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With the departure of Fernando Torres to Chelsea, Liverpool’s
new recruit, Luiz Suarez, has to hit the ground running.

The Uruguayan international must be prepared for the physical approach
that their opponents today, Stoke City, are famous for.

Care-taker manager of Liverpool, Kenny Dalglish has labelled the
encounter an examination:

“My next managerial challenge on the pitch comes against Stoke
City at Anfield on Wednesday night,” Dalglish said on the club’s website.

“I’ve always had to adapt to facing different styles as a
manager; in my first time at Liverpool we had to play the likes of Millwall,
who had Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cascarino and played a very direct game, or
Wimbledon, who were led by John Fashanu.

“Whether it’s Arsenal’s passing style or Stoke’s long throw, you
have to try to deal with it and combat it. And let’s credit Tony Pulis with
doing a good job at Stoke. It’s common sense for a manager to select a style
that suits his players.”

Despite it being an ‘examination’, Liverpool need a good result
to move on from the sale of Torres, a sale that has angered some fans. In the
first match in November 2010, Stoke won 2-0 courtesy of goals from Ricardo
Fuller and Kenwyne Jones.

Liverpool though are on a mini revival, having won their last
two Premiership games, 3-0, away to Wolves; a match in which Torres scored
twice followed by a scrappy 1-0 win over Fulham.

Although record signing, Andy Carroll will not be available due
to injury, Dalglish will gladly welcome Kop hero, Jamie Carragher, back into
defence, even though he might not start.

Unlucky at Anfield

Stoke, who are in 10th position and could move ahead of
Liverpool with a win, start a run of three matches in seven days with this
visit to Anfield. Manager, Tony Pulis is not happy about the fixture congestion
and the added fact that his side have never won at Anfield.

“We have got the short straw because we go to Anfield on
Wednesday night and then Sunderland on Saturday morning. I’m a bit disappointed
at the FA Cup and its placing in the calendar with the smaller clubs not having
squads as strong as the top sides,” he said.

Fulham are in form

With the 4-0 hammering handed to Spurs in the fourth round of
the FA Cup, Craven Cottage could become a slaughter slab for Fulham, who host
Newcastle.

Going into today’s game, Captain Kevin Nolan, with ten goals
will be the fulcrum of Newcastle’s attack, which has had to do without Carroll
since November with Nile Ranger, Leon Best and Shola Ameobi being the
replacements.

Peter Lovenkrands has also put in some shift even though all the
afore-mentioned strikers have not scored 11 goals in total.

Fulham are also bedevilled by a lack of attacking talent, having
scored just 25 goals in 24 matches this season. Mark Hughes has tried to
bolster his attacking options by obtaining former Chelsea striker Eidur
Gudjohnsen on loan from Stoke.

With Key striker Bobby Zamora sidelined for most of the season
with a broken leg, manager Mark Hughes will no doubt be hoping Gudjohnsen can
help take some of the pressure off midfielder Clint Dempsey, who tops Fulham’s
goal scoring list with eight.

The Magpies were not involved in the FA Cup shenanigans and
should be adequately rested for the trip to Craven Cottage. Dickson Etuhu has
gotten over a slight ankle knock and should come into contention for the
holding midfielder role.

Birmingham v Manchester
City

Obafemi Martins is likely to be handed a debut for his new club
Birmingham as they come against the billions of Manchester City. Alex McCleish
and his boys were pounded 5-0 by Manchester United last weekend and they will
not hesitate to seek some form of pay-back on their neighbours, even though
United will be cheering them on. Martins scored 39 goals for Newcastle in 108
matches and knows the terrain of the Premiership very well, which is the main
reason that McCleish went for the Nigerian.

City were shockingly beaten by Aston Villa on January 22 and
will want to get their Premiership title push back on track with a win. They
are now in third position, four points ahead of Chelsea, even though they have
played a game more.

Birmingham are 17th on the table with 23 points, a point above Wigan. They
have qualified Carling Cup final with a 3-1 win over West Ham and followed that
with another come-back 3-2 win over Coventry City in the FA Cup. McLeish will
want that winning mentality to be transferred to the Premiership match against
City. To achieve that, they have to find a way to keep Edin Dzeko, who scored
his first goal against Notts County, in check. That may not be an uphill task
with Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli injured.