The Liverpool Offside - Norwich City v. Liverpool, 04.20.14Zeppeline, Trinken, & Pink Badeshortshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/51345/ltos-fav.png2014-04-20T16:00:01+01:00http://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/rss/stream/53933452014-04-20T16:00:01+01:002014-04-20T16:00:01+01:00Norwich 2, Liverpool 3: Breathing Room
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<figcaption>Michael Regan</figcaption>
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<p>Liverpool open a 5 point lead at the top of the league and secure a long-awaited return to the Champions League with a nervous 3-2 win at Carrow Road.</p> <p>We're past the point in the season where it matters how it looks. Liverpool beat Norwich 3-2 to take command of the Barclay's Premier League.</p>
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<p><b><a href="https://www.flightofthecanaries.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Norwich City</a> 2: </b><i>Hooper 54', Snodgrass 77'</i><br><b>Liverpool 3:</b> <i>Sterling 4' 62', Suarez 11'</i></p>
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<p><span>Brendan Rodgers</span>, facing a selection dilemma for the first time in months, chose the eleven many had predicted before the match. <span>Lucas Leiva</span> and <span>Joe Allen</span> came in for the injured <span>Daniel Sturridge</span> and suspended <span>Jordan Henderson</span>. Otherwise, there were no changes. Although the names on the sheet were familiar and expected, the organization of them on the pitch was anything but. The team set up roughly in the 4-4-2 diamond we've come to expect, but <span>Raheem Sterling</span> played a completely free role, rather than strictly up top, popping up in all areas of the pitch seemingly at will.</p>
<p>That freedom paid immediate dividends. 4 minutes in, Sterling collected the ball off the left flank, drifted in with two quick touches, and fired an insane shot past Jon Ruddy from about 20 yards out that was reminiscent of his effort on goal late in the <a href="https://bitterandblue.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Manchester City</a> match. Five minutes later, he made a clever run from the halfway line that was well-found by <span>Jon Flanagan</span>, and played a sumptuous ball around the defender that was deftly tapped in by Luis Suarez for his 30th goal of the season and 12th in 5 against Norwich. Suarez became the first player in Europe's big five leagues this season, and <a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Liverpool's</a> first since Ian Rush in the 1986-87 season, to reach the 30 league goal milestone.</p>
<p>Two quick goals and a dominant first 15 minutes had us all breathing easily, expecting another romp against Norwich. But shortly thereafter Norwich started pressing higher up the pitch which unsettled Liverpool. Norwich forced Liverpool's backline into a few errors, most notably by <span>Mamadou Sakho</span> who gave the ball away two or three times in his own half today. Liverpool stubbornly refused to clear the ball out even in dangerous situations, but thankfully Norwich struggled to create any real chances. Martin Skrtel's umpteen first half headers, and Joe Allen's controlled play had a lot to do with that. There was a move in the 44th minute where Rodgers' vision seemed to come to fruition, when Liverpool finally navigated Norwich's pressure successfully, played it up and around the midfield, and after 30-40 passes, created a chance that Coutinho flashed just wide. Ultimately, though, the half ended somewhat quietly.</p>
<p>The second half was significantly less fun from Liverpool's perspective. The reds struggled to retain any semblance of possession and move out of their own half, and Norwich's pressure now extended fully to the half way line. Ball after ball were being pounded into Simon Mignolet's box, and you just had the feeling something bad was coming. Liverpool struggled to close crosses down and, when Mignolet ran into Skrtel and fluffed a lofted ball in, it fell to <span>Gary Hooper</span> who finished coolly.</p>
<p>Things only got slightly better from there. Norwich's pressure persisted, but Liverpool managed to counter it sporadically, again in large part thanks to Sterling. First, he fed Suarez who dummied the entire Norwich defense and fired inches wide of the far post. A few minutes later, Sterling intercepted a lazy cross field pass in Liverpool's half, ran 60 yards with the ball and, just when he looked to have taken it a touch too far, scored with the help of a lucky deflection that just squeaked past Jon Ruddy's outstretched fingers.</p>
<p>In another game, maybe one that isn't accompanied by the pressures of a title race, that lucky turn of events changes the course of the game and enables Liverpool to coast to the end. Not here, though. Norwich, Fowler bless them, continued to press incessantly, and created a few chances and nervous moments for Liverpool. In the 76th minute, <span>Robert Snodgrass</span> managed to nod home a goal from another lofted ball in, this time from the left flank, without so much as even a challenge by his marker, Jon Flanagan. Right then, 13 minutes of nail-biting stuff for Liverpool.</p>
