs. A very slender 1-0 nil lead going into it and a relatively poor record in Turkey (like a lot of English clubs) coupled coming off the back of a bad defeat and a lot of uncertainty in the club.
Liverpool, if they get an early away goal should go through. If that doesnt materialise I expect the turks to win the game 2-0 and go through. It would be a very bad result for the pool.

On paper the team Liverpool are putting out should do enough to go through but paper is cheap these days.

spockety

spockety wrote: »

So this is only on Setanta Ireland (UPC), or ESPN?

There is no freebie option for a Sky subscriber?

I had just presumed it was on itv1 like the first leg but its not, whats that all about.

MementoMori

A pretty reliable ITK team - djphal on RAWK

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Reina

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--Johnson--Carra--Soto--Kelly--

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Poulson--Lucas

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--Kuyt

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Cole

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Aurelio----

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Dave

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Subs : Gulacsi, Skrtel, Spearing, Shelvey, Babel, Pacheco, Ecclestone

Preferred the previous team; this is very harsh on Babel. I would have thought Carra could have been rested for this as could Dave

Also Kelly at LB raises the where's Insua issue again :mad:

MementoMori

Bailee Cuddly Hatchet wrote: »

I had just presumed it was on itv1 like the first leg but its not, whats that all about.

I think it's possibly due to the early kick-off. Not sure though.

Chardee MacDennis

MementoMori wrote: »

A pretty reliable ITK team - djphal on RAWK

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Reina

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--Johnson--Carra--Soto--Kelly--

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Poulson--Lucas

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--Kuyt

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Cole

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Aurelio----

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Dave

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Subs : Gulacsi, Skrtel, Spearing, Shelvey, Babel, Pacheco, Ecclestone

Preferred the previous team; this is very harsh on Babel. I would have thought Carra could have been rested for this as could Dave

Also Kelly at LB raises the where's Insua issue again :mad:

only two hours late :P

mike65

MementoMori

Why rest N'Goal (or do you mean Torres or Babel)? He's fit and scoring and clearly needs to strike while the iron's hot. I'm sure Babel will get at least 30 mins.

Mister men

Can't see us getting anything out of this one. A draw would be a very good result when you look at that team. Out of that line up only Reina is World class.:(

MementoMori

mike65 wrote: »

MementoMori

Why rest N'Goal (or do you mean Torres or Babel)? He's fit and scoring and clearly needs to strike while the iron's hot. I'm sure Babel will get at least 30 mins.

Because I'd have serious concerns about Torres picking up another injury.

My strategy would be start Babel up front (especially given how he's done in the 55/60 mins so far this season) and have Dave to come off the bench if needed.

Also Babel's goal per minute ratio is hotter than Dave's at the moment;)

By contrast Dave has probably featured in something like the equivalent of 5 or 6 full matches already this season if you throw in pre-season.

Daemos

A garden at the side of the pitch?

I've seen it all now

Turtyturd

How the hell does Kerr get a job as a panelist?

Can't see anything other than Pool win tonight despite all the doom and gloom on here.

MementoMori

Turtyturd wrote: »

How the hell does Kerr get a job as a panelist?

Can't see anything other than Pool win tonight despite all the doom and gloom on here.

His indepth knowledge of Faroese football.

Turtyturd

MementoMori wrote: »

His indepth knowledge of Faroese football.

It's more his accent and inability to pronounce surnames correctly, in less than a minute we have had " Micah Re...re...re..Richards" and "ensuah". Had a hard tome with Mascherano too.

Finical

Wtf on my ESPN it says ''This programme is not available''. I don't have setanta ffs.

eagle eye

How is that team going to line up tonight?

Is he pushing Johnson up to midfield?

IrishIrish

Finical wrote: »

Wtf on my ESPN it says ''This programme is not available''. I don't have setanta ffs.

Same as me. Read online that ESPN don't have the rights to show this game in Ireland

Finical

IrishIrish wrote: »

Same as me. Read online that ESPN don't have the rights to show this game in Ireland

OMG. Facepalm!!!

Thanks, stream it is great for the eyes and constant disconnections.

MementoMori

eagle eye wrote: »

How is that team going to line up tonight?

Is he pushing Johnson up to midfield?

GJ RB
Kelly LB
Aurelio LM

was what the pre-match ITK was saying

ilovelamp2000

Lucas and Poulsen in midfield. This will be a long 90 minutes.

I just want to be able to enjoy a match we play, is that too much to ask ?

_Bella_

Goal Trabzonspor!

MementoMori

Crap..... Dirk

Sir Gallagher

F#cking brutal

MementoMori

Rosco1982 wrote: »

Lucas and Poulsen in midfield. This will be a long 90 minutes.

I just want to be able to enjoy a match we play, is that too much to ask ?

Watch the reserves or U18s

Iago

Finical wrote: »

Wtf on my ESPN it says ''This programme is not available''. I don't have setanta ffs.

IrishIrish wrote: »

Same as me. Read online that ESPN don't have the rights to show this game in Ireland

Working fine on ESPN & ESPN HD for me.

I'm with UPC

jaykay74

Pretty straightforward goal. not sure who went missing for the pool

daithijjj

Sweet jesus, kuyt was woeful there.

Handsome Bob

Jesus tap dancing christ, that's all I can say at this point.