Can we finish above Liverpool in the league?

[tony_parkes]

I watched the game last night when Liverpool lost to Fiorentina. I thought Liverpool were absolutely awful and it got me thinking about their results this season.

Spurs 2 Liverpool 1
Liverpool 4 Stoke 0
Liverpool 1 Aston Villa 3
Bolton 2 Liverpool 3
Liverpool 4 Burnley 0
Liverpool 1 Debrecen 0
West Ham 2 Liverpool 3
Leeds 0 Liverpool 1
Liverpool 6 Hull 1
Firoentina 2 Liverpool 0

They have played 3 half decent sides all season, us, Villa and Fiorentina. They have lost them all.

They have steam rollered Stoke, Burnley and Hull at home.

They were bloody lucky and definsively all over the place when they won at Bolton and West Ham.

Now my feeling is that over the season they will prove to be more consistent than us and will finish 3rd behind United and Chelsea.

If I were a Liverpool fan though, with games against Chelsea (away), Sunderland (away) and United (home) next, I'd be getting a bit twitchy.

If Liverpool falter and we are able to pick up points against Bolton (away), Pompey (away) and Stoke (home), will you start to believe we can compete with them over the season?

I live in Liverpool and all the in laws are reds, many friends and clients support them too. I would love it, love it, if we finished above them. They are a very annoying group of fans as a rule and it would be pleasant to rub their noses in it.

Recently I have noticed a marked increase in the volume of football related texts I have received from Liverpool fans giving me and Spurs shit, perhaps they are feeling the pressure?

 

[Winchy85]

Of course we can.

Will we? Very much doubt it, probably be atleast 15pts between the two by the end of the season

 

[ggibbs1971]

Can we yes, will we maybe!!

 

[WhiteStripe]

Can we No, Will we No

 

[ginol@14]

i think we can
a injury to torres or gerrard and there nothing special
our squad is stronger than there one ,just the quality of those 2 players carrys them a hell of a long way

 

[leffe186]

They should have scored early against Villa, had that gone in I think they'd have won it.

Can we finish above them? Sure. The Champions League will put their squad under pressure too, and any side with a decent left-winger will do well against them. The thing is, there's Man City as well to worry about.

 

[steve]

Very doubtful - they'd need to lose both key players for long periods and we would need to have an exceptional season...

I think City can finish above them though, they are the real danger to the top 4 this season, wouldn't surprise me if they finished 3rd or 4th...

 

[Kendall]

No.

 

[Pinto]

i think we can
a injury to torres or gerrard and there nothing special
our squad is stronger than there one ,just the quality of those 2 players carrys them a hell of a long way

Was thinking the same thing, The long loss of either of those two and they might have trouble finishing in the top 6 this year with such quality sides at the top of the table this year.

Even with those two in their side Man City look better than them and we aren't far off so they could end up 6th behind the Scum as well.

 

[Adam456]

A lot of negativity in here for some reason. Maybe just because it's us. Yes we can definitely finish above them. Liverpool generally tend to pull their socks up later in the season but we have the squad to keep up the consistency.

Of course Man City are a big threat but haven't been massively impressed by them to be honest so far.

The other question is will the scum keep going. Just had another serious injury (Denilson) but players coming back.

Going to be interesting

 

[chinaman]

Very little difference between the first eleven; but we are much deeper on the bench, so we should be in a better position as far as the ability to absorb injuries. On the other hand, their squad seems to have much more experience in dealing with pressures a top 4 side faces.

So I'd say chances are 60-40 in their favour.

 

[Marty]

It'll be close, that's for sure. Don't think there will be many points between Man C, Arse, Pool and us come the end of the season.

Their experience gives them the edge over us in my opinion.

 

[WexfordTownSpur]

i think we can
a injury to torres or gerrard and there nothing special
our squad is stronger than there one ,just the quality of those 2 players carrys them a hell of a long way

I think you are right, without one of these (or both :grin we could finish above them. But probably won't happen.....................

 

[tony_parkes]

It'll be close, that's for sure. Don't think there will be many points between Man C, Arse, Pool and us come the end of the season.

