Hearts v Liverpool
Hearts face their second ‘battle of Britain’ tie in two
years against Liverpool after being humiliated 5-0 on aggregate by Tottenham
last season. Since then they have replaced Paulo Sergio with John McGlynn as
manager and had to contend with several players leaving for pastures new.
Their start of the season has been decent enough as they remain unbeaten after
three games but they have failed to really impress in any of those matches.
They were professional against St Johnstone on the opening day of the season
before flattering to deceive in the derby match against Hibs, barely holding on
for a 1-1 draw. Their most recent game saw them lose a two goal lead at home to
10 man Inverness Caley Thistle which highlights the period of transition they
are going through. What McGlynn and his players will want to avoid is another
first leg embarrassment like last season – the capital side were 3-0 down in
the first half hour, shipping another couple of goals in the second half.
Liverpool are also under new stewardship as Brendan Rogers,
formerly of Swansea, replaced Kenny Dalglish during the summer. Despite winning
the League Cup last season, the Reds struggled for much of the campaign and
never achieved the consistency needed to be successful in the league. Rodgers
has been brought in after impressing with his style of play and desire to bring
through young, British talent at his former club. His start as Liverpool boss,
however, could not have been much worse as his new side lost 3-0 away to West
Brom on Saturday – Daniel Agger also saw red. It was a harsh reminder to all
connected with the club of their current position within English football. Gone
are the days where they are seen as viable candidates for the Champions League
let alone challenging for the title. It will take time for Rodgers to imbed his
ideas and philosophy on the squad and time is exactly what he needs to be
afforded by the Liverpool board.
Rudi Skacel, Ian Black, Stephen Elliot and Kevin Kyle have
all left the club during the summer and due to the massive debts of the club,
they have yet to be replaced. It means that John Sutton – banished to the
reserves under Sergio – has been restored as their main striker and has scored
two goals (both of which were penalties) already. Sutton offers a physical
presence and acts as their target man, but he offers very little else and they
may struggle to put Liverpool under pressure because of this.
Liverpool have already seen off lower opposition in the previous
round of the Europa League and Rodgers may well see these games as being more
significant than normal in order to hasten the changes he is trying to make.
Often the English clubs see the Europa League as something of a distraction but
it may well be that he uses this tie to build confidence amongst his players.
West Brom played very well in the second half on Saturday
but if Luis Suarez had taken even half his chances in the first half, Liverpool
would have been out of sight. They fell out of the game after a wonder strike
and the sending off to Agger but Rodgers can take some positives from it.
Hearts look a little stale at the moment and they don’t possess a lot of
creativity. I doubt they have the power or ability to really trouble Liverpool so
believe that an away win to nil is the way to go here.
Liverpool to win to nil 5/4 @ Totesport
