Liverpool vs Stoke City Preview
Liverpool’s poor run of league form continued as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace last weekend despite Rickie Lambert’s early strike.
Dejan Lovren has been pinpointed by some as a reason behind some of the goals conceded by Liverpool in recent weeks, however the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows him as compiling some very solid statistics this term. He ranks 3rd in the Barclays Premier League for total defensive contributions (clearances, interceptions, blocks and tackles won) this season, with 177 to his name.
Midfielder Jordan Henderson has been key in all areas for Liverpool this season, his stats marking him out as one of the most involved players in the team. He leads the Liverpool squad for tackles attempted with 41 (winning 80.5% of them), as well as completed passes in the opponents half with 301. Henderson is 24/5 to score at any time this weekend with 888sport.com.
For those who doubt whether Steven Gerrard’s commitment to the cause is waning, they need only take one look at the amount of distance the former England captain has covered to see how wrong they are. Gerrard continues to set the standard for his teammates, running for a total of 128.6km this season, a squad best by 13.1km.
A Jonathan Walters strike was not enough for Stoke as they saw Burnley leave The Brittannia with all three points in a 1-2 defeat.
Steven N’Zonzi will likely be the man to go head to head with Jordan Henderson in the middle of the park this weekend and the Stoke man has the stats to suggest that this could be an intriguing match-up. N’Zonzi has completed more passes in the opponent’s half than any other Stoke player with 303, and won 75% of his 24 attempted challenges. N’Zonzi is 17/1 to score at any time this weekend with 888sport.com.
Centre-half Ryan Shawcross is known as a formidable physical proposition for any forward but the Stoke captain is also a fine reader of the game. He has more interceptions to his name than any other Stoke player this season (23), meaning the movement of Liverpool’s forwards will have to be on point this weekend.
The loss of Victor Moses to a thigh injury will be a blow for the Potters. The Nigeria international has 39 dribbles and four assists to his name this season, both squad-highs. However, this does present the opportunity for someone to step up in his place so it will be interesting to see who Mark Hughes uses to fill the creative void he will leave behind.
Liverpool:
League Form: WWDLLL
Possible starting lineup: Mignolet; Johnson, Skrtel, Toure, Moreno; Gerrard; Henderson, Allen; Lallana; Sterling, Lambert
Stoke:
League Form: LWLDWL
Possible starting lineup: Begovic; Bardsley, Shawcross, Wilson, Muniesa; Sidwell, N’Zonzi; Walters, Bojan, Diouf; Crouch
Prediction
Liverpool 2 – Stoke City 1
Data supplied by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Select and manage your own team of stars with at http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ or with FIFA Ultimate team.