Team news

Blackburn preview
David Dunn could miss out again for Blackburn when they host Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League.

Dunn did not play in Rovers' Carling Cup triumph over Chelsea on Wednesday after picking up a calf problem in the previous match against Stoke, and his involvement will be subject to a late fitness check.

Keith Andrews is also nursing a calf injury but is more likely to be available for selection.

Manager Sam Allardyce returned to work on Friday after undergoing heart surgery and is likely to watch the game from the stands at Ewood Park, with assistant Neil McDonald continuing in the dugout.

McDonald is adamant Rovers will not suffer from a post-cup tie hangover.

Rovers go into the match having sealed a place in the Carling Cup semi-finals on Wednesday with a dramatic victory against Chelsea.

Liverpool will be hoping that, after playing out a thrilling 3-3 draw over the course of 120 minutes and enduring the knife-edge tension of spot-kicks, Blackburn's players will be both physically and mentally fatigued for tomorrow's match at Ewood Park.

But McDonald is confident the squad are ready for their second encounter with a `big four' side in four days though and is expecting a similar performance.

"Preparations have been really good," McDonald said.

"They have rested, eaten, rehydrated. They have had plenty of massage, had a little bit of the ball, and we will do a lot of work in the video room on Liverpool's strengths and weaknesses.

"They are fine - they know how to recover and they are very fit. I think they showed that in the really strong way they finished off the game against Stoke the Saturday before.

"They then competed against a top-four team in Chelsea and were excellent over the course of 120 minutes, so I wouldn't expect anything less than a good, strong-running performance - as well as a good football performance - on Saturday."

Although on paper it looks demanding, McDonald claims he was pleased to see another big side to come to Ewood immediately after Chelsea as it will ensure the players retained their focus.

"It is probably better that we are playing Liverpool after a great experience during the week, because we have to be on our guard," McDonald said.

"If we are not, they will punish us and the players know that. It is a huge game whenever Liverpool are in town there is always a big crowd and a fantastic atmosphere.

"That makes the players work that little bit harder, concentrate more and play even better football."

Liverpool preview
Liverpool have decided against risking Fernando Torres.

The Spanish striker has been involved in three first-team training sessions this week, but there are still concerns over his groin problem. Boss Rafael Benitez is now thinking of playing his top scorer against Fiorentina in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Italian Alberto Aquilani will again be amongst the substitutes, while Ryan Babel is still out with an ankle injury.

Benitez has hailed Steven Gerrard's contribution to Liverpool's past and believes his captain can play another 200 games at the top level for the Anfield club.

Gerrard will become only the 13th Liverpool player to reach the 500 games tally for the club when he leads the team out on Saturday.

The Huyton-born midfielder, 30 next spring, will play at least another four years at the very top for his home-city club if he matches Benitez's assessment.

At Ewood Park he will once again be without his front-line colleague Torres. So again it is predominantly down to Gerrard to continue the rescue act to salvage Liverpool's erratic season and Benitez knows the England man can do it.

Benitez said: "When Stevie is on top form, Liverpool can beat anyone." He added: "To reach 500 games for one club is remarkable. Usually good players don't stay with one club. Bigger clubs with more money tempt them away.

"He is certainly one of the very best players I have ever worked with.

"When I was at Real Madrid I worked with people like Raul and many other very good players who did very well in the first team.

"Like them, Stevie is known as a top-class player all around the world.

Blackburn vs Liverpool

Last modified 16:09 06/12/09

Pause Play

Left

Right

View thumbnails View full screen Turn captions on/off

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Prev

Next

• Page 1
• Page 2
• Page 3

It is often said that in the Church of England you never really lose your faith, you just can't quite remember where you've put it.

The same clearly applies to Liverpool. You never quite lose your faith in the fact that there is clearly a good team in there somewhere, but you're damned if you can find it at the moment.

The first period of this match against Blackburn Rovers was one of the single worst halves football has ever witnessed. Here is a brief summary of what happened......

Nothing.

At all.