<p>Rodgers tried to nudge Liverpool over the finish line by introducing <span>Victor Moses</span> and Daniel Agger. The former was, for once, effective at relieving some of the pressure by serving as an outlet and holding the ball upfield. The hosts had one great chance to equalize with yet another cross into the box, but Ricky van Wolfswinkel headed directly at Mignolet's feet. There was still some saving to do, and Mignolet did it well. Suarez and Lucas could have killed it off with a fourth goal, but eventually Andre Marriner's whistle went, and it was job done for Rodgers' men.</p>
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<p>11 wins on the trot. 5 points clear at the top of the Premier League. 3 games from glory. Whatever else there might be to say about this match, this is all that matters. Rodgers deserves credit for continuing to tinker with his formations, and, though it would have been great to see some kind of response to Norwich's pressure, he was severely hamstrung by a lack of depth on the bench. In late-season games on the road against relegation battlers it would be naive to expect to coast to victory.</p>
<p>A word on Raheem Sterling. This boy is turning into a world-beater before our very eyes. Raheem notched 2 more goals and an assist, easily won man of the match, and, perhaps most impressively, didn't look remotely phased by the occasion. He's becoming Liverpool's most important player as they march on to the title. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2608873/Luis-Suarez-eyes-prize-Premier-League-title-glory-Liverpool-scoring-30th-goal-season-win-Norwich.html">Rodgers called him the "best young player in Europe" at the moment</a>, and it's hard to disagree.</p>
<p>It's becoming cliche to say that this is the sort of game that we would have lost last year. It's become even more cliche to say this is the sort of game that title winning teams win. We're running out of cliches for this Liverpool team, and, with three games to go, we're also running out of superlatives. Yes, <a href="http://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/2014/4/19/5631486/chelsea-loss-manchester-city-back-in-title-race-liverpool">the Chelsea result yesterday didn't actually change much for Liverpool</a>, but with a 5 point lead and only 3 games to go, it's hard to avoid feeling like Liverpool have one hand on the title. Over to you, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/west-bromwich-albion" class="sbn-auto-link">West Bromwich Albion</a>.</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/2014/4/20/5626568/norwich-city-2-liverpool-3-sterling-suarez-recapjakesinger7772014-04-20T13:54:54+01:002014-04-20T13:54:54+01:00Norwich City 2, Liverpool 3: First Thoughts
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<figcaption>Dreeeeeeeeem. | Michael Regan</figcaption>
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<p><b><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.flightofthecanaries.com/">Norwich City</a> 2</b> <i>Hooper 54', Snodgrass 77'</i><br><b><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a> 3</b> <i>Sterling 4', 62; Suarez 11'</i></p>
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<div align="justify">Let's see here, I've got coffee, I've got my bagel (cream cheese and salami, if you were wondering), let's sit down here and HOLY CRAP RAHEEM STERLING WHAT A GOAL!<br><br>
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<div align="justify">Ah man, that Sterling goal was awesome. At this point, he's pretty much the best English winger around, right? Has to go to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/world-cup-2014">World Cup</a> and play a big role despite his age if England want to compe-HOLY CRAP LUIS SUAREZ!<br><br>
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<div align="justify">OK, hey, a spell of not scoring amazing goals every five minutes. I'd almost rather have the goals, but with how well things are going I'll deal. This formation is pretty interesting; it's a diamondish midfield with two up top, but instead of playing as a straight striker as the lineup suggests, Sterling was given a free running role. Given his vision for running lanes and Norwich's leaky zonal marking, that was a brilliant bit of thinking by <span>Brendan Rodgers</span>, and Sterling tore that back line to pieces.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">Also immensely impressive in the first was Joe Allen. The wee Welshman hasn't had a ton of playing time lately, but becomes much more important with <span>Jordan Henderson</span> out suspended. He responded to the pressure by being the best midfielder on the pitch by a large stretch, with precise passing and (almost) all of the energy in his runs that we've come to expect from our Honey Badger.<br><br>
