The Italian Job

Walter Mazzarri is going to have to "blow the bloody doors off" if he wants to force this Liverpool side out of drive and into park on Sunday.

The Italian has got Watford playing some great football but in the bubbling Anfield atmosphere, only increased by the Reds' recent confident performances will Mazzarri be able to make the best of a difficult situation?

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Of course, he's got experience in difficult situations and is no stranger to taking a side to a famous or intense ground. Back in Serie A as manager of Inter and Napoli spanning five years he visited the cauldrons of the Stadio Olimpico, the Juventus Stadium and both the San Siro and the Stadio San Paolo as a home and opposition coach.

Walter was unlucky to be sacked by Inter, he did suffer from a string of poor results but was only five points off third when he left the club. He faired far better as Napoli boss securing a third place finish in one season, he also won the Coppa Italia in 2012 giving Juve their only loss of the season and took Napoli on a decent Champions League run. Since arriving in England he's been taken under the wing of Watford's Italian owners the Pozzo family who also own Udinese.

I feel Mazzarri has settled in well in the English Premier League both as a character and as a manager. His slight grasp of the English language at present works in his favour I feel as you're constantly having to second guess him.

In the league Watford are currently in 7th on 15 points. They have lost just one of their last seven games and are a very hard team to beat. Putting four goals past West Ham and three past Manchester United they can certainly switch on the attack when required but in true Italian style they can also defend and hold on to a draw if needs be. 

Liverpool of course are joint top and Jurgen Klopp will not want a slip up against Watford. The Reds in comparison to some of the other sides have a decent run of games as we head into the busy Christmas period and we need to capitalise on that as much as we can. We don't want to be left hanging off that cliff come 90 minutes... (*Sings self preservation society*)

Enjoy the match folks, wherever you are watching!