Cardiff City face a daunting trip to face Liverpool FC at Anfield with off-field strife certain to make an already monumental task seem all the more difficult.
Ahead of the trip, we spoke to Vital Liverpool editor Gavin to get his thoughts:
Just before Christmas and a win from top spot – happy with that position?
Just a little! There were plenty of signs the club were heading in the right direction towards the end of last season but very few fans would have foreseen us potentially being top at Christmas this term. The team are playing some fantastic attacking football right now, and scoring goals for fun, which makes the situation even more pleasing.
Ambitions for the rest of the season?
With Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge to return from injury in the New Year, plus hopefully a couple of new arrivals, we really are in a great position to at least secure a return to Champions League football with a top four finish. That has to be the aim because we really need the glamour and financial reward that comes with playing in Europe’s top competition to attract better players and truly compete with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea on a regular basis.
What happened at Hull?!?
Good question. It’s was a strangely subdued performance in which we were basically out battled by an opponent who appeared to want the points more. It was by far our worse performance of the season and we were deservedly beaten. Thankfully, given the way the season has gone for all the top teams, it hasn’t harmed our position too much and we’ve bounced back brilliantly to win three in a row, scoring 14 goals in the process.
How would you describe the LFC style of play at the moment?
Exciting. Not since the days of Roy Evans in the mid-1990s have we played such a positive and aesthetically pleasing brand of football. Luis Suarez has rightly been getting the majority of plaudits for his individual exploits but, as evidenced in last weekend’s 5-0 trouncing of Spurs, we are far more than just a one man team. The amount of goals we are scoring also shouldn’t detract from the intensity of work rate and pressing the side puts in when we don’t have the ball.
Player to watch Saturday?
Suarez unsurprisingly! 17 goals in just 11 league appearances this season is a phenomenal return. Even more so when you consider the quality and diversity of the goals he has scored. Elsewhere, Philippe Coutinho is a really gifted player who can unlock teams and the often-overlooked Jordan Henderson is in the best form of his career.
If you could take one Cardiff City player on a free?
Craig Bellamy was brilliant at times during his two spells at Liverpool and we were sad to see him go last summer. If he was a few years younger I’d have him back in a heartbeat! Otherwise Gary Medel would be my choice; we could do with an additional physical presence in central midfield at times and the Chilean has been a revelation for you guys so far.
Prediction for the game?
Our form, and the fact that the game is at Anfield, obviously points to a Liverpool victory. These are the type of games we’ve had a habit of slipping up in over the past few years but I truly believe this is a better, more resilient, Liverpool side. 3-1 to the Reds (that’s the real ones as opposed to the blues that now play in red!).
Many thanks to Gavin for sharing his views.
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Let’s hope past years come back to haunt them and there’s an Xmas slip!
It’s always good to hear from the other side before a game. If only we could have kept that pesky Suarez quiet, which was always going to be a struggle!