12 Hour Shift Down The Pit?

Liverpool played on Wednesday evening - Newcastle had a free week - but you would think the Mags had put in a 12-hour shift down the pit the way they played against the Scousers.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez was understandably delighted with his side's display after making five changes to the team which trounced Fulham in midweek, although he hit out at the fixture scheduling which sees them travel to Birmingham for their own FA Cup tie just 48 hours later.

Benitez: 'It's crazy. You cannot play in a cup competition like the FA Cup after two days with the same players. The thing I don't understand is you must play with your strongest team, but my strongest team will all be tired.

'But I'm really, really happy because it was a difficult game. We have two important games in two days and we needed to manage with the squad. But we played well, created chances and scored goals.'

Roeder will be without Boumsong for the huge challenge at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, in what will be the most important fixture of the season to date. And Toon fans, having seen their side ripped apart by the second and third strongest teams in the Premiership, are growing increasing concerned by the outcome against the best!

Chelsea suffered a derby loss against Fulham on Sunday, and it will be interesting to see how they react to defeat.

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