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<span>Lucas Leiva</span> was, unfortunately, less impressive, but given how little he's played since his return to health a certain degree of shakiness had to be expected. He struggled some on the ball and looked a hair off the pace, but his energy levels were good for the role he was playing, even if it wasn't his traditional straight-DM role.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">Norwich were able to generate some few threats in the first half thanks to somewhat shaky moments from <span>Glen Johnson</span> and <span>Mamadou Sakho</span>, but even when they were capitalizing on their miscues it never felt likely that the hosts would score. That's a huge credit to the job that Martin Skrtel, the midfield, and <span>Simon Mignolet</span> were doing in defense.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">That Norwich goal... woof. Skrtel and Mignolet both made magnificently awful mistakes to gift <span>Gary Hooper</span> that goal, and Mignolet will probably take the lions' share of the blame from various pundits for a poor aerial challenge. That said, if anyone had bothered to close down any of the passes or the cross that lead to said aerial challenge, Norwich probably doesn't score.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">Normally we see Suarez try all kinds of random crap against Norwich and it all works no matter how crazy it is. That didn't quite happen today, but instead that magic seemed to pass to Sterling and it. Was. GLORIOUS.<br><br>
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<span>Victor Moses</span>? Really, Brendan? Problems in central midfield and you take off Coutinho for Victor friggin' Moses? OK...<br><br>
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<div align="justify">If anyone figures out what on earth Flannagan was doing on the second Norwich goal, I'll be waiting.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">If anyone figures out why Gerrard suddenly started playing like a moron around the 70 minute mark, I'll be waiting for that too.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">Simon Mignolet is a Belgian god.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">Victor Moses is so bad, you guys.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">I was going to try to get through this without saying anything about the ref, but come the heck on Andre Marriner. Michael Turner committed five, FIVE, fouls that were worthy of at least a yellow. You gave him one. Didn't even whistle another of them, which was one of the poorer challenges anyone made today. Do your damn job.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">Snodgrass complaining about Sakho not getting whistled for a foul by Marriner (which, to be fair, it was) was rich considering how much he and Norwich got away with. Heck, you could argue that Snodgrass shouldn't even have been on the pitch after his tackle on Allen in the first half.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">Oh, Lucas. Two bites at the apple and no goal to show for it. That would have been awesome. That's one heck of an "aw, shucks" face, though.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">Go away now, Norwich. Enjoy the Championship.<br><br>
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<div align="justify">Three matches to go. Seven points needed. ON TO THE NEXT.</div>
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<p align="justify">We'll be back shortly to take an in-depth look at everything that happened in today's game with the full recap. Until then, let us know your take on the ups and downs of the match in the comments, and if you haven't already, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/account/setup?community_id=373">join the community on the Liverpool Offside,</a> where we'll have full coverage and lively in-game discussion for every match this season.</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/2014/4/20/5633076/norwich-city-2-liverpool-3-first-thoughtsConor Dowley2014-04-20T10:00:02+01:002014-04-20T10:00:02+01:00Matchday: Norwich City v. Liverpool
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<figcaption>Tony Marshall</figcaption>
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<p>Team sheets, ways to watch, and live coverage as Liverpool travel to Carrow Road to face Norwich City.</p> <p><b>Kickoff:</b> 12:00PM GMT/7:00AM EST</p>
<p><b>Ways to Watch:</b> Sky Sports 1 in the UK and NBCSN/<a href="http://stream.nbcsports.com/liveextra/" target="_blank">NBC Sports Live Extra</a> in the US</p>
<p><b>Preview: </b>Norwich City v. Liverpool</p>
<p><b>Comment:</b> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/account/setup?community_id=373">Join the conversation on the Liverpool Offside</a></p>
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<p><b>Norwich City:</b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span>Ruddy<br>Whittaker, Martin, Turner, Olsson<br></span><span>Snodgrass, </span><span>Johnson, Howson, </span><span>Redmond<br></span><span>Fer<br>Hooper</span></p>
<p>Bench: Bunn, van Wolfswinkel, Gutierrez, Garrido, Bennett, Tettey, Murphy</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><b>Liverpool:</b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Mignolet<br>Johnson, Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan<br>Lucas, Gerrard, Allen<br>Sterling, Suarez, Coutinho</p>
<p>Bench: Jones, Toure, Agger, Cissokho, Moses, Alberto, Aspas</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/2014/4/20/5629050/norwich-city-vs-liverpool-live-tv-streams-coverage-ways-to-watch-lineups-Ed-2014-04-20T02:00:03+01:002014-04-20T02:00:03+01:00Pre-Norwich Overnight Open Thread
