Europa League preview: Liverpool v Napoli
Just when Roy Hodgson was beginning to turn things around on the pitch, Liverpool’s players have started competing against each other off it.
“I think I have more than Martin Škrtel, but first place goes to Daniel Agger, for now. I am going to try and catch him up though,” said Raul Meireles, with a look of determination in his eye. But Hodgson needn’t worry, this isn’t a rivalry that is likely to upset the team dynamic that he’s seeking to instill in his side. No-one’s got the needle with anyone at Anfield.
“We all speak about tattoos and I always ask Martin and Daniel where they got them done,” continued the Reds’ heavily-inked Portugal midfielder Meireles, who has quietly impressed since a summer arrival from Porto. He’s impressed with his new surroundings too.
“I am really enjoying it and like living in the city. Me and my family have found a nice apartment in a good place and we like to walk around and see the city. The people are very friendly and they have made me and my family very welcome.
“We have been to some great restaurants and it is a good place to live. Lucas and Fabio Aurelio speak Portuguese like me and they have both helped me a lot. Understanding the likes of Stevie (Gerrard) and Carra (Jamie Carragher) is very difficult though, but they speak slowly to me so I can understand them.”
You get the feeling that Meireles won’t be last foreign arrival to struggle to comprehend Liverpool’s scouse heartbeats – the English ones probably have trouble too – and Gerrard and Carragher are likely to soon have other imports to confuse now that the Reds have appointed Damien Comolli as their ‘Director of Football Strategy’ – essentially a force in the transfer market who can get deals done to improve a rapidly evolving squad. January will be an interesting month at Anfield.
Tonight will be an interesting night too, as Napoli pay a visit in a match that will go a long way towards determining whether or not the Reds will progress into the knockout stages of the Europa League. They’ll have an eye on the final in Dublin in May, but no-one is ordering the celebratory Guinness just yet.
Two weeks have elapsed since an unfamiliar Liverpool side ground out a goalless draw in Naples, a result that fostered an encouraging spirit within a previously gloomy camp, and after the senior stars took their lead from the performances of youngsters such as Jonjo Shelvey and Jay Spearing in Italy by going on to record back-to-back Premier League victories, you can expect to see a few more star names tonight, regardless of a Sunday meeting with Chelsea looming on Liverpool’s Premier League horizon.
“I think the team we put out will be regarded on paper as a stronger team (than the one that played in Italy),” said Hodgson. “I just hope it's a stronger team on the field of play because the team that played in Napoli did very well.
“I have named the team for the players but I prefer to let other people wait and see – it adds a little bit to the excitement. But I am prepared to say that I think it is a strong team and I am hoping we will play well enough to get the victory to take a big step towards the knockout stages, which is our ambition in this competition.”
A win would indeed be a giant step forward for Liverpool in a very tight Group K.
The Reds’ 4-1 win over Steaua Bucharest back in September represents the only one of six matches that any of the four teams in this group has won, and so victory over Napoli would put the Reds five points ahead of the Italians – on paper their toughest opponents in the group – with two games left to play, effectively taking the pressure off those remaining fixtures.
Hodgson will go for it with his team selection, and Liverpool can be expected to keep their mini revival up at Anfield tonight.
Progress in this competition is important to them. Meireles may even be keeping a space for a tattoo of the trophy should they triumph in the Irish capital come May. Perhaps it’ll be the one that finally sees him beat Agger.
Good things come to those who wait.
Prediction: Liverpool 2 Napoli 1
Tags: