Liverpool’s new look back four

It was no secret that last season Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool’s problems lied at the back conceding a total of fifty Premier League goals and was it not for their potent attack they would have struggled greatly.

Last season saw Liverpool’s back four mainly consist of Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger and John Flanagan. Today Liverpool’s back four was Manquillo, Lovren, Sakho and Moreno.

Todays new look back four was mainly put together because of injuries to both Glen Johnson and Martin Skrtel, despite playing together as a back four for the first time they managed to keep a clean sheet and looked impressive in parts.

Dejan Lovren was a colossus in the defence, he made some crucial tackles preventing Adebayor from scoring on numerous occasions. Lovren looks to be taking up the leadership role that seemed to leave the back four when Jamie Carragher retired.

His partner Sakho was not as impressive, his strength in the air was cancelled out by his occasional lapses in concentration and poor decision making almost costing Liverpool dearly on more than one occasion, his understanding with Lovren is not there yet but you would suspect either he or Skrtel will develop that understanding over time.

When it comes to the full-backs many Liverpool fans welcomed the injury to the under-performing Glen Johnson as they got a chance to see new pair Manquillo and Moreno who certainly did not disappoint.

Javier Manquillo was a rock at the back, after picking up an early yellow card he held his own and looked strong in both defence and attack, Alberto Moreno managed to get himself on the score sheet with a marvellous finish after running through from the half-way line rounding off a stellar performance in every aspect of his game.

As the attack continues to fire, scoring three at White Hart Lane, if the back four can sort themselves out and keep clean sheet after clean sheet this season it could propel Liverpool to mounting another title challenge like last season and maybe even bring them one further to winning the title.

Costa and Chelsea’s dream start

Three games into the new season and its fair to say both Chelsea and Diego Costa couldn’t have hoped for a better start, after todays 6-3 victory at Goodison Park, Chelsea find themselves at the summit of the Premier League with 9 points while Costa sits at the top of the goal-scoring standings with 4 after a double this evening.

Chelsea have certainly lived up to the label of Premier League favourites, after beating both Burnley and Leicester, todays game at Everton was seen as their first test, a test they passed.

It took all of 36 seconds for Diego Costa to open the scoring, sliding the ball through Howard’s legs after a smart through-ball from fellow summer acquisition Cesc Fabregas, only minutes later their lead was doubled when Ivanovic slotted home from close range. The perfect first half was not to be however when Mirallas nodded home from inside the box to half Chelsea’s lead at half time.

The second-half was something special, a Seamus Coleman own-goal seemed to put the game beyond doubt before a 70^th minute goal from Stephen Naismith gave Everton a new lease of life only for Matic to dampen the revival with a cool finish. This was not the end of Everton however, former Chelsea man Eto’o scored an excellent header from a free-kick with his first touch as an Everton player.

With the score at 4-3 Chelsea showed their killer instinct as Ramires prodded home from a tight angle and man of the moment Diego Costa rounded off the scoring after a horror debut moment from Everton’s Besic whose attempted back flip resulted in the games final goal.

Mourinho is sure to be disappointed with conceding three goals but will find it hard to criticise his team who head into the International break with a one hundred percent record and will top the table unless Spurs can win by two or more goals against Liverpool in tomorrow’s game.

Diego Costa was touted by many as a potential flop, following in the footsteps of Fernando Torres, so far this is not looking likely, scoring 4 goals in 3 games is better than anyone would have predicted. The 32 million pound man is looking like the talisman Chelsea wanted and need should they go on to end this season as champions

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How far can Premier League sides go?

The Champions League group stage draw took place today and now its time to have a look at the Barclays Premier League sides groups and their chances in Europe’s premier club competition.

It has been a disappointing few years in the Champions League for English teams bar Chelsea’s surprise win in 2012 but could this year be a welcome change to this trend.

Firstly let’s look at Liverpool, after a five year absence the Merseysiders are back and will be more than happy with their group. Having been seeded in pot 3 the possibility of a tough group was high but Liverpool have certainly avoided this.

Liverpool were drawn in Group B alongside defending champions Real Madrid, Swiss side FC Basel and Bulgarian champions Ludogorets. Real Madrid will offer the Liverpool fans the glamour tie they’ve been hoping for while the other two sides should give them a relatively straight forward passage through.

The expectation for Liverpool will be to the progress to the knockout round but should they make it this far no one could write them off from going all the way, the atmosphere at Anfield combined with their exciting talent could see them go far.

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea were dealt a relatively easy group this afternoon and will be hoping to recreate their success in 2012. Chelsea have been drawn in Group G alongside Schalke, Sporting Lisbon and Maribor, none of whom are pushovers although Chelsea will be expecting a straight forward passage to the knockout rounds.

Come the latter rounds of the competition Chelsea look as ready as any team to go all the way, their strength in depth, new players such as Fabregas and Costa and the experience of Jose Mourinho puts them amongst the favourites to end as champions of Europe once again.

Manchester City have been all out of luck when it comes to group stage draws and this year has proven no different, the only Manchester side in Europe this season have been drawn with Bayern Munich and Cska Moscow for successive years with Roma rounding off group E.

Despite the difficulty of the group, Manchester City should expect to qualify for the knockout’s to fulfil their minimum expectations, City will even be hoping to top the group over rivals Munich.

Should they reach the knockouts City, similar to Chelsea, will hope to mount a serious challenge for the Champions League and with the strong squad Pellegrini has at his disposal they will fear no one.

Finally, Arsenal will once again be hopeful of progressing from their group which contains Dortmund, Galatasaray and Anderlecht. Dortmund will be a test for Arsenal but they will be strong favourites to progress from the group and have every chance of topping the group.

Arsene Wenger’s side have been largely unsuccessful in the knockout stages of the Champions League and it is hard seeing them making it much further than the quarter final stage mainly due to the lack of a top quality striker.

All the English sides will be optimistic coming into the Champions League but should any of them lift the cup at the end of the season they will need to reach the standard of the ever-present giants Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Group Stage Draw

Group A

Atletico Madrid

Juventus

Olympiakos

Malmo

Group B

Real Madrid

FC Basel

Liverpool

Ludogorets Razgrad

Group C

Benfica

Zenit St Petersburg

Bayer Leverkusen

Monaco

Group D

Arsenal

Borussia Dortmund

Galatasaray

Anderlecht

Group E

Bayern Munich

Manchester City

CSKA Moscow

Roma

Group F

Barcelona

Paris St-Germain

Ajax

Apoel Nicosia

Group G

Chelsea

Schalke

Sporting Lisbon

Maribor

Group H

Porto

Shakhtar Donetsk

Athletic Bilbao

BATE Borisov

United’s problem lies in midfield

Having just shipped out around 60 million pounds on Argentinian star Angel DI Maria, bringing their spending to over 130 million pounds, it is clear United are willing to spend big to improve their fortunes in the league this season, but are United spending wisely?

The signings of Rojo and Shaw, despite the hefty fees were needed due to the departure of Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra. Similarly the signing of Di Maria is a good addition especially with the lack of pace currently in the United attack.

One problem remains however, United’s central midfield has been a problem for many years now and their summer signings seem to ignore this fact, yes Ander Herrera is a welcome addition but he is more of an advanced playmaker similar to Juan Mata, not a player who can dictate the game from deep.

Herrera is undoubtedly a great player, his passing range however is not up with the best in Europe and should Van Gaal decide to play him from deep it is unclear whether he could hold his own. A possibility for Van Gaal is to play him alongside a more defensive-minded midfielder, an unlikely outcome considering the preferred 5-3-2 formation.

The Manchester side have numerous options in midfield, Carrick, Cleverley, Anderson, Fellaini, Fletcher, none of whom have impressed in recent years or instil confidence that they can be the man that pulls the strings in United’s midfield.

The days of Paul Scholes running the midfield are long gone and it is time to replace him with a top quality midfielder, Tom Cleverley was seen as the natural replacement but it is clear at this stage of his career Cleverley is not up for the challenge.

Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso are perfect examples of the type of player the Red Devils need, both are leaders for their teams dictating the tempo of games with their superb passing range and anticipation of the game.

These players are hard to come by but if United want to be a major force again you feel it is a necessity, one player linked heavily with United this summer is Chilean international, Arturo Vidal, someone who fits the bill perfectly.

There is just under a week left this transfer window and should Van Gaal decide to make a move for Vidal it could be the difference in turning Manchester United’s fortunes around and helping them break back into the top 4 and maybe even challenging for the title.

Can Balotelli fit Liverpool?

Mario Balotelli is due to complete his transfer from A.C Milan to Liverpool in the coming days, this will undoubtedly raise questions on whether he is the right man for the team.

The quoted price of 16 million pounds is not in question, a player of Balotelli’s quality is worth that seemingly small risk compared to most transfer fees in the current market.

Balotelli is most commonly known for his days at Liverpool’s rivals, Manchester City, where he caused trouble and gave the fans moments of brilliance. Liverpool’s fans will be hoping to see a lot more moments of brilliance and far less of the troublesome side which we have become accustomed to.

It is clear that Liverpool are keen to make sure Balotelli concentrates on his performance and not the ugly side of his game by promising him a large wage hike should he behave, should the opposite occur he could potentially lose up to 2 million a year.

Whether he likes it or not Balotelli will be compared to the man he is coming to replace, Luis Suarez. The two are both very similar fiery characters but could not be any more different in terms of there footballing strengths.

Balotelli is a big physical threat, strong in the air, a handful for any defender as England found out in this summers European Championships where he scored the winner for Italy in the group stage. Suarez on the other hand is far more of a threat with the ball at his feet.

The big question remains can Balotelli connect with fellow striker Daniel Sturridge who had a phenomenal partnership with former teammate Suarez, also can Balotelli blend in with the fast free flowing style of Liverpool alongside the aforementioned Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho?

Balotelli is, generally speaking, someone who plays the game at his own place, a sometimes laboured pace, this would have to change should Balotelli be a big hit at Anfield.

As with all their players the Liverpool fans will get fully behind Balotelli a support that could drive him to great things in a red shirt.

At 16 million Balotelli, a 24 year old with so much experience and potential, is certainly a risk worth taking. Could Liverpool finally be the home where he fulfils his massive potential? Only time will tell but one thing is certain: Balotelli will bring excitement to the Premier League that might have left with Suarez and excite all its fans.