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<figcaption>Jamie McDonald</figcaption>
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<p>Five questions to pass the time as we wait for kickoff from Carrow Road.</p> <p>1) Not that there are a lot of options, but what does the back four look like?</p>
<p>2) Where does <span>Lucas Leiva</span> line up if he is indeed ready to return to the starting eleven?</p>
<p>3) Are there any attacking midfielders who you feel are in need of a rest and could sit this one out?</p>
<p>4) How many substitutions does <span>Brendan Rodgers</span> use?</p>
<p>5) Final score?</p>
<p>Bonus: Norwich is the<a target="_blank" href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-18016481"> only city in England</a> designated as a <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Literature">UNESCO City of Literature</a>. What's your favourite book?</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/2014/4/20/5630168/pre-norwich-overnight-open-threadStitch Invader2014-04-19T17:30:01+01:002014-04-19T17:30:01+01:00What On Earth Happened To Norwich?
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<figcaption>Ian Walton</figcaption>
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<p>The Canaries were one of the preseason darlings, but now find themselves just scraping by in the relegation fight. What brought them to this point?</p> <p>If you looked around preseason predictions in August, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.flightofthecanaries.com/">Norwich City</a> was one of the hot picks for a team to surprise. After an eleventh-place finish last season and some seemingly brilliant pickups over the summer, they seemed like an obvious pick for success. They had what looked like the right combination of promising young talent and veterans in their prime to put themselves in the top half of the table, if not contending for a Europa League place.</p>
<p>Instead, they enter this weekend sitting in seventeenth place, and just two points clear of the relegation places. <span>Chris Hughton</span> has been fired. Their three big striker signings, <span>Gary Hooper</span>, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, and <span>Johan Elmander</span>, have seven league goals between them. They've scored the fewest overall goals in the league (26, or less than Luis Suarez by himself), and their goal differential is better only than <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/">Fulham</a>, who've shipped more goals than anyone else in the league by a disturbing margin.</p>
<p>So what's gone so terribly wrong with Norwich this season? How did they go from promising media darling to... this? They've gone from popular to pitiable, and it hasn't been a pretty ride. How did they get here?</p>
<h5>Transfer Flops</h5>
<p>First and foremost, that big summer spending spree didn't work out at all. Hooper and van Wolfswinkel were brought in to much acclaim as the EPL's next big strike pairing, but so far they've been anything but. Hooper has scored just five times in 29 league matches, and van Wolfswinkel has scored one and only one goal this season, and that was all the way back in the first match of the season against <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a>. Elmander at least has been useful despite not scoring much, as he leads the club with four assists in his 26 matches.</p>
<p>Of Norwich's various signings, only <span>Leroy Fer</span> has really lived up to his reputation. The Dutch midfielder has become the engine of their midfield, but that wasn't near as much of a need for Norwich as goalscorers were, and their efforts in that area fell about as flat as they possibly could have. <span>Martin Olsson</span> has also been decent at left back, but mostly hasn't been anything special to write home about.</p>
<h5>Creativity? What Creativity?</h5>
<p>Part of the problem with that underwhelming strike force isn't so much the quality of the strikers, but the fact that Norwich don't really have someone to reliably get the ball to them in dangerous areas with space to use. The closest thing is <span>Wes Hoolahan</span>, he of the painfully average skillset and two-month transfer dispute with Hughton earlier this season. Elmander has done a decent job when called on in that role, but he's more of the type to finish what playmakers start, not do the playmaking himself.</p>
<p>Instead, Norwich have mostly been reliant on crosses, using their wingers and fullbacks to ping balls in to the box for their strikers to latch on to. Trouble is, they don't have terribly good crossers, and their strikers aren't the target man, good-in-the-air types. As you can imagine, that's been a recipe for trouble. As a result, Norwich have not once this season scored more than twice in a league match, and are currently embroiled in a three match scoreless streak.</p>
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<p>Thanks to some bad decisions and, at times, plain bad luck, Norwich find themselves teetering on the brink of disaster. At the rate things are going, they will be very lucky indeed to stay up this season, and new manager Neil Adams will have his hands full just trying to hold on to the club's Premier League dreams and keep his canaries aloft. Given their recent history against <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a> and Luis Suarez, that task won't be made any easier this weekend.</p>
