Liverpool v Anzhi: I Won’t Bother with the Second Part

Liverpool FC are in the Europa League this week once again, and they will be welcoming Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala. Today, I’ll be offering you guys a scouting report of the general Anzhi Makhachkala squad and other information you guys need to know for this game.

Anzhi Makhachkala

You guys will probably know Anzhi as the side that Samuel Eto’o moved to. They’ve got wallets full of million dollar notes, and they’re trying to do things in Russian football.

The Manager: Guus Hiddink

Requires no introduction. A fantastic manager. Did fantastically well at Chelsea and has been famed for wonderful Euro and World Cup campaigns with the likes of Russia and South Korea.

Key Player in Defence: Joao Carlos

Perhaps not exactly the player that everyone’s heard of, but Joao Carlos is a splendid Brazilian center back who is really good at dominating opponents with his mere presence and aerial ability. Liverpool will have to get through him to get the 3 points against the Russian side.

Key player in Midfield: Samuel Eto’o

Yes, I very well know that he’s a striker. However, he has been deployed more as a kind of attacking midfielder/false 9 for the Russian giants, and he will be instrumental in getting Lacina Traore through on goal. Liverpool will have seen him in action for Barcelona and Inter Milan, so they will know what he is capable of. However, knowing what you need to do and actually performing it can be two really different things.

Key player on offense: Lacina Traore

Has started his season with a bang, notching six goals in 10 games. The Russian side deploy a very strong ‘number 9 striker’ in Traore, and he plays a bit like Romelu Lukaku of Chelsea (on loan at West Brom), and he will be the man up front against the Reds bar injury.

Their Campaign Thus Far

Their 2012/13 campaign has started off rather fruitfully, as they’ve only fallen to defeat on one occasion this season. Nine wins, two draws and a solitary defeat mean they are leading the Russian Premier League ahead of the likes of CSKA Moscow, whilst a win and two dropped points have been enough to keep Anzhi at the top of their Europa League group.

Form

Anzhi: W W W W W
L’pool: W W L D W

Anzhi have the upper hand against Liverpool in terms of form going into this game, but this could also be down to the fact that they face more lowly opposition in the Russian Premier League.

Our Team Is…

…going to be really youthful. Ideally, I would prefer to see our youngsters such as Yesil and Pacheco to play in preference to Luis Suarez playing yet another game. I understand that he wants as many minutes as possible, but he really needs some rest time – more physically and mentally.

I personally view the Europa League as irrelevant if we’re doing badly in the league. The prize money for playing in Europe’s second best continental football club competition. It’s not worth it.

Ideally, Brad Jones should actually be thought of as on par with Pepe Reina for the number 1 spot at Liverpool. Jones performed when the Reds needed him, whilst Reina has been sub-par throughout the duration of the season.

Jones offered security to that back 4 and made sure that we kept the 3 points with great saves and punches. However, I would prefer to see Gulacsi get some game time himself, him being the more long term solution for Reina (given the fact we don’t have any quality young keepers in our ranks in the 19-23 year age range)

This would be the team I would like to see face Anzhi:

Gulacsi
Wisdom-Coates-Carragher-Enrique
Sahin-Henderson-Allen
Pacheco-Downing
Yesil

Really attacking lineup whose front three might be slightly unlucky, but you see what I’m getting at. Resting Gerrard, Suarez and Johnson is absolutely essential, whilst Coates and Carragher need some of that game time as well.

Sahin and Allen are still young and are capable of the three games a week haul that Gerrard would likely be unable to cope with. Sterling and Suso shouldn’t be rushed into playing three games a week, as they’re still young and growing. Better to conserve them and manage their fitness properly.

So, what are your starting elevens for the game? Leave your thoughts and comments in the comments section below!