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Dalglish, Reds unfazed as they return to Etihad

Comment: 0 January 11th, 2012 by: admin

LIVERPOOL manager Kenny Dalglish is not bothered at all by their recent loss to Manchester City.

In fact, he is looking at it as some lesson wherein they can learn from.

Dalglish and his men travel back at the Etihad Stadium to face City in the opening leg of their FA Cup semifinal duel on Wednesday.

Eight days after getting crushed 3-0 by City in the Premier League, the Reds glanced back at their errors and will try to correct them against the hosts.

Among the glaring miscues in that match happened in the opening goal when Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina miscalculated the flight of the ball and dove over Sergio Aguero’s long attempt.

Other boners at the defence came when Yaya Toure was allowed to head in a corner before the Eastlands outfit, despite playing with just 10 men, clinched the game with a penalty shot.

Dalglish said he expects a different Liverpool side playing against City this time.

“We lost 3-0 and so we will look at it but I don’t think it will be a reflection on the next two games coming up against City,’’ he said.

The Reds will still be without suspended striker Luis Suarez but they can be boosted by Steven Gerrard’s return to the starting 11.

On the other side of the fence, City will miss the influential duo of Vincent Kompany and Yaya Toure. Kompany will begin serving a four-match ban for a red-card against Manchester United’s Nani incurred at the weekend, while Toure is seeing action for Ivory Coast in the African Nations Cup.

The loss at City, according to midfielder Jay Spearing, taught them a lot.

“We know what we have to do better and we will be better,’’ he said. “We will get at them right from the off and I still feel we can cause them a lot of problems.’’

Craig Bellamy, a former City striker, echoed Spearing’s sentiments, believing Liverpool have a bright chance to overcome City.

“It’s a two-legged match and we have to make sure we are still in a tie. We have the second leg at Anfield and our team knows all about two-legged games,’’ he said.

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