So
yeah... Interesting tie for Liverpool, they drew Internazionale, really wondeer how they would fare against Italy's top team at the moment. The likes of Luis Figo, Esteban Cambiasso, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Walter Samuel will be pitted against the likes of Ryan Babel, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Mouthwatering tie, indeed!
Barcelona looks like having one of the easier ties in Glasgow Celtic, but
hmm... Didn't Kaka and co. had trouble beating them last season and this? So a Barcelona team led by Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Theirry Henry and Carles Puyol will be up against a Celtic team with a backbone of Stephen McManus, Artur Boruc, Scott Brown and Scott McDonald.
A Junino-inspired Olympic Lyonnais, backed-up by Fabio Grosso, Sidney Govou and Karim Benzema, will be up against a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Manchester United, which also boast the likes of Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes.
German club Schalke will host Portugese giants FC Porto, led by Ricardo Quaresma.
Err...
Yar... That's it for this tie...
Haha...
Francesco Totti and his Roma side will host Real Madrid's superstars eleven that includes the like of Robinho, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Guti Hernandez, Fabio Cannavaro and Iker Casillas.
Francesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Tomas Rosicky and Kolo Toure will hope to get their Arsenal side a home win against A.C. Milan in the first leg of the two team's Champions League tie. Remember, Milan has World Player of the Year, European Player of the Year and FIFPro's Player of the Year winner and Brazilian playmaker Kaka in their ranks, along with veterans Alessandro Nesta, Clarence Seedorf and Champions League all-time top-scorer Filipo Inzaghi.
Hmm... A little bit contrasting
ah this tie, an 'inexperienced' and young Arsenal team against an A.C. Milan team that has players that has won all types of accolades and awards.
Probably the easiest tie of the round, Greek side Olympiakos, led by former-Real man Raul Bravo and former-Portsmouth striker Lomano Lua Lua, against Roman Abramovich-bankrolled Chelsea, with bought talent like Andriy Shevchenko and Englishmen John Terry and Frank Lampard.
The other weaker teams left are pitted against each other, Sevilla and Fenerbache. Dani Alves and co. will face Roberto Carlos' Fenerbache.
Anyway, back to English football. Liverpool take on Portsmouth in what is a must-win game for the Reds'. And its not going to be easy though, Portsmouth are a good team, high-flying at the moment. However, how good the statistics are for Liverpool, they are still fourth, and 10 points behind, but with a measly game in hand. They have to win.
Anfield
Saturday 22 December 2007
10.55pm (SG, GMT+8)
Channel 27 (Football Channel)
Liverpool Line-Up (Probable):
25. Jose Manuel Reina
23. Jamie Carragher
__ 4. Sami Hyypia
17. Alvaro Arbeloa
______________________________________ 6. John Arne Riise
8. Steven Gerrard (
C)
____ 20. Javier Mascherano
11. Yossi Benayoun
______________________________________ 7. Harry Kewell
18. Dirk Kuyt
______ 9. Fernando Torres
Substitutes (Probable):
30. Charles Itandje, 12. Fabio Aurelio, 14. Xabi Alonso, 19. Ryan Babel, 10. Andriy Voronin
Liverpool are going to face a Portsmouth side full of aggressive players, strong and determine ones too. Jose Reina is almost certain to return to goal, despite Charles Itandje's good performance against Chelsea, despite letting in two goals, one of which was just unable to save. To counter John Utaka's threat, John Arne Riise's pace and strength will need to be fully utilize tomorrow night. Alvaro Arbeloa continues to fill in for the injured Steve Finnan, and will have to beware of Croatian playmaker Niko Kranjcar. Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia will have to deal with one of Benjani or Kanu. Javier Mascherano, who missed out in the Carling Cup defeat to Chelsea, will start in the middle, patrolling the defensive midfield area and will have to shut out Sulley Muntari and Pedro Mendes. Skipper Steven Gerrard, who also missed the cup defeat with a stomach problem, will almost certainly return to trouble Portsmouth's Sean Davis and their defence too. Yossi Benayoun, Harry Kewell or Ryan Babel will fill the two Liverpool wings, with good certainty that Kewell should fill in at the left, to continue regaining his fitness. It would then be seen who would start on the right. That third winger of those three should be benched and brought on as an impact substitute. Dirk Kuyt should also return to the first eleven to partner a returning Fernando Torres, who will look to be amongst the goals against, and win his battle against Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin.
C'mon Reds!
Bye~!