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https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/2014/4/19/5630346/norwich-city-poor-form-relegation-battleConor Dowley2014-04-19T14:45:01+01:002014-04-19T14:45:01+01:00Preview: Norwich City v. Liverpool
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<figcaption>Scott Heavey</figcaption>
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<p>Team news, ways to watch, and a full preview as Liverpool travel to Carrow Road to face Norwich City. </p> <p>Four more weeks to go, which doesn't really seem possible considering it feels like just last week we were talking about <a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Liverpool</a> needing to really give it a go this season and hopefully end up with an outside shot at fourth or fifth. Progress would be slow, of course, but the project seemed stable and set up for success. Plenty of reasons to feel encouraged on the heels of a strong second half last season, just going to need to wait a few seasons to really talk about a title challenge.</p>
<p>So today it's April 19th, there's four matches left in the season, and Liverpool are in control of the title race. A win tomorrow secures automatic Champions League qualification, which now, silly as it sounds, wouldn't be enough to meet expectations. Heady stuff, but there will be time for that later. Tomorrow the task is <a href="https://www.flightofthecanaries.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Norwich City</a> and only Norwich City.</p>
<p>Norwich have been in or around the drop zone for most of the season; <span>Chris Hughton</span> was a thoroughly likable man but never quite got the club pushing forward, and his dismissal earlier this month took far longer than many had expected. New manager Neil Adams has only overseen one match since replacing Hughton, a 1-0 loss at <a href="https://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Fulham</a> last Saturday that saw the Canaries denied a number of chances to take the lead or draw level.</p>
<p>Adams will be without Joseph Yobo and <span>Elliott Bennett</span> yet again, but there are no other concerns on the injury front. At Fulham, they lined up with <span>John Ruddy</span> in goal, <span>Russell Martin</span>, <span>Steven Whittaker</span>, <span>Michael Turner</span>, and <span>Martin Olsson</span> at the back, <span>Bradley Johnson</span>, <span>Robert Snodgrass</span>, Jonathan Howson, and <span>Leroy Fer</span> through the midfield, and <span>Nathan Redmond</span> coming in from the wide areas with Ricky van Wolfswinkel--who hasn't scored since the opening day of the season--in attack. <span>Gary Hooper</span>, <span>Wes Hoolahan</span>, and <span>Josh Murphy</span> each came off the bench, with <span>Javier Garrido</span>, <span>Alexander Tettey</span>, and <span>Ryan Bennett</span> included in the squad as well.</p>
<p>For Liverpool:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Mignolet<br>Johnson Skrtel Agger Flanagan<br>Lucas Gerrard Allen<br>Sterling Suarez Coutinho</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Slightly more laborious this time around in terms of players ruled out, with <span>Daniel Sturridge</span> a late decision and <span>Jordan Henderson</span> serving the first of his three-match ban for a bad tackle late in the win over <a href="https://bitterandblue.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Manchester City</a>. Jose Enrique will be out for the remainder of the season, but <span>Brendan Rodgers</span> should have all others available for selection.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The absence of both Sturridge and Henderson could be key given how important they've been; the former has played every match he's been fit for, while the latter has played in every match. Sturridge's recent dry spell means that Luis Suarez takes the goalscoring load over once again, a task he performed to great effect earlier in the season, but Henderson's industry and workrate might prove far more difficult to replace.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">What seems likely--skipping past a mostly unchanged defensive unit, though I'll guess <span>Daniel Agger</span> comes back in for <span>Mamadou Sakho</span> because it just <i>feels</i> right--is that both <span>Joe Allen</span> and Lucas come into the midfield, with <span>Philippe Coutinho</span> pushing up to one flank (likely the left), <span>Raheem Sterling</span> on the other, and Suarez operating centrally.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">There's not quite as much fluidity, and Sturridge's absence takes away the chance to go with two strikers at any point barring an appearance by <span>Iago Aspas</span> or another new position for Raheem Sterling. But it's essentially the same setup that we saw when Sturridge and <span>Steven Gerrard</span> were injured during December. Gerrard plays the Lucas role, Lucas plays the Allen role, and Allen plays the Henderson role. Both Lucas and Allen have been impressive in their most recent extended run-outs, and I'd be surprised if Rodgers opted to go with <span>Victor Moses</span> or Iago Aspas rather than both of Allen and Lucas.