Thursday will see the return of European football at Anfield, albeit in The Europa League. Nights on Merseyside are truly special and there is no doubt that the famous recital of “You’ll never Walk Alone” by the Liverpool supporters will send goose bumps down the spine of supporters and those who are impartial all the same. I should know. I am not a Liverpool supporter but I can be brought to tears each time I watch the Reds play at home, and not to spare any embarrassment, that is quite a lot. The tie will have a little extra flair to its intrigue, after all playing against Turkish opposition is always special, in that Demba Ba, who scored for Chelsea after Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip at Anfield last season to all but ruin their title chances, will be making his return. Liverpool is still very much in the running for a top four place and also has an FA Cup quarterfinal ahead of them. However, Brendan Rodgers has remained assertive in his sentiments that his side is playing to win no matter what.
“One of the objectives for us was to win a trophy and you will have seen from the efforts we have put into the cup competitions we want to do everything we can do that.”
"This competition is no different, it is one we want to do well in.
"It is a tough game against Besiktas, a team very strong in their own country, with good experience of playing games in this country, but for us it is about taking a lead into the second leg.
"We are very confident in terms of our performance. In terms of the impact further on our focus is really on the next game and the players over a number of games have been absolutely fantastic so we want to continue with that mentality and performance level."
Liverpool have been in scintillating form since their 3-0 defeat at Manchester United on 14 December 2014. This was a game that saw them finally play to a level that resembled their impressive performances of last season. However, they were left to rue defensive mistakes that day despite severely outplaying their old rivals. Since then, however, Rodgers has tweaked his defense, most notably by employing traditional defensive midfielder, Emre Can, at the back. Since this tactical masterstroke Liverpool has looked far more secure and will fancy their chances to not only get past Besiktas but also to win The Europa league, on current form
Source: DSG
