De-ja-vu-?

The Merseyside derby tonight is going to be a real crunching tie. Both teams are in real need of points, for very different reasons (though they're level on points, Everton being ahead on goal difference). The Toffees are unpredictable to say the least, a wayward season for David Moyes' side which hasn't been helped by injuries to key players as well as the Asian Cup. Their main man (Tim Cahill) is away on duty with The Soccerroos. Aiyegbeni Yakubu being loaned out to Leicester City was a real surprise, considering they have an injury-prone strike force. Louis Saha is sure to start for them and a David Moyes starting 11 is more often than not going to have 5 men in the centre of the park. They were impressive in their FA CUp tie against Scunthorpe. Facing Liverpool is a whole different issue, BUT this is a very sub-par Liverpool, with extremely low confidence. Liverpool on the other hand, fresh after the appointment of 'King' Kenny, (although it has already brought two defeats, mind you).

The latest I read of Liverpool was Dalglish saying " We will win the derby because of me". He reckons that his return to Anfield can give the Kop a huge push towards derby glory. It sounds like a over-confidence to me after a defeat to Blackpool. It also reminds me of the time when former manager Rafa Benitez 'guaranteed' a top-four finish last season and everyone knows where they finished then.

Kenny Dalglish should not come out saying we're going to win because of me, and if they don't, he's certainly going to have a tonne of questions to answer. His appointment as manager was not surprising but had no reason to be made.

My heart goes out to Roy Hodgson because he was never given enough time to turn things around. YES, he had bad results and signings to match it, but he hardly had full backing of the fans. Some were calling him 'ugly face', while others were chanting 'we want Rafa back', 'you're gonna get sacked in the morning', ' Kenny Dalglish as manager' and so on. I can go on and on but it ain't gonna make a difference.

I remember people saying that Leeds & Newcastle were too good to go down and look what happened. Similarities between Newcastle, especially and Liverpool is evident. At St. James', Mike Ashley appointed Alan Shearer, arguably their best player, as manager to save them from the drop. They went on a 8-game winless streak if i'm not mistaken and went down.

Now, we have Liverpool in an identical situation. Dalglish has come in, lost two games, but they played really well against United in the Cup but still lost. I just have a feeling that they have to win tonight to gather some momentum. If they lose, then Liverpool Football Club might be going down. Two defeats against your bitter rivals (United & Everton) is going to be very demoralizing and I cannot see them recovering from that.

Dark clouds in the horizon for the Kop I suppose.