In the wake of Saturday's match against Stoke, much was made of the draw representing a complete tactical failure by Kenny Dalglish and Steve Clarke. The key failure in that larger breakdown was meant to be the deployment of three centre backs in a formation nearly identical to the one which had defeated Stoke at Anfield a year earlier, as in the eyes of many those three centre backs represented an overly defensive approach when facing a club with so little attacking intent.

Match report

So, our first league defeat since that trip to White Hart Lane at the start of October, and like that day I don't think it was a game we really deserved to lose. Our encounters with Mancini's City have been normally staid affairs due to their defensive approach but their more expansive style this season meant it was an exciting, open game of football which suited both teams.

As we all know AVB is planning a clear out starting in January and continuing next summer after the club confirmed that transfer requests have been accepted from Alex and Nico Anelka. Over the weekend stories also broke that AVB is prepared to listen to offers for Drogba, Kalou, Bosingwa and Ferreira.

1. 1-0 to the Eng-ger-land. Who said the defensive approach was just for the Spain game? Jack Rodwell, Gareth Barry and Phil Jones in midfield. Now if we could just replace Theo Walcott and Stewart Downing with Scott Parker and Lee Cattermole to add a bit more stability. 2. Hopefully the goal will be given [.

If there was a criticism of the Roy Hodgson era it was that away from home we never really seemed interested in attacking. Hodgson denied that we played differently on our travels, but anyone who watched the team scuffle to horribly attritional narrow defeats in those seasons knows better: we kept everyone behind the ball and hoped that inspiration might strike.

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva was suspended for the Norwich game, which meant the team underwent a slight reshuffle. Did the Brazilian's absence affect the performance of the team in any way?
The team put out by Kenny Dalglish against Norwich was probably Liverpool's most attacking line-up of the season, and this showed with 25 shots on goal, 15 of which were on target.

Manchester City, despite their riches, struggled last season for goals and lacked enough creativity. Mancini employed a cautious defensive approach utilising the leadership of Vincent Kompany last season. The splurge on Edin Dzeko in January was aimed at giving Man City a huge goal threat.

As I mentioned in the last post, I'd like to see Arsenal go out with a nothing-to-lose mindset. But there is a difference between a carefree approach and a careless approach.

Arsene talked about playing an attacking game with the hope of dominating possession. Frankly, I can't see Arsenal, or any other team for that matter, dominating possession against this Barcelona side at least as long as Messi is fit and firing.

After enduring the previous home league game against the Middle Eastlands crowd from the comfort of the North Bank I anticipated something slightly different this time around. Surely the array of attacking talent that Citeh had been remorselessly acquiring would mean they would not play like a lot of away teams and sit back for a draw from the outset ?

This is my overriding fear vis-a-vis tonight's monster clash in North London.

City will be missing their main man, their orchestrata, the man who makes them "play football", therefore, men like De Jong, Barry and Yaya will be key for them.

I very much doubt they will come to have a rumble with us, a point is more than good enough and this should plant the tactical side of their job tonight.