By one measure, Liverpool is still one of the English Premier League's elite clubs. That measure: when you look at them paired opposite a Manchester United or an Arsenal, you implicitly tell yourself "I'm not missing that match." This week, with league-leading Chelsea going to Anfield, the weekend's final fixture will be must see.
English Premier League Fixtures, Previews, Picks, Match Day 11: Where Liverpool Hosting Chelsea Is Still A Major Affair
But if you want to consider the divergent fortunes of these clubs, consider this little nugget, courtesy of Chelsea’s web site:
Yikes. Where team websites are normally for self-promotion and little else, that’s practically trash-talking. Chelsea’s started a very proper English version of The Dozens. How will Liverpool respond?Yo owner so dumb, he fired José Mourinho and replaced him with Avram Grant! See, that doesn’t quite snap. Even in a hypothetical battle of words, Liverpool’s falling behind.
We all know most of Liverpool’s successes were pre-Premier League, but to have other clubs passive aggressively point it out? On their own website? Wow. Having to hire a Tottenham Hotspur cast-off was humbling, but other league clubs highlighting Liverpool futility may be a new low.
Thankfully for John Henry, Damien Comolli and Roy Hodgson, things are looking up, particularly after Thursday's resurgence of their best player. For all the consternation about Liverpool's poor performances over the last one-and-a-quarter seasons, there has been a relatively straight forward explanation: Steven Gerrard hasn't been that good. He hasn't been bad, but he certainly hasn't been one of the Premier League's best players, and that's what Liverpool has been counting on. When building a squad, you have to have cornerstone players upon whom you can expect elite performances. Steve Gerrard has not been that player since two seasons' past. Thus, Liverpool's disappointing results.
On Thursday, Liverpool management saw reason to believe their best player can return to elite status. After sitting the first half of the Reds’ Europa League match with Napoli, Gerrard came off the bench to turn a 0-1 deficit into a 3-1 win, accumulating three goals over the match’s final fifteen minutes. The onslaught was the first sign of an Gerrard Elite we’ve seen since before the World Cup, with his third goal serving notice that the star’s highest levels may still be obtainable:
Okay, it won’t go down as the best goals of all time, but it was a confidence goal. It was a gambit embraced by a man with belief, and Gerrard with belief is something Liverpool supporters have been pining for all season. While that confidence will not be enough to carry the Reds against Chelsea on Sunday, it’s difficult to imagine Liverpool even competing without an in-form Stevie G.
SBNation Soccer will have more on Liverpool-Chelsea later this weekend when we post our preview of Sunday’s match. But until then, consider the other matches offered on the 11th match day of the Premier League’s season. Here, we list them from least to most ... interesting? Yeah, let’s go with that:
10. Blackburn Rovers vs. Wigan, Saturday, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, Ewood Park (Blackburn)
9. Birmingham City vs. West Ham United, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, St. Andrews' Stadium (Birmingham)
Don't watch either of these matches. Seriously. This is one of the virtues of coming to SBNation. If you went to ESPN.com, they might try to stimulate interest just because of their ESPN UK relationship with the league or their need to keep you on the site for their gamecasts. At Fox, they'd want you to see their highlights packages, but at SBNation we can tell you: Unless you're a supporter, you don't need to watch either of these matches. While there is a potentially compelling ambition (Wigan, West Ham) versus containment (Blackburn, Birmingham) style conflict, it's not worth your time. Just come back here on Saturday night and read or recap. That's all you'll need from these duds (until SBNation has blogs for these teams).
8. Sunderland vs. Stoke City, Saturday, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, Stadium of Light (Sunderland) - This match might be less watchable than those in Blackburn or Birmingham, but the off-pitch drama of Steve Bruce recovering from a 1-5 loss at Newcastle could lead to great tension. Bruce acknowledged that calls for his heads were understandable after the Black Cats' derby shellacking. If he can't get three at home from a club that's tied for the league lead in losses, those calls will become deafening.
7. Blackpool vs. Everton, Saturday, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, Bloomfield Road (Blackpool) - Blackpool was given this glorious gift on Monday: a match played against a nine-man squad. They got three points, jumped to ninth place, and now, in meeting eighth-place Everton on Saturday, are in a match that could vault the winner into a Europa League spot.
6. Fulham vs. Aston Villa, Saturday, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, Craven Cottage (London) - Aston Villa carries a huge scoreless drought (nearly three matches) into Craven Cottage to face a Fulham side that's allowing just over one per match. The Cottagers got back into the win column last week against Wigan, having just suffered their first two losses of the season. They'll look to start a win streak against an Emile Heskey-less Villa squad.
5. Manchester United vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, Old Trafford (Manchester) - Is five too high for this match, given it seems as if we see this match every weekend. United always seems a bit vulnerable, and against a feisty Wolves side coming off a victory over Manchester Blue, we might start to think this match will be close. Perhaps it will be, but the contrasting argument: Wolves are still a relegation-embattled side. Manchester United still has not lost, and against Tottenham last week, the team looked as if they had returned to their efficient (if not dominant) ways. While Mick McCarthy this could scuttle this match's excitement by starting a second choice side (as he did last year), a quirky Manchester United threatens to make any match interesting.
4. Arsenal vs. Newcastle United, 8:30 a.m. Eastern, Emirates Stadium (London) - Aside from their recent victory over a 10-man City side, Arsenal has been keeping all of these matches close. And by “these,” I mean matches against mid-to-lower table sides they’re expected to roll. But they haven’t been rolling anybody. In fact, last week’s match (against West Ham) wasn’t won until the 88th minute, which begs the question: How will Arsenal perform against one of the best of the presumed also-rans?
3. Bolton Wanderers vs. Tottenham Hotspur, 8:45 a.m. Eastern, Reebok Stadium (Bolton) - Most of you are going to sleep in on Saturday rather than wake-up for this match. Fine, I don't blame you (so I say), but when you look at the approaches employed by Harry Redknapp and Owen Coyle, this match should prove worth watching. Both teams are going to create chances rather than wait for opposition errors, so rather than last week's "interesting" match-ups of Bolton versus Liverpool and Manchester United versus Tottenham, we're likely to get two teams playing positive football.
2. West Bromwich Albion vs. Manchester City, 10:00 a.m. Eastern, The Hawthorns (West Bromwich) - Consider the last two times Manchester City played against a 4-3-3. Against Blackpool, they have up two goals (though won). Against Arsenal, while they were down a man for nearly the entire match, they gave up three. West Brom is coming off their own asterisk adorned loss, but unless Carlos Tévez unexpectedly returns from Buenos Aires and starts, the Baggies' 4-3-3 could extend City's league losing streak to three.
1. Liverpool vs. Chelsea, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, Anfield Park (Liverpool)
Picks
| Day | Time (EDT) | Home | Road | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | 8:45 a.m. | Bolton Wanderers | Tottenham Hotspur | 1-1 |
| 11:00 a.m. | Birmingham City | West Ham United | 2-1, Brum | |
| Blackburn Rovers | Wigan Athletic | 2-0, Wigan | ||
| Blackpool | Everton | 2-1, Blackpool | ||
| Fulham | Aston Villa | 1-0, Fulham | ||
| Manchester United | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3-0, United | ||
| Sunderland | Stoke City | 2-1, Sunderland | ||
| Sunday | 8:30 a.m. | Arsenal | Newcastle | 2-2 |
| 10:00 a.m. | West Bromwich Albion | Manchester City | 2-1, West Brom | |
| 11:00 a.m. | Liverpool | Chelsea | 2-0, Chelsea |
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