Build up - Bolton Away

[Matt]

Yep I'd go with that but I reckon it's almost certain that Carra will move to the right.

[southern red]

Arbeloa suspended

According to BBC site, he is suspended tomorrow - he has already collected 6 bookings this season. It appears that Degen is injured again, so, surely, this is an ideal opportunity to play Stephen Darby tomorrow and see how good he really is. Or will Rafa take the easy option and play people out of position eg move Carra to RB and play Hyypia and Agger

[Reece]

I'm gonna move this to the Bolton build up thread as it is already being discussed in there

[JohnDoe]

If both Degen and Arbeloa out, he'll put Carra at RB and Hyypia/Agger at CB.

[BFG]

He may very well plat Carra at right back and away at Bolton it wouldn't be the worst decision in the world either.

You can bet your life that the minute Megson saw Darby's name on the team sheet he'd be in Davies' ear telling him to stand on the right back every time they played a long ball. With Carra out there and Hyypia in the middle it would negate that threat considerably but perhaps Darby could offer a little more going forward. We'll see.

[The_weatherman]

He may very well plat Carra at right back and away at Bolton it wouldn't be the worst decision in the world either.

You can bet your life that the minute Megson saw Darby's name on the team sheet he'd be in Davies' ear telling him to stand on the right back every time they played a long ball. With Carra out there and Hyypia in the middle it would negate that threat considerably but perhaps Darby could offer a little more going forward. We'll see.

Playing Carra would be the safe bet, and Rafa likes safe bets But we should be able to cope with Darby, just as much as with Degen.

[Lee]

He may very well plat Carra at right back and away at Bolton it wouldn't be the worst decision in the world either.

You can bet your life that the minute Megson saw Darby's name on the team sheet he'd be in Davies' ear telling him to stand on the right back every time they played a long ball. With Carra out there and Hyypia in the middle it would negate that threat considerably but perhaps Darby could offer a little more going forward. We'll see.

Very, very true

Rafa said previously that Hyypia will struggle to play twice a week but I think he's a must tomorrow. So a backline of Carragher, Hyypia, Agger & Aurelio it is then.

[G]

We're ****ed lads,Paul Merson has finally tipped us to win a game and since theres nothing more certain in life than his predictions turning out wrong we have our work cut out here

[Joe King]

Rafa will play Hyypia in at least two games in a season- those are against Bolton. The long balls will be food and drink for Hyypia, easy peasy.

[BFG]

With ringing endorsements from Merson and now Tover I think it's safe to say we've absolutely no chance tomorrow.

[Reece]

NEWS STORY
DEGEN OUT FOR FOUR WEEKS
Paul Eaton 14 November 2008
Liverpool today confirmed Philipp Degen will be on the sidelines for four weeks after picking up a foot injury against Tottenham in midweek.
The Swiss full-back - who has endured an injury plagued start to his Liverpool career - sustained a metatarsal injury during the Carling Cup defeat and has been ruled out of action for the next month.

With Alvaro Arbeloa suspended for this weekend's trip to Bolton, manager Rafael Benitez is short of options for the right back position at the Reebok with either Jamie Carragher or Stephen Darby now likely to step in.

"It's a pity for Philipp because he hasn't had much luck with injuries so far, but hopefully he can come back from this problem quickly," said Benitez today.

"It's always a problem when you have two players for a position and one of them gets injured, and even more of a problem when the other player is suspended for a game - like Alvaro is this weekend.

"But we have options within the squad and we'll have to decide what we want to do for the game at Bolton."

Martin Skrtel is the only other absentee for the trip to the Reebok, with Benitez reporting no other fresh injury concerns following the midweek setback.

"A lot of players were rested for the game at Tottenham because they had been playing a lot of football, but they will be back this weekend," he added.

"They have looked sharp in training and will benefit from having a week free of competitive football."

[JohnDoe]

Degen's made of glass and I'm beginning to give up on him. Seems like every time he steps into the pitch, he gets injured. It's ridiculous.

[cled the red]

You get rid of Harry Kewell, and **** me another brittle one replaces him!!!

[Matt]

Jesus wept

Darby'll be on the bench then.

[Maxiedge]

Nice on paper but Kuyt and Riera haven't got the pace to play a deeper, wing back role. I think Dirk would make a good right back but Riera would end up getting himself sent off.

It's Bolton, we should beat them with 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 but going with a brand new formation is asking for trouble and dare I say giving them far more respect than they deserve.

Point taken about trying a new formation but I reckon that it's playing to our strengths rather than giving Bolton too much respect. We'll have Torres (if fit) , Keane , Alonso, Masch, Riera, Gerrard and Kuyt while also having (on paper) a good enough defence to cope with Bolton's physical game. There's good aerial ability in that back 3 too which we would miss if we played with our regular full backs.