A Little Prediction On What Rafa Is Going To Do Throughout The Season

Liverpool are currently third in the league table, ahead of Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Tottenham by goal difference.

Despite losing two games already this season, Liverpool's chance to win the league is still there—if the Reds manage to get respectable results against Chelsea and Manchester United next month.

Something which could cause momentum to shift in Liverpool's favour.

So far, we have seen that the starting line-up of Liverpool is pretty much fixed with only minor changes to the team to recover fatigue and replace injured players.

With first-team players coming back from injuries, will Rafa keep playing with a familiar squad or will he start rotating players?

Rafa Benitez is one unpredictable manager. The master tactician has had his plan for the season for sure.

So, I will make a little attempt to guess what the manager has in his mind; possible transfers, player selections, and tactical strategies.

Then Yossi, Now Babel, Voronin Next

Yossi Benayoun proved to the rest of the team that it is possible to cement a place in the starting line-up, as long as one performs well.

Rafa Benitez has challenged the fringe players to do that after Yossi Benayoun's hat-trick against Burnley.

Ryan Babel might have been inspired as he is beginning to get his touch back, the ones which fans saw in the match where the Dutchman scored twice against Derby County on his debut season.

Having Babel at the top of his game will definitely be a major boost for Liverpool's title push.

The fastest member in the squad, Babel's magical footwork gives Rafa an extended dimension upfront.

So who next? Unsurprisingly, David N'gog has been performing better than Andriy Voronin, who was supposed to be our main striker should Torres get injured. I mean, at least the young French lad has scored twice this season.

What happened to the promise Voronin made, that he will transform his Bundesliga form in Liverpool?

I dislike being critical to Liverpool players, but Voronin's presence on the pitch doesn't make a lot of difference to Liverpool. But I do believe that he will soon.

A Message To Youngsters: Wait, Wait, and Wait

Stephen Darby, Martin Kelly and Daniel Pacheco were among the youngsters expected to make a giant step into the first team this season. However, the trio were all left out in the Carling Cup match against Leeds United.

The positive thing from the decision by Rafa is that he wants to have a good run in the Cup games, as he knows that the fans have longed for another trophy since the FA Cup in 2006.

Rafa had a squad of established first-team players against Leeds, with Philipp Degen preferred ahead of Darby and the bench was star-studded as a precaution. No risk taken, no untested youngsters used at all.

The bad thing about that decision is of course the youngsters don't get the vital first team exposure. Arsene Wenger claimed that Jack Wilshere's lack of first team games last season had stunted his development. So, what about Darby and Pacheco?

Darby is turning 21 in two weeks! Maybe he is "too young" to be ready for regular first team action after all.

I would definitely use some youngsters occasionally, not all at once of course. Maybe include a couple of youngsters on the bench in league games and have them play a part in the final twenty minutes or so if the team is leading by a comfortable margin.

But don't expect Pacheco to play any first team game this season, he doesn't even have a squad number in fact.

As for Darby, maybe he will play the last Champions League game if we have qualified by then or when we have serious injury problems on our defensive unit.

Even Kelly is unlikely to feature as he is currently sixth in the centre-back pecking order, even behind Daniel Ayala.

Where Does Aquilani Fit?

The Italian has yet to make his debut due to injury. So where will he play when he returns?

Alberto Aquilani is expected to return somewhere in October. Therefore, I don't expect him to make his first start against Chelsea, even making the bench for that game seems unlikely.

He should be able to recover after the international break, just before the match against Sunderland. Then again, he needs time to get to full fitness and to gel with the rest of the team.

When that time comes, he will replace Lucas from the starting line-up if nothing goes wrong. But that is not just how he can be played. Move on to the next slide.

A New Formation

Rafa Benitez tried the 4-3-3 against Leeds United yesterday. Will he do the same with the regular starters in league matches in the near future?

The current 4-2-3-1 is more or less the same as the 4-3-3 with only slight differences. Therefore, a switch to the 4-3-3 wouldn't surprise me at all.

Fernando Torres would remain as the lone striker and the same set of players can be used in both formations, meaning that allows Liverpool to be flexible against their opponents.

In 4-3-3, The defensive-midfielder (Javier Mascherano) would be positioned directly in the middle and has more ground to cover.

The other two centre-midfielders (Aquilani and Gerrard) would operate as box-to-box midfielders, allowing them to support attack and drop back to defend when necessary.

The flank forwards would support Torres upfront, they could push out wide and cut into the middle to confuse defenders.

A Little Rotation On The Back

Daniel Agger has recovered from a back injury and he is expected to return to full fitness very soon.

Both Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel are the main centre-back pairing at the moment.

Veteran Sotirios Kyrgiakos was also signed on the final minutes of summer transfer window as both Skrtel and Agger were hit with injuries.

With all of them fit, I expect a little rotation on the back from game to game. Or maybe Carragher on the right when Johnson is injured or tired which means (as mentioned earlier), Darby is probably not going to play league matches at all.

Another Boring January To Come

For those who anticipate David Villa and David Silva in January, dream on.

Like the previous January transfer window, i don't expect Rafa to make a "big" signing. He is unlikely to sell any as well, unless a good acceptable offer comes for Andrea Dossena, Nabil el Zhar, and Andriy Voronin.

Liverpool have two or three players in each position at the moment, so momentum-shattering squad member changes are not needed.

Mind Games With Other Managers

This season's title race will be more open and therefore, managers will use "additional tactic" to give their sides an advantage over the rest.

Mind games will be played and Rafa Benitez will be involved for sure, not because he likes to, but because he is always targeted. I wonder why?

Sir Alex Ferguson will not want himself excluded from his favourite game as well. But what makes the possible mind games this season more interesting than the one between Rafa and Ferguson last season is the addition of Carlo Ancelotti.

Not to mention Arsene Wenger, Mark Hughes, David Moyes, Martin O'Neill, and Harry Redknapp, who are all potential participants.

But that depends on where their teams are in the coming months and whether or not are they still managers of their current clubs.

It's hard to tell who is going to win this time but one thing for sure, Rafa will be the "loser", even if he wins.