Liverpool vs Leeds United
Wow this fixture takes me back to my youth when Leeds United were a force to be reckoned with under Don Revie. My best friend at the time was Phil Palmer who came from Yorkshire and supported Leeds United. He used to give me grief on an almost daily basis because of their success. My best response at the time was to point back to the 1965 FA cup final when liverpool, managed of course by Shankly, beat Leeds 2-1 with St John scoring the winner. Liverpool team: Lawrence, Lawler, Byrne, Smith, Strong, Yeats, Stevenson, Callaghan, Thompson, Hunt, St John.
There were a few other key matches and incidents between the sides including in 1967 game at Anfield when Gary Sprake, the Leeds United goalkeeper, threw the ball in his own net during a 2-0 Liverpool win. Yes it’s not just Karius. At halftime the Tannoy “coincidentally” played careless hands by Des O’Connor and the kop then sang it throughout the second half;-). Liverpool team: Lawrence, Lawler, Byrne, Smith, Strong, Hughes, Callaghan, Hunt, Hateley, St John, Thompson.
In the ill tempered 1974 charity shield match between Liverpool and Leeds United Billy Bremner, the Leeds United captain, and Kevin Keegan came to blows and were sent off. Both threw their shirts away in disgust and were banned for bringing the FA showpiece into disrepute. The match ended 1-1 and was the first charity shield to be decided by penalties which Liverpool went on to win 6-5. Bob Paisley was the Liverpool manager and Brian Clough the new Leeds United manager, though he didn’t last long but that’s a story for another day and probably another website. Liverpool team: Clemence, Smith, Lindsay, Thompson, Cormack, Hughes, Keegan, Hall, Heighway, Boersma, Callaghan. Some great names there.
In 2000 Liverpool played Leeds at Elland Road in a topsy turvy match. The first half was largely dominated by Liverpool but, as they faded, Leeds United took over in the second half and Mark Viduka scored all their goals in a depressing 4-3 win for Leeds. The Liverpool team was managed by Houllier and Leeds by the ex Arsenal player David O’Leary (boo). The liverpool team is another trip down memory lane too: Westerveld, Carragher, Ziege, Babbel, Hyypia; Smicer, Murphy, McAllister, Hamann, Berger; Heskey.
Anyway, enough of my reminiscences and back to the curtain raiser on Saturday. Barring a Hendo miracle I think the team will be: Alisson, TAA, Gomez, VVD, Robbo, Fab, Gini, Keita, Mane, Firmino, Salah.
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