Lyon v Liverpool – Champions League Group E

It is tough times for Liverpool supporters at the moment. Injury worries over your top two players, and just one win in seven games, doesn’t not make for happy reading. Steven Gerrard will again be missing from the starting eleven, as Liverpool travel to Lyon in the hope of rescuing their European campaign. Boss Rafa Benitez will be feeling some pressure as he tries to pull his Reds from the doldrums. Despite the run of bad form, they proved by beating Manchester United in the league, that they know how to win. That victory was in stark contrast to the 3-1 horror-show defeat which they suffered against Fulham on the weekend. With two players sent off, and Fernando Torres coming off early to try and protect him against injury, Liverpool were unable to build on the success of their previous league game. The recent loss has left them 9 points behind leaders Chelsea.

It was against Lyon on Match day three that Gerrard picked up his groin injury, and the club has stated that he has no chance of appearing on Wednesday night. The problems which Benitez has to overcome, is compounded by the fact that world class striker Fernando Torres is also struggling with a groin injury, and why his time was limited in the weekend Premier League fixture. There are a couple more players missing from the squad because of injury, but the Reds will be cheered that Alberto Aquilani could be back in the line-up.

With one of the richest European histories in football, the current Liverpool form is simply not good enough for the dedicated Kopites. With two straight defeats in the Champions League, they are still not out of the race though. If they can win against Lyon, it will draw them to within three points of the group leaders, and probably Fiorentina too, who should be expected to be on 9 points after Match day four. However if Liverpool lose and Fiorentina win, that would leave Lyon on 12, Fiorentina on 9 and the Reds on three. It will be a long, long way back from there, and so the recovery needs to start on Wednesday without fail.

They do not have the comfort of the Anfield crowd, but perhaps that will ease some of the pressure, by not having as much of a tense atmosphere. This is the kind of game where Steven Gerrard would stand up to be counted, but someone else needs to fill his boots. They definitely need some time on the pitch from Fernando Torres though, as there doesn’t appear to be anyone who can carry the burden of shooting the Reds to victory. Torres is a world class striker without question, but is lacking some support. Rafa Benitez needs to dig deep now to galvanise his troops, and a scrappy 1-0 win would do the job just perfectly. It is something which they are capable of doing, but Lyon are no pushovers at all. They are a dominant force in Europe, the equivalent of a Chelsea in the French League.

Lyon to win: 7/5 at Totesport
Draw: 12/5 at SkyBet
Liverpool to win: 21/10 at Coral

Betting Advice: Of course Liverpool will be missing Gerrard and Torres (if he doesn’t make it), but that is no excuse for a club of Liverpool’s stature. Lyon are three wins from three games in the Champions League, and have only conceded the one goal. Liverpool’s goal tally stands at two, and that is the clear indicator of why they have been struggling. They now have to figure out how to stop Lyon waves of attack, and how to find the back of the net at the other end. Hopefully Torres will be fit, but even if he is, it could still not be enough. Form is one of those fickle things, and the Reds must be low on confidence in contrast to the high flying French.
Lyon to win 2-0: 10/1 at Paddy Power