Match Preview: Liverpool v. Exeter City, 08.24.11

By: Ed | August 23rd, 2011

carlingcup

Liverpool get their League Cup campaign underway tomorrow in Exeter, hoping to find some sort of midweek success going early in the new season. It’s not quite the type of midweek action we would have hoped for, but it’s football, it’s a chance to see some of the less familiar faces get a run out, and, at this point, it’s a chance at silverware.

That chance was a lot greater earlier in the past decade—the club reached three finals in five seasons from 2000 to 2005, winning against Birmingham City and Manchester United in the first two and losing by a goal to Chelsea in the 2005 final. Since that time things have been a bit more difficult; they’ve reached the fifth round twice but failed to progress, and in the past three seasons they haven’t made it past the fourth round. And as we’re all aware, they lost in their first match of the competition to Northampton Town last season, despite “throwing caution to the wind” in the second half of extra time.

So to say there’s not a lot of romance in the competition for Liverpool in recent years would be accurate, and tomorrow’s launch against League One opposition Exeter City will be met with a combination of excitement and ambivalence, with a healthy dose of trauma from last year’s disastrous display.

The hosts worked their way into the second round with a 2-0 win over Yeovil Town earlier in the month, getting goals from striker Guillem Bauza and Chris Shepard in what was their first victory in the first round since 1993. That’s their only win of the season, however, and the only time they’ve netted more than once in any competition. Their sole point in league came on opening day when they drew away to Stevenage, and they’ve lost three straight since the win over Yeovil, with Bauza adding to his tally via the penalty spot in the home loss to Brentford.

For Liverpool:

Who starts for Liverpool?

Doni
Flanagan Carragher Skrtel Aurelio
Spearing Coady
Kuyt Shelvey Maxi
Ngog

—Beside the standing injuries to Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson, there’s likely to be plenty of regulars rested. No news about any new injuries as a result of the weekend’s action, but I doubt the squad will include too many of the names we’ve seen so far this season. Maddeningly, the offal has done away with injury tracker, which is where I got my favorite Fabio Aurelio news, but I’m fairly confident in saying that just Gerrard and Johnson are ruled out.

—Kenny Dalglish spoke earlier in the day about the need to find balance between giving players a chance and avoiding last season’s nightmare, which makes for a difficult guess at the starting eleven. It’s likely that we’ll see Jon Flanagan back in the lineup, and Martin Skrtel could make his return alongside either Jamie Carragher, Danny Wilson, or youngster Andre Wisdom. Carragher was quoted on the importance of tomorrow’s match, so it wouldn’t be surprising for him to work his way in, but I don’t know that Wilson or Wisdom would be overwhelmed. There’s also questions at left back, with Jack Robinson or Fabio Aurelio to choose from; it’d be easy to go with Robinson simply because he’s younger and not permanently injured, but if Aurelio’s fit I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start.

—There’s also a fairly large number of combinations that could appear in the midfield, with Jay Spearing, Jonjo Shelvey, and Conor Coady all possible. I’d guess they all get the start, with Spearing and Coady deeper and Shelvey more advanced. Dalglish could pick both Kuyt and Maxi to play on either side of Shelvey (or move one of them centrally), giving the midfield a nice mix of youth and experience. Not entirely surprising that we haven’t seen Maxi yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing him back in action after the way he finished last season.

—If reports about Bolton’s interest are accurate, this could be David Ngog’s last match in a Liverpool shirt, and unless Kuyt pushes forward, he’ll be going it alone. It seems like Ngog has constantly been in purgatory during his time with the club—not quite ready to break through and make an impact consistently in league, but well accomplished when it comes to facing sides that are less talented. Whether or not he’s leaving soon, I think he starts tomorrow, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on the score sheet.

What’s the most important factor for the Reds?

Typically I’m reserved when it comes to the expectations, but I think what’s most important for tomorrow is winning, and doing so confidently. For all the talk about squad depth and the development of the club’s youth, you’d hope that we see Liverpool put on consistently positive displays across competitions. There’s the standard disclaimer about a mix-and-match squad that hasn’t spent much time together and the problems that can inherently produce, and that’s all very valid. If Liverpool truly do have strength in depth, though, we should get good performances regardless of who’s around.

Another match that should be easy to catch live on television—Fox Soccer Plus will have coverage in the US, and Sky Sports 1 will show the match live in the UK. Streams are a little in flux but should be available—MyP2P, one of the best resources online, has had some big changes, so hopefully that’ll all be sorted by kickoff tomorrow. We’ll carry the links for whatever’s available, and please let us know if you find something we don’t have.

Until then, enjoy reading about the deal for Sebastian Coates that’s been agreed but not finalized and is subject to change and might involve other clubs and his father is talking to everyone but he loves Liverpool.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:

Category: League Cup, Match Previews, Miscellaneous, Team News

« Rumour Mongering: Lining Up Replacements as Kyrgiakos Heads to Wolfsburg | Home | Matchday: Liverpool v. Exeter City »

Gryffin

Undinese are up 1-0.
Suarez from the car park...

It will be good to see some of the young guns, esp the forwards.

