By Jordan Carreno

Matchday 9 sees Liverpool head down to Huddersfield Town for a 12:30 PM EST Premier League Kick Off this Saturday.

Huddersfield Town v Liverpool — 10/20/2018 1730 GMT

We’ve made it out the other end of another god forsaken international break and are straight back into the regular weekend routine. I found myself aimlessly driving the streets of the Tampa Bay area last weekend, trying to figure out what to do with my life.

A return to the pub and some Reds’ footie should set me straight. As always, all three LFC Tampa Bay locations will be open and serving. With a nice midday Saturday kickoff there really are no excuses to not come out and join us if you’re in the Bay Area. With all that being said, let’s get into our usual pre-match talking points.

The True Test of Champions

On paper, this upcoming run of fixtures is much less nauseating than the one we just went through. The opponents we are due to face don’t have the big recognizable names and we aren’t going to be the match of the Premier League what feels likes every single week. It might seem as if the pressure is being lifted a bit.

However, whereas in the last run you could justify draws and the odd loss, there is no room for error in this next run of games. If you are going to accomplish your goals for the season, namely challenging for the title, then winning these games becomes a necessity. In that sense, the pressure is even higher for this upcoming run.

Then you add in the goal difference conversation, and the growing desire from the fan base to see this team match the attacking prowess we became accustomed to last season, and these upcoming matches get another layer of pressure added to them. Chelsea and City currently boast better goal difference than the Reds because of how they’ve managed to put goals past opponents similar to the ones we’re about to take on.

The upcoming run of games, whilst much easier than the last, will be just as vital and just as high stakes

So, whilst getting 3 points is the clear goal, these matches also present themselves as an opportunity to buff up our goal difference numbers to avoid trying to force the issue at the back end of the season (i.e. 13/14). Becoming Champions doesn’t always mean beating every lower table team by 3 to 4 goals, just that you beat them. But, in a season that is already presenting itself as showing no mercy for slip ups, it might come down to that.

Three points will always be the bare minimum in these upcoming games. Outside the away match to Arsenal, there is no room for dropped points, goals conceded, or underwhelming performances. Ultimately, this win at all costs strategy is the type you need to have in order to win the title in the modern Premier League. All of that begins this Saturday with a trip to Huddersfield.

Who is Adam Lallana?

It seems like a lifetime ago since Adam Lallana was making a meaningful impact in this Liverpool team. After being forced to sit out much of the magical run of last season due to injury, he has found himself drifting from the collective consciousness of Liverpool supporters. Then, just when it seemed like he was ready to reintroduce himself this season, he went and got injured again. Now the Englishman is back, fully fit, and ready to properly reassert himself onto this team and force his way back into our hearts and minds.

If you think back to just over 3 years ago, when Jurgen first signed on, Adam was one of our key performers in those early days. He seemed to understand the pressing of Klopp instantaneously and quickly cemented himself as one of Klopp’s go to players. This sentiment was reflected upon when Klopp said he couldn’t “believe we have achieved this without him” when looking at Liverpool’s top 4 finish last season.

You could be forgiven for forgetting how important Adam Lallana was for Liverpool and Klopp

Now, with a bit of an injury crisis going on in the midfield, we might need Adam Lallana more than ever. We have been severely lacking a creative midfield player to come in and be the connective tissue between our front three and our build up play. We’ve fallen victim to players like Keita and Fabinho having to learn the system and lacking the comfort necessary to allow our type of football to fully blossom. In Wjinaldum, Henderson, and Milner, we’ve lacked that different type of midfielder that could come in and add another dimension to our play.

Adam Lallana is a solution to all those problems. He has the understanding and experience in the Klopp system to play on instinct as opposed to having to think everything through. He possesses the technical abilities, namely his famous turn, to create opportunities in tight spaces and break teams down. He also is one of our hardest workers and most fit players. So, if you had forgotten about Lallana, now might be the time to reacquaint yourself.

Full Strength or Rotate?

This has been the ongoing question through the first 8 games of the Premier League season: when does significant rotation happen? The first temptation, when looking at the upcoming set of fixtures and considering the strain of the run that just happened, is to look to rotate the squad. If we keep running out the same starters every match we risk running them into the ground and having inexperienced back ups coming in as their replacements. At some point, with the bigger picture in mind, rotating the starting lineup will be necessary.

Players like Shaqiri and Fabinho need to start getting more playing time in this system, against more favorable opposition, before we really need them later on in the season. Then there’s the fact that players like Matip and Lovren, our starting centerback pairing this time last season, have yet to collect significant playing time despite their ability and familiarity with the system. Add in the number of minutes many of our key players have already picked up, and keeping the starters fresh becomes another case for rotating the team.

However, at the same time, the team could benefit from sticking to the modus operandi. Though Huddersfield are near the bottom of the table, they aren’t the type of the team to park the bus. Given that our attacking components have yet to fully click, we could benefit from playing against a side like Huddersfield who, despite trying their best, won’t pose the same level of threat as our previous opposition this season.

It could well be that Huddersfield are exactly the type of team we need to play to properly find our feet going forward. As much as we need our back ups to become familiar with the system, we also need our starting eleven to find their top form sooner rather than later.

Prediction

I picked up a cheeky point last time out by predicting we would get a clean sheet against city. Quick shout out to Riyad Mahrez and his world class ability of sending penalties into Stanley Park. Because of Riyad’s generosity, Dave and I are back even at 8 points. I feel a run and charge to a title coming on.

David Wagner has been the best best-man possible to Klopp in regards to results. Last year we picked up 2 wins in 2 against the Terriers. However, in that first match last season at their place, they definitely gave us some trouble before we put the game away. In the same vein, they’ve played fairly well this season despite struggling to pick up points. Huddersfield were unlucky to lose to United and did a decent job of dominating possession before losing to Tottenham. It could well prove that their open style of play could be the death of them come May, but with a bit more luck they could begin to turn things around.

With all that said, they find themselves in the unfortunate position of meeting a Reds team that knows it hasn’t been at their best yet. The lads will know that City beat this team 6–1 and, though we shouldn’t get caught up in comparing our results to theirs, they will be itching to put down their own marker. I expect to see very little rotation, especially with Keita being our only real injury coming out of the break. We score early, we score often, and, dare I say, we thrash them. 6–0.

David’s Prediction: Huddersfield will have spent their break with most of the players hanging around the training ground as they have fewer international players featuring for their teams than we do. Instead, they’ll have been watching film and planning how to throw the kitchen sink at us. To be honest, I admire their approach. It reminds me of Ian Holloway’s Blackpool some years ago, going for it despite the odds. And given the minutes our players have seen in recent weeks and the need for a win midweek against Red Star, I would expect some amount of rotation which causes us to be a bit disjointed in the early going.

In the end, their open play will cost them and our quality will shine through though. Huddersfield come out on the front foot, nab a goal early. But the Reds settle the game and completely dominate the second half, winning 3–1 and finally seeming to click into gear as everyone wonders what the manager said at halftime.