Their experience gives them the edge over us in my opinion.

I agree, their experience is the key difference along with two world class players in Torres and Gerrard, but if we open up a gap on them as they have 3 difficult league games next and assuming we can pick up say 7 points form our next 3 games, are they going to be good enough to close that gap? Are we going to be more consistant this season and win games home and away?

It's early days but I'm thinking that the loss of Alonso and Hyppia and them losing 3 times and our good signings and form mean that the gap has closed between them and us.

 

[brett.spurs]

About 10% chance imo.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Liverpool usually start pretty ropey. They were terrible at the beginning of last season too, but managed to pick up points by sneaking goals in injury time. This season they look even worse than last season yet they are still in 3rd and only 3 points off first. I don't see them being a threat to the top 2 this season, but once they adjust to not having Alonso they will get better.

It is easy to say that if they don't have Gerrard and Torres they are poor, but it isn't really true. They have other very effective players, some which are massively under-rated. Players like Mascherano, Benayoun, Reina, Glen Johnson and Kuyt are all very important to Liverpool.

We have to show how we deal with lesser opponents away from home before we can start talking about finishing above them, although on paper I would say we have a shot.

 

[dontcallme]

A lot of negativity in here for some reason. Maybe just because it's us. Yes we can definitely finish above them. Liverpool generally tend to pull their socks up later in the season but we have the squad to keep up the consistency.

Of course Man City are a big threat but haven't been massively impressed by them to be honest so far.

The other question is will the scum keep going. Just had another serious injury (Denilson) but players coming back.

Going to be interesting

I don't see it as negativity, just reality. Liverpool have the experience and the mentality to finish in the top four. I think they've only failed once since the Prem began.

We are on the way up but we've already seen ourselves outclassed against Man Utd and Chelsea. If we consistently beat the teams outside the top 8 then its possible but as others have said very unlikely.

 

[piedpiper]

realisticaly they will finish above us. the quality and experience of their squad will see to that. their patchy start is not that signficant(remember 2 points from 8 games and ended 8th) as they will make good progress as we get into the swing of the league. how close we are to them will be determined by what quality is added in January. having Luka,Kranjcar,JJ,Wilson,Hudd,Lennon and Bentley is a bonus but we need another enforcer type midfielder who can come on for wilson. it is that type of quality we lack to progress to the next level. A Gareth Barry type would have added the necessary quality or final part of the puzzle.

 

[hybridsoldier]

If Torres gets injured then it could happen. Alot rests on Aquilani's shoulders, unfair but Lucas just doesn't do anything there and Gerrard doesn't know whether to come or go at the moment.

Of the top 4 sides Liverpool are the only one in recent memory to drop out the top 4 when Everton ousted them.

Alot of people say Arsenal will drop out but they have an unbelievable squad spirit there and I think they will be fine and its more to do with their mentality than their actual squad which is no better than ours.

BTW also want to add that Benayoun is vastly vastly under-rated, he is as good as Modric in my opinion and its a travesty the way Liverpool have used him up to now

 

[piedpiper]

If Torres gets injured then it could happen. Alot rests on Aquilani's shoulders, unfair but Lucas just doesn't do anything there and Gerrard doesn't know whether to come or go at the moment.

Of the top 4 sides Liverpool are the only one in recent memory to drop out the top 4 when Everton ousted them.

Alot of people say Arsenal will drop out but they have an unbelievable squad spirit there and I think they will be fine and its more to do with their mentality than their actual squad which is no better than ours.

BTW also want to add that Benayoun is vastly vastly under-rated, he is as good as Modric in my opinion and its a travesty the way Liverpool have used him up to now

Whilst Arsenal have spirit, i get the feeling letting 3 key players go could count against them come February, especially if they are still in the FA cup, Cl and competing for a Cl position. injuries will take their toll. Were they to strengthen in jan then it could be a different outcome. then again all 3 would have gone to ACN in jan/feb and would be missing. we will lose Bassong and BAE, just hope Bale is up to the task come Jan/Feb.