No slip ups at Cardiff (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

Over the past several weeks, Liverpool have overcome many obstacles and passed numerous tests of their mettle to put themselves in a great position going into the home stretch of the title race. This weekend they face a different type of challenge to that of the last couple of games, as having come through two tough looking road trips the biggest danger facing the Reds on Saturday would appear to be complacency.

Realistically, Cardiff City should only be able to beat Liverpool if manager Brendan Rodgers' side aren't at the races, but the Reds' epic struggle at Fulham (which came off the back of the 5-1 destruction of Arsenal) provides some hope for the South Wales club.

The re-arrangement of the Sunderland game meant that Liverpool were faced with a triple-header of away fixtures, but after safely negotiating difficult trips to Southampton and Manchester United, could there now be a subconscious slackening off in Liverpool's intensity now that “the hard work” appears to have been done? No doubt Brendan Rodgers is keen to ensure that that doesn't happen, but recently Liverpool have been tremendous in the difficult games and somewhat wobbly in the so-called "easy" ones.

Having overcome so many tests of their title credentials of late, the biggest worry for Kopites this weekend is that there doesn't actually appear to be anything to worry about from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side. That in itself could be a problem, as in recent weeks Liverpool have needed that "danger" to bring out their best. The better the opponent, the better Liverpool's game has been.

On home soil, both Everton and Arsenal were destroyed, yet two points were dropped against Aston Villa while the Reds made very hard work of beating Swansea despite racing into a two goal lead. On their travels, mid-table Southampton and Manchester United were swatted away with relative ease, yet struggling West Brom held the Reds to a draw and even Fulham -- the worst team in the league by far -- were only beaten by a stoppage time penalty.

If the top sides fall too far below their best they can lose to anyone; we've seen it on numerous occasions this season. Cardiff already have a prized scalp to their name this season having beaten Manchester City 3-2 way back in August. That was a vastly different Bluebirds side, however, as back then they were new to the Premier League and were running on adrenaline and excitement. They also had Malky Mackay of course, the most successful manager in their history.

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