Rafael Benitez's side have lost their way, and their meanderings up so many blind alleys in this contest was testimony to that. It is true that the spirit and commitment of Rovers taxed them severely, and the home side's ability on the counter-attack was a potent threat, in the second half at least.

But still. C'mon. It's not the Bernabeu is it, or the San Siro. This was a Blackburn side who had played 120 minutes in midweek in deep mud and driving rain, and yet had looked the stronger as this game reached its conclusion. In fact, within the final two minutes, they should have scored twice to gain a deserved victory.

So what is going wrong at Liverpool then. Chris Samba, the Rovers centre half who subdued whichever toothless combination of visiting strikers Rafa Benitez threw at him, thinks he knows the answer. They are a team devoid of confidence.

"It is easier defending against Liverpool this season than previous ones. They're not at their best right now. I think it was a good time to play them because they do not look as strong as in the past," he said.

"Every team has a point when they will struggle, through injuries, confidence or things like that, and Liverpool are struggling right now. They will come back - Torres will come back, Gerrard will return to his best form so they don't have to worry too much.

"But I have to say, they didn't impress me as much as Chelsea and United especially. I don't think they are as good as them now. Liverpool will be looking to get into the top four but of course there are a lot of other teams capable of that now as well."

It's hard to argue with that. Benitez tried to accentuate the positive of another game without defeat, as he must, but he knew that against a side who had been taken to a penalty shoot-out in midweek, his team really should have dominated at the end, not been on the back foot.

It barely beggared belief that Rovers had such control at the end, and really, they only had themselves to blame for not taking all three points. Franco Di Santo missed a sitter when through one on one with Pepe Reina, and in the dying seconds, substitute Nikola Kalinic twice missed when really he should have finished with ease.

The first was a turn and shot in the box which he fired over from close range, the second an embarrassment for Liverpool as Rovers broke swiftly and when David Hoilett's through ball found the striker, he seemed to but put off by Reina's charge when he should perhaps have been braver.

Liverpool for their part had only a half penalty shout when Gerrard tumbled in the box, and a double chance when first sub David Ngog turned Glen Johnson's cross onto the bar, and then Samba brilliantly got his head to Dirk Kuyt's fierce effort on the rebound, to divert the ball wide of the gaping net.

It left the travelling Reds fans with that Church of England feeling, and plenty of their own players too, admitted that under the circumstances, the fans may be right to start misplacing their faith, because draws at this stage of the season against opponents like this aren't good enough.

Reina, who was Liverpool's best performer, summed it up. "I would swap a clean sheet for a victory all day long. Apparently we are defending better now than we were and that is important but we have to win because that is what really matters," he said.

"Our target now is simple - to be winning, starting with the next game. When we get to May we will be able to talk about what we have or haven't achieved, that is the time to talk about everything."

Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce was happy to do plenty of talking right after the game, even though his doctor has advised him to avoid all stress following heart surgery only a week ago.

Mind you, he wasn't subjected to any real stress at all, given how ineffective the visitors were. For the experienced manager, that was a sign of his side's increasing maturity.

"I have been told to be calmer but I think I've been calmer for a few years now than in my early years in the Premier League. It was traumatic back then, always trying to shift furniture to stop opponents who are so much better than you," he explained.

"But at Blackburn we are getting better all the time, and I've got a real confidence now that if my team play at their best they are a match for anyone. We've shown that in the last week against Chelsea and Liverpool, and I don't have to shift so much furniture about these days."

Blackburn: Robinson 7; Chimbonda 6, Samba 7, Nelsen 8, Givet 6; Emerton 6, Nzonzi 7, Grella 6, Diouf 6 (Hoilett 57, 6); McCarthy 6 (Kalinic 77, 6); Di Santo 6 (Andrews 85).

Liverpool: Reina 7; Johnson 6, Carragher 6, Agger 7, Insua 6; Lucas 7, Mascherano 6; Benayoun 6 (El Zhar 57, 4), Gerrard 6, Riera 5 (Ngog 51, 6); Kuyt 6.