After yet another false dawn in the Premier League to be just that, false, Liverpool look to pick themselves up from a frustrating New Years Day draw to Leicester with 3 points at the Stadium Of Light, where hosts Sunderland have failed to impress too much this season. I spoke to Michael of @RokerReport to get his thoughts on the upcoming game:
Can you tell us about the main dangers Sunderland can pose to Liverpool on Sunday, and who you think the real danger-men for your side are?
Good question! Goals and posing dangers have been in short supply at Sunderland this season so far. That said, there is some genuine quality in the side. On his day, Adam Johnson can cause problems for anyone in the Premier League, and Emanuele Giaccherini and Ricky Alvarez, both just back from injury, are intriguing wild cards.
Patrick van Aanholt, too, is back and could make life tough down the Liverpool right.
Do you have any particular areas of your squad you’d like to see strengthened in January?
We need strikers, but a specific type of striker really. We need one who threatens the space behind a defence. That’s a run and an option we’ve missed all season. The Sunderland side has good dribblers and decent passers, but genuine pace and penetration is sorely missing.
Give us your thoughts on Gus Poyet, how do you feel he has done in replacing Paolo Di Canio?
I like Gus. Don’t get me wrong, he isn’t always an easy character to like. He is very tactically rigid, and when someone puts a microphone in front of his face you never quite know what he’s going to complain about.
He has a tremendous upside, though. He’s a very good coach, and that tells in the brilliant defensive organization the team has enjoyed this season. He is also a little bundle of energy too, and that is something this club can use. At Sunderland, as long back as I can remember, it has always been the same: ignite the passion in the stands, succeed on the pitch. Poyet is very capable of doing that.
What are your thoughts on Fabio Borini, who obviously seems out of favour at Liverpool right now?
I have a lot of sympathy for Fabio really. I can understand why he tried to stick it out at Liverpool last summer, but it was a bad decision. I appreciate he wants to be at a top club, but he had the chance to come to Sunderland, where he was genuinely loved, be a vital part of the team and establish himself.
If he did well, which I’m sure he would have, the big clubs would have still been there in a couple of years for him. With Chelsea, Roma and Liverpool on his CV, he seems to have fallen into the trap of believing that pedigree is enough without product, and it’s not.
I don’t hold any ill-will towards him, far from it, but I think he missed a massive opportunity.
Do you feel that this is a good time to be playing Liverpool, with their well-documented on pitch problems?
I’m not sure there is ever a ‘good’ time to play Liverpool. They have plenty of quality players, like Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho who can hurt you.
That said, it’s as good a time as any. Brendan Rodgers hasn’t managed to replicate the fluidity of last season, and the Steven Gerrard business seems to be a bit of a distraction at times.
When looking at the current Liverpool squad, who do you feel poses your side the most threat on Saturday?
Sterling is the obvious danger. He has the pace and ability on the ball to trouble an ageing pair of centre backs for Sunderland. Wes Brown and John O’Shea won’t want to be chasing him for 90 minutes. Who would?
I’m also oddly wary of Mario Balotelli too. Sunderland have a long and distinguished history of gifting goals to comedically misfiring strikers on long barren runs, so he is an obvious danger for us.
Finally, can we get a score prediction from you?
Are there many goals in either side right now? I’m not sure. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a repeat of the 0-0 draw at Anfield. That’s what I’ll go with!
Just a reminder here that in this fixture last year, Luis Suarez was returning from suspension and Liverpool were on their way to a 3-1 win. How time flies… I predict a scrappy 1-0 win for The Reds tomorrow.