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Kickoff is set for 12:00PM BST/7:00AM EST, with Sky Sports 1 carrying coverage in the UK and NBCSN/<a href="http://stream.nbcsports.com/liveextra/" target="_blank">NBC Sports Live Extra</a> airing the match live in the US. Our coverage will start with the overnight open thread tonight and carry into the matchday post early tomorrow, which will have team sheets an hour before kickoff. Hope you'll be around to join us--if you haven't already, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/account/setup?community_id=373">sign up for an SBNation profile</a> and stick around.</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/2014/4/19/5626578/norwich-city-vs-liverpool-team-news-ways-to-watch-tv-schedule-Ed-2014-04-19T13:21:19+01:002014-04-19T13:21:19+01:00Lucas Ready to Return to the Starting Eleven
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<p>Having been largely relegated to the sidelines since he returned, injury and suspension will give Lucas his chance against Norwich City—and the midfielder is ready to take it.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">With Jordan Henderson ruled out due to his late red card against <a href="https://bitterandblue.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Manchester City</a> and <span>Daniel Sturridge</span> at the very least unlikely to start due to a mild hamstring strain, Joe Allen and <span>Lucas Leiva</span> will both be expected to return to the starting eleven on Sunday against <a href="https://www.flightofthecanaries.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Norwich City</a>. Both have at times played major roles for Liverpool this season, yet neither were likely to see much action the rest of the way barring injury and suspension.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"I've been working very hard since I got back," said <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.liverpoolfc.com%2Fnews%2Flatest-news%2F161465-lucas-i-am-ready-for-the-boss-call&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fliverpooloffside.sbnation.com%2F2014%2F4%2F19%2F5630594%2Flucas-ready-to-return-to-the-starting-eleven-against-norwich" target="_blank" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener">Lucas</a>, who has spent most of his time on the bench since returning from a ligament injury at the end of February. "My chances have been very limited, but I'm ready if the manager needs me. He needed me against West Ham at half-time and I think I did a good job. Now I just have to be ready, if the chance comes, to be at the same level as the team that is playing—then see what's going to happen."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Despite the calm and control he brought to midfield against West Ham, when <span>Brendan Rodgers</span> chose to remove Philippe Coutinho's creativity in favour of Lucas' stability, against Manchester City it was <span>Joe Allen's</span> running that was preferred as a second half substitute. The roles the two midfielders played in <a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Liverpool's</a> last two games suggests Allen is the more likely to be used to fill Henderson's box to box role.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As was seen against West Ham, though, and despite the fact many intuitively think of holding players being more valuable against bigger opposition, the more solid midfield foundation provided by a player like Lucas can be just as valuable against a side well down the table. He may not join the attack as much, but he will allow those around him to do so more freely while limiting the chances of Liverpool being hurt on the counter.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"It has been a very difficult period for me," he added, reflecting on his changed role since he missed an important six weeks of action near the beginning of Liverpool's current scintillating run of form that sees them top of the table in April. "Before the injury, I probably played 95 per cent of the games. Now, with Stevie playing in the holding position, I know my chances will be very small [but] I have to try to be positive for myself but also my teammates.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"You try to help the way you can and see if we can win this together, because the whole season counts. We're having a good season, and of course we have had a very good run in the last 10 games but it wouldn't count if we had had a bad start. Everyone that is involved has a part to play and that's why I always think I have to be ready."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">With Henderson out for the next two games as well, he will have a major role to play in whether Liverpool can finally win their first league title of the Premier League era. Losing Henderson will hurt, but waiting in the wings is one of Liverpool's best players of the past few seasons, waiting to remind everybody just what he can do.</p>
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https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/2014/4/19/5630594/lucas-ready-to-return-to-the-starting-eleven-against-norwichNoel Chomyn