Source: telegraph
Swansea City v Liverpool: live
Email thom.gibbs@telegraph.co.uk
or tweet @thomgibbs
with the answer to this question: What is the least warm welcome you have
ever received?
Latest
SWANSEA 0 LIVERPOOL 0
24 min Johnson plays an excellent one-two with Enrique and finds
himself in a one-on-one against Tremmel in the Swansea goal. Well saved!
23 min Swansea still on top, but Liverpool are doing a good job of
containing them. Their rigid two banks of four are limiting Swansea to
aimless balls over the middle at the moment.
21 min Brendan Rodgers has been frantically writing notes all game so
far. Whadda man:
20 min End to end at the moment, with Swansea having the better of it.
19 min Great Swansea move. Intricate, clever but gutsy too, with
Hernandez winning the ball with a surprisingly snappy tackle before clipping
it into the box. Shechter wants to get on the end of it but Reina, bravely,
gets there first.
17 min Enrique with Liverpool's best chance of the game so far. Johnson
swings in an excellent pass from a fairly deep position on the right.
Enrique's able to get onto the end of it but his finish betrays his
defence-based pass. He opts to connect with his chest. Never wise. Wide.
15 min Sterling shoots from just outside the box. Tame, and easy for
Tremmel. Should have done better. Serious business from Twitter's Football
Cliches:
Twitter: Football Clichés - Jonathan de Guzman is eligible to play international football for Holland, Canada, Jamaica and the Philippines. Dilemma.
13 min Quasi-chances for Michu and Williams from the corner, but both
are snuffed out.
12 min Routledge with the best shot of the game so far, running with
purpose into the box from the right and striking it hard and low towards
Reina's left-hand post. Reina saves smartle, but concedes a corner.
11 min Davies v Sterling is turning into an enjoyable battle. The
Swansea full back tries to get onto a chipped ball out towards the left
flank. Sterling tracks him all the way, perhaps indulges in a spot of
shirt-tugging, then buys a goal kick off Davies. Some mild handbags
afterwards too. Bonus.
9 min Good spell of possession for Liverpool, but there's an element of
toothlessness about them, with Allen and Henderson having attempted
defence-splitting passes cleared with ease. Sterling beats Davies out wide
and delivers a cross but it's headed away.
7 min More good work from Hernandez down the right. Certainly fancy him
up against Downing and Enrique today. He's also got Pablo H on his back,
which is a charmingly Primary School move.
5 min Of course it wasn't a cross from the corner. How naive am I? It's
Swansea, so it's a short pass, which comes to nothing despite Liverpool
being visibly surprised that it's not been smacked into the area.
4 min Swansea corner, after Hernandez sneaks in behind Downing. Good
recovery tackle from Downing to prevent the cross. Now we will have a cross.
From a corner.
1 min Here we go then, Liverpool begin the game with a kick off fit for
a country named Wales.
13.27 Luis Suarez and Ashley Williams shake hands. And even smile at
each other. My word, football growing up? Who knows, Chelsea might get
through their match later this afternoon without upsetting anyone. Stranger
things have happened...
13.25 The match ball arrives in unusual fashion, a couple of members of
our armed services assailing down from the roof with one of their number
with it tucked in a rucksack. We're good to go then once we have the teams,
who are coming out in a more conventional walking out of the tunnel
formation.
13.20 Well done Swansea fans. Brendan Rodgers, who helped mould their
team in to one famed for passing and possession football, gets a decent
reception from the Liberty Stadium. Now let's see how they greet Luis Suarez
the first time he hits the turf...
Twitter: dangerhere.com - Ray Wilkins: "This could be a record game for possession stats, as both teams like to keep the ball." 70% each maybe? #lfc #swansea
13.01 Things now take a turn for the marginally surreal, courtesy of
emailer Ghalib Hussein:
The turkey I saw on thanksgiving was beautiful, but I guess she didn't get
the warmest of receptions.
12.48 Here are the teams:
Swansea: Tremmel, Rangel, Williams (c), Chico, Davies, Britton, de
Guzman, Routledge, Hernandez, Michu, Shechter.
Subs: Cornell, Monk, Tiendalli, Agustien, Ki, Dyer, Lita.
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique, Allen, Gerrard (c),
Henderson, Downing, Sterling, Suarez.
Subs: Jones, Carragher, Coates, Suso, Shelvey, Cole, Sahin.
Referee: Jon Moss
12.30 Afternoon liveblog fans.
We could spend this introduction talking about two teams with similar styles
facing off, the exciting prospect of Leon Britton passing the ball 300 times
or Raheem Sterling's hair.
But let's face it, this afternoon is all about Brendan Rodgers and his return
to South Wales.
How will he be received? You'd hope with a modicum of politeness, given what
he did for Swansea.
Politeness is an ever-decreasing commodity in The Modern Football, though, and
if Swansea's supporters have watched any of Being:Liverpool they'll have
extra reasons to dislike their former manager.
Seems like a nailed on home win, amirite?
Disagree? Send polite emails to the address above.
Team news and more bobbins to follow, stay tuned.
I suppose that you better have a lovely preview, then:
Sunday, November 25
Swansea
City v Liverpool
Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 13.30 GMT
TV: Live Sky Sports 1, Highlights BBC ONE Match of the Day2.
Swansea (Possible, 4-3-3): Tremmel; Rangel, Chico, Williams, Davies; De
Guzman, Britton, Hernandez; Ki, Michu, Dyer.
Out: Lita (thigh), Situ (Achilles), Taylor (ankle), Vorm (groin).
Tests: Graham, Davies and Moore (illness).
Liverpool (Possible, 4-3-3): Reina; Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Wisdom;
Allen, Gerrard, Suso; Enrique, Sterling, Suárez.
Out: Borini (foot), Kelly (knee), Lucas (match fitness).
Test: Wisdom (knee).
Referee: Jon Moss. Matches 6, R1 Y22.
Team News
Swansea manager Michael Laudrup has Ki Sung-yueng and Kyle Bartley back in
his squad.
Ki missed the win at Newcastle with a hamstring problem, while defender
Bartley returns after a lengthy absence with a thigh problem.
Goalkeeper Michel Vorm is a couple of weeks away from full fitness after a
groin injury while Danny Graham, Ben Davies and Luke Moore are struggling
with illness but should be available.
Defender Andre Wisdom is expected to be fit for after sustaining a knee injury
in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The 19 year-old was taken off in the first half as a precaution but manager
Brendan Rodgers, who will restore the likes of Steven Gerrard and Luis
Suárez to the starting line-up, is confident the right-back will be ready in
time.
Meanwhile, midfielder Lucas Leiva returned to competitive action on Friday
after three months out with a thigh injury after playing 45 minutes for the
under-21s but is probably a week away from rejoining first-team squad.
Match Notes
The return of former manager Brendan Rodgers dominates this intriguing Sunday
contest.
Rodgers left the Liberty Stadium for Anfied in the summer and will be keen to
win this particular game if only to address their modest league form.
Swansea, who were 2 1 winners at Newcastle last week, will need to find a way
of preventing Joe Allen dominating the midfield much as he did for the Swans
last season.
Betting: Home 21-10, Away 23-20, Draw 12-5.
Stat of the game: Swansea manager Michael Laudrup has 16 points, three
more than Brendan Rodgers had in his first 12 games at Swansea last season.
Graham Clutton’s prediction: Swansea City 2 Liverpool 1.
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