Red versus Blue in L4 will be the first game in the Barclays Premier League since Liverpool’s draw with Birmingham City, and there’s much at stake with the hosts a place below their visitors.
City go into the game having drawn their last five games, a fact that Gareth says the squad having been itching to address since reconvening this week.
“This run certainly has been frustrating,” he asserts, “in at least two of the games we felt that we should have come away with all three points. To concede late goals after you’ve been leading at home was incredibly disappointing, but hopefully Liverpool can be the perfect game for us to vent our frustrations and kick our season on again.”
Liverpool on their own patch remain a tough proposition, but Gareth thinks that City’s experienced squad will relish the challenge at Anfield tomorrow lunchtime.
To concede late goals after you’ve been leading at home was incredibly disappointing, but hopefully Liverpool can be the perfect game for us to vent our frustrations and kick our season on again.
...Gareth Barry...
“It’s always great to play at Anfield,” he adds. “It’s one of the best stadiums with one of the best atmospheres you’re ever going to get at a football game. It’s always a very tough place to go, Liverpool at home are expected to do well so it will be tough for us, but we’re expecting that.
“You can’t go to somewhere like Anfield with any fear, and with the players we have in our squad we should not do either. We’re the away team, so if we can get a result that would be a big bonus for us.”
The 12.45pm kick-off gives both sides the chance to set an agenda ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixture, with City’s England midfielder looking forward to the resumption of the league campaign after the fortnight’s hiatus.
He adds, “I don’t think it really matters that we’re first out this week, but there’s nothing better than playing on a Saturday afternoon, as that’s what players really enjoy. Speak to the majority of players and they would tell you they prefer to play on a Saturday.”
