Liverpool preview

The omens aren't great.

The most obvious one first: our away form this year is terrible. One win, four draws and seven defeats from twelve games - and that's before trips to Anfield, Old Trafford, Goodison Park, The Emirates or Stamford Bridge.

Then there's our record in the games immediately following mid-week UEFA Cup ties. From our last five such games we've had one draw and four losses - including the very disappointing Liverpool, Spurs and WBA defeats.

Or our record at Anfield? We lost 1-0 last year. And 1-0 the year before. And 1-0 the year before that. In 2004/05 we scored but lost 2-1. And the previous year we lost 2-1 again. But look back to 2002/03, and we won! Two late goals from Anelka gave us a 2-1 win. Nevertheless, it's still five consecutive defeats by one goal margins.

I can see today being a woefully boring match: both teams will seek to get men behind the ball and hit the opponents on the counter attack. So there may be no attacking or counter-attacking. But I'd love a 0-0 so I wouldn't complain.