Reds alert: 10 things Liverpool need to get right to beat Lille

By David Maddock in Mirror Football Blog

Published 11:31 18/03/10

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Liverpool are facing a make-or-break Euro clash tonight (isn't every one of their games make-or-break these days? - Ed) when they take on Lille at Anfield.

Trailing 1-0 to the French outfit from the first leg last week, the Reds are fighting for their European lives.

After Monday night's morale-boosting thrashing of Portsmouth, confidence should be high among Rafa's troops. And there are goods reasons for their fans to be optimistic, as the Mirror's man on Merseyside, David Maddock, outlines below as he highlights ten areas the Reds must get right if they are to outsmart Lille...

1) Get the tactics right: Liverpool must not believe they have to go gung-ho from the off, because they are only a goal down, and Lille are very effective on the counter-attack. A measured approach is necessary, with a balance between the attacking need for that goal, and a defensive requirement to ensure their opponents don’t secure a destructive away goal.

2) Pick the right team: Rafa Benitez has a headache because he may not have Alberto Aquilani available, given that old ‘sick note’ is once again a doubt with a virus. That leaves him with few options, given Maxi Rodriguez is cup-tied, but he must ensure all his main goal threats are on the pitch, which could mean playing Yossi Benayoun AND Ryan Babel, a combination he usually avoids.

3) The key players must fire: It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres will be crucial for Liverpool, because there is a need to score goals, and a very real chance the Reds will require three if they concede an away goal. If the pair of them are firing, Liverpool will go through. If not, then it’s problem time.

4) Snuff out Lille's danger men: Eden Hazard is a tricky winger who posed real problems in the first leg, with young Liverpool full-back Emiliano Insua singularly failing to deal with the threat. He must be kept quiet to avoid the threat on the counter. Adil Rami is the Lille centre-half who stands between the Reds and the goals they require, and his is an imposing presence that must be overcome.

5) Be patient - and that includes the Kop: The real threat to Liverpool could be impatience, because the danger of conceding an away goal makes it a nervous night. If they commit too early and go a goal down, then they are right up against it, so the fans have a part to play too, in being patient and waiting for the goal that will balance the tie and pull Lille out.

6) Don't get left exposed: Liverpool have been weak down their left flank all season, and unless they provide cover to Insua, with perhaps Albert Riera offering defensive support, then that could prove costly.

7) Pace can be king: Lille look nervous when strikers run at them, so if Liverpool can get the ball to Babel and Torres and ask them to be direct around the edge of the box, then they can potentially have great joy.

8) Dominate the middle of the park: What Liverpool must do is dictate the game in midfield, and this is where Javier Mascherano comes in. If he can dominate possession it will allow him to dictate the tempo of the game, and that will put Lille under pressure. When Liverpool struggled at Wigan and in France, it was because the midfield didn’t dominate, and it has to be addressed to control the game.

9) Use the bench wisely: Benitez must be canny, because he can never really throw caution to the wind, given that a single goal will send the tie into extra-time. He must give himself options from the bench, to cover not only the need for a goal, but also to defend a lead should his side get it.

10) Hope luck is on their side: Liverpool have had none in Europe this season, but to get to the latter stages of any competition you need some, and they will hope that the fortune which went their way against Portsmouth will be repeated, to allow them to get an early goal from which to derive confidence and inspiration.

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