Liverpool vs Anzhi Makhachkala Preview

October 24, 2012 By Gregory Sica

A needy Liverpool will be hoping to stay alive in the Europa League with a positive result against the in-form Russians at Anfield.

Liverpool come into their Europa League Group A clash with Anzhi Makhachkala knowing that anything less than the three points would almost certainly kiss goodbye their chances of advancing to the Round of 16 stage of the competition.

The Reds may have commenced their campaign on a high note, with a 5-3 victory at pointless Young Boys of Switzerland, however, they suffered a frustrating 3-2 defeat to Udinese in England in their following fixture. The fact that Thursday's clash with Anzhi will be their penultimate home fixture means a victory is a must.

But Brendan Rodgers' inconsistent side must be at their very best to overcome the big-spending Russians. Anzhi are on an impressive four-game winning streak and haven't suffered a single defeat since mid-August.

Due to the form of their rivals, Rodgers will take no chances, and although the Reds face Everton in the Merseyside derby on the weekend, he is expected to choose a close to full-strength side for the Europa League clash.

According to reports, he could rest a couple of his regular starters, and if that were to be the case, fringe players like Sebastian Coates, Jamie Carragher and Jose Enrique could be presented with opportunities from the kick-off.

One player who has been ruled out of the match is goalkeeper Pepe Reina, while Fabio Borini and Martin Kelly could also sit out the match due to injury.

For Liverpool to win the match, they would surely need a good showing from star player Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan goal-poacher is undoubtedly Liverpool's most talented player, and could pretty much decide the outcome of the game on his own.

Anzhi, who lead Group A along with Udinese, will be hoping to continue to obtain desirable results, and will definitely provide the hosts with numerous problems.

Guus Hiddink, the coach of the Russians, counts with an extremely solid unit, and will rate his team's chances of returning home with at least a point.

Besides injured French midfielder Lassana Diarra, the Dutchman will field his strongest-possible line-up, which includes former Barcelona and Inter Milan scoring-machine Samuel Eto'o.