adminLONDON-West Ham United fretted over how to stop Liverpool’s Luis Suarez from running wild today after the Uruguayan banged in four goals against Norwich City in midweek.The Hammers have not won at Anfield since 1963 and Suarez, the league’s top scorer with 13 goals in nine appearances since he came back from a 10-match suspension for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic, will fancy his chances of increasing his tally. Manager Sam Allardyce said starving Suarez of the ball would be the priority.
“If you can’t control Luis Suarez, on what you saw the other night against Norwich, it’s certainly going to be one where he is rattling the goals in,” he told the club website yesterday.
“When you go there on the back of the four goals he scored in a 5-1 win, it makes life even more difficult, but we have to take up the challenge to try to nullify his great talent.”
Allardyce, whose side are 17th and three points off the drop zone, travel north after losing 1-0 to struggling Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
They have midfielder Ravel Morrison suspended, after the youngster picked up his fifth booking of the season, while record signing and former Liverpool frontman Andy Carroll has resumed training but is still some way off a return.
“Like everything else, we’ll get him back as quick as we possibly can, but my position is to take a sensible view,” said Allardyce.
“We’re in a difficult position at the moment but I can’t panic into putting Andy in too quickly. It’s my responsibility to make sure he is there to stay when he comes back onto the field, and not just one or two games.
“In the position we’re in at the moment, it’s extremely tough to resist putting him in. I’d like to put him on the bench at Liverpool, but that would be rather stupid.”
Tottenham fans might be rubbing their hands at the prospect of a visit to bottom-of-the-table Sunderland today, but striker Jermain Defoe says the entire squad is aware of the threats posed by the team led by former Spurs man Gus Poyet.
Far from it being a trip to scoop up three easy points, Defoe said yesterday he has been warning Spurs team mates what to expect at the Stadium of Light as the Londoners look to build on Wednesday’s 2-1 win at Fulham.
“A lot of the lads who haven’t played there before might not know what to expect but we’ve been speaking about it and told them it’s a tough place to go,” the 31-year-old said on the Spurs website.
“But if we play as we did the other night then we should win the game because on our day we can beat anyone with the quality we have in the squad.”
Defoe cited Sunderland’s performances against big clubs as evidence of their quality which, he said, belies their lowly league position.
“Look at teams like Man City, who have already lost there. They pushed Chelsea close in midweek as well,” he said, referring to the 4-3 defeat.
“Every game is difficult and they will be fighting to get a result. They’ve got a good manager who we know well, of course. He has good football knowledge, he’s a strong character, he used to play for us and was a coach here too.
“You always know what it’s like when you come up against former players or managers.”
Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen will miss the trip to Sunderland, manager Andre Villas-Boas said, after injuring his ankle in the midweek win.
Emmanuel Adebayor (knee) and Christian Eriksen (ankle) remain sidelined and will miss the late kick-off. Meanwhile, Sunderland’s Italian full-back Andrea Dossena thinks the game is a great opportunity for the Black Cats to kick-start a reversal of fortunes.
“I see Saturday as a great chance for us,” he told the Sunderland website. “Tottenham are a different side to Chelsea, obviously, and I think if we play like we did against Chelsea we can beat them.
“If we remain focused and keep the momentum going in our favour, there’s no reason why we can’t.”
Fixtures
Today: Manchester United v Newcastle United, Old Trafford 14:45, Liverpool v West Ham United, Anfield 17:00, Stoke City v Chelsea, Britannia Stadium 17:00, Crystal Palace v Cardiff City, Selhurst Park 17:00, Southampton v Manchester City, St. Mary’s Stadium 17:00, West Bromwich Albion v Norwich City, The Hawthorns 17:00, Sunderland v Tottenham Hotspur, Stadium of Light 19:30
Tomorrow: Fulham v Aston Villa, Craven Cottage 15:30, Arsenal v Everton, Emirates Stadium 18:00
Online Reporter