I'm intrigued to also see the midfield and how that shapes up, given how much of the game is controlled from there. Bit weird being the carling cup, don't really know what to expect.
Zboubpropre

To watch the game if myp2p is not fixed go on : http://www.sportlemon.tv
Dan

Doni,
Kelly, Skrtel, Wilson, Robinson,
Henderson, Aqualani, Kuyt (C), Maxi, Cole,
Carroll,

Subs: Reina, Agger, Flanagan, Meriless, Adam, Downing, Suarez

Lets go out all guns balzing and thrash Exter, all this namby pamby lets play our youngsters, we have a good team lets use them and give Carroll and Henderson some confidence.
McrRed

just to say that myp2p has moved from the .eu domain to .bz (allegedly - not tried it yet)
Amtosh

Anyone know if it's being shown in Australia?
El Pistelero

yeppp fox sports 4:30 am thursday morning
Suarez from the car park...

those aussies, just change your time zone already!!!!!
Yann

But then we wouldn't be able to watch football in the wee morning hours and drink beer for breakfast in celebration.
Suarez from the car park...

lol. I used to live in Calgary, Canada (London - 7hrs) and there's a great pub there called the Ship and Anchor which would always televise the footy, and serve incredibly reasonably priced food.

for afternoon kick-offs, they would often open for breakfast about 7am. $10 entry would include generous cooked breakfast (except Canadian's don't know what bacon is) and of course loads of reasonable coffee. Never a shortage of lfc fans of course.

That was about £4 back then, and even now is less than £7 with sterling in the toilet.

there's something really unappealing about beer taps at that time in the morning. Mind you it's more likely to be -30 most of the season than +30 as in Aus. Perhaps that makes a difference.
Zach

Curse you Ed for sharing that Twitter link. I shouldn't be obsessed with this deal... but I am.
CheekyFellow

I feel ya. The kid seems like he'd be a quality addition for years to come. I didn't watch his compilation out of laziness, but decided to anyway later on, ended up watching most of it.
Zach

I remember watching him in the Copa thinking he was an older experienced player probably playing in some top italian side I didn't know but that he was definitely in control and ran the show against other teams. With him I don't know how the summer could have gotten much better in contrast to our summer last year of Poulsen and JCole.
Tropics Red

Who starts for Liverpool?
DoniFlanagan Carragher Skrtel AurelioSpearing MeirelesSterling Shelvey MaxiCarroll

For me, the key is to keep strength and continuity whilst giving fringe players som game time. Carra/Aurelio give experience and continuity at the back, Meireles and Maxi provide it in the midfield. Carroll needs game time to hone the sharpness.
Subs: Wilson (for game time) to replace Carra (for a rest), Robinson for game time, Pacheco on for Shelvey or Kuyt on if Sterling get's overawed. Get some of the young lads on the bench as well for the experience of being with the first team.
Antonio

It look surprisely quite a stronge line-up from Ed, players like Maxi, Skrtel, Spearing, Shelvey, even Flanagan involve heavily during the end of last season, with the add on of season players Kuyt, Carra & Aurelio, Ngog also once a regular when we run out of striker.

Joe Cole could be in the line up, probably Pouslen (a forgtten player).
How important is this Carling Cup? We need some silver ware make it important.
Think of it, it is tough for the manager, this is not a friendly where we can sub whole 11 1st best team players after 1st half when we have a heathy lead and put on the young player. Manager can only do is to decide for a couple of good players on the bench who can turn the game if thing don't get right.

Anyway, by the names, Liverpool look OK even for 2nd string players
CheekyFellow

"Until then, enjoy reading about the deal for Sebastian Coates that’s been agreed but not finalized and is subject to change and might involve other clubs and his father is talking to everyone but he loves Liverpool." -Why I love this place.
Gryffin

OH. My. God. I am So happy. The latest on Coates = Rory Smith of the Daily Telegraph tweets the following statement
from Sebastian Coates: "I'd prefer #LFC to #MCFC, but would need to see
both offers. But having the help of Luis Suarez would be very important.
The #LFC offer ticks all boxes, so fair to say it's a done deal...Luis'
success is important for me as another Urgyn joining."
Suarez from the car park...

I'm not getting too excited yet. Sounded to me like his dad was egging on Citeh to make a big bid by talking up the pool.
Gryffin

Looks like Dani Pacheco is following El Nab Zahir, Soccernet:Liverpool youngster Dani Pacheco is to have a medical at Spanish side Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday, according to reports.
Gryffin

no one cares about patcheco..
Zach

I'm alittle bummed, kid seemed like he had alot of potential that we just never got to see. He'll probably come good in the long run in La Liga.
KC

My opinion on Pacheco is if 2 managers didn't even give him a look in, then there has to be some limit to the potential.
Suarez from the car park...

same here. Lambert didn't want him back at Norwich either which is yet another manager who doesn't fancy him yet apart from 3 lfc managers.

I'm surprised he's gone to Atletico, thinking he might struggle for game time there.

My take is that he needs some time to muscle up as presumably its not skill thats the problem - given that we've loaned him not sold him. Hope he gets lots of games.
Zach

Maybe, but that'd make too much sense. haha no your right.
Nick

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Aquilani. Seems like it would be a good game for him to get into as well as Maxi. Unless his agent doesn't want him to play.
Ed

Collective acceptance that he's moving on, otherwise I'd be talking about him being in the running for league matches.
NotTooXabi

A "Purple Reina" scarf says Joe Cole starts and scores (deflection, obviously) tomorrow. You hear that 'Arry, Joe Cole. Scores.

Don't F it Up, Spurs. You need a game-changer. Joe. Fucking. Cole.
Thomas Hoppe

well played
Ed

Oh, right, he's still here. Match winner.
Paul

If Carroll isn't fit, he should play. The side above looks inadequate if we're taking the league cup seriously. There's no creative spark and I wouldn't trust Ngog, one decent whack for a lower league clogger and he'll disappear. I don't know much about Exeter's players, if they're physical, we're going to get bullied off the ball and overrun. We've no Europe to worry about, we really should be fielding a strong side to allow the new players more match time to gel.
PDubz18

If worst comes to worst, he'll bang in 3 goals and get his form going.
Thomas Hoppe

It would be interesting to see some of the flair players from the reserves in the match.
Ed

Read that Sterling was in the squad on Twitter, so that's a possibility, but haven't really heard any other actual team news.