Liverpool stay safety conscious
Guy Hodgson finds memories of Brondby weighing heavily at Anfield
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Your support makes all the difference.Whenever Liverpool have approached a match in Europe this season, one team seems to intrude on their preparations. They meet SK Brann of Norway tonight in the European Cup-Winners' Cup at Anfield, but the memory of Brondby will be playing on their minds.
On the face of it, an industrious but ordinary Brann ought to provide few problems for Liverpool who, after a 1-1 draw in the away leg in Bergen, will progress to the semi-finals with something as mundane as a scoreless draw. Simple, except the circumstances virtually mirror last season's Uefa Cup tie when Brondby got a late goal at Anfield and precipitated what is known on Merseyside as Black November.
Liverpool's March has been murky enough, with a defeat at Aston Villa, a draw against Nottingham Forest and a structural collapse against Newcastle that was only underpinned at the last moment by Robbie Fowler. A Brondby- type reverse, however, would evoke darker thoughts of another trophyless season, not withstanding their second place in the Premiership.
Roy Evans, the Liverpool manager, said yesterday the emphasis would be on attack, with safety an underlying priority. Brann, after all, will have to take risks in the latter stages if neither side has made a breakthrough by then.
"It's pointless trying to get a 0-0 draw out of it," Evans said. "That's suicidal. You end up with a Brondby situation where someone gets a late goal and you're out. We have to try and win the game from the start but be sensible about it - we can't leave ourselves wide open."
Evans' priority is to avoid the "silly goals" that have dragged back Liverpool's thrilling attacking play in recent matches. "We are going to be concentrating on the way our defence is set up, rather than on individuals," he said. "We don't mark man for man, but we're aware they have dangerous players."
Evans is notoriously loath to make changes and, with Bjorn Tore Kvarme ineligible, he implied yesterday his replacement will be the only change to his side. Phil Babb, Steve Harkness and Neil Ruddock are potential replacements, the latter most intriguingly as one Brann player this week described him as unfit to play professional football.
Brann's concerns, other than an angry Ruddock, centre around the striker Mons Ivar Mjelde, who has scored six goals in the competition so far and who instigated a comeback against Liverpool when he came on in Bergen. Then an illness reduced him to substitute, tonight a knee injury is the worry.
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