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Work-rate. Incisiveness. Nous. I don't ask for much. This is how it's gonna be. Build from the ground up. One of those match threads where I hope the players are more up for it than I am. Sparta gave it a good go in he first leg and Queef was a very busy man, and yet we were ruthless in attack and put 5 past them to make the second leg a formality, meaning it's difficult to really add anything here. It was a closer-run thing back in 2011 when we faced Sparta in the second leg of the Round of 32. The away leg had finished goalless, and Kenny was still trying to wash away the combined stink of Hodgson, Hicks and Gillett. It was one of those games where we both struggled to get out of second gear, and yet simultaneously didn't look like a team that had more gears left, It was a slog, the Sparta fans were lively, and we couldn't really create much in the way of clear-cut chances. It took Dirk being in the right place at the right time with extra time looming to finally make the breakthrough, after which we comfortably saw it out, and could arguably have added to our tally if Joe Cole had been Chelsea's Joe Cole rather than Liverpool's Joe Cole. Dirk got on the end of a Meireles corner to head home, in case you were wondering. As mentioned above, Sparta didn't do too badly attacking-wise in the first leg last week, missing some decent chances and being thwarted by Queef when they did manage to find the target. They have a bit of pace on the counter and their right back Preciado was one of their most impressive performers. At least until tiredness meant he failed to cut out Harvey's ball into Dom's path, allowing the Hungarian to run through and fire home the fifth. No idea if they will feel there is a remote chance of a comeback, so I've no idea if they will bring any intensity with them. They might decide to enjoy the Anfield occasion, in the knowledge that the domestic league is currently a close contest between them and their great rivals Slavia. Sparta were battered 4-0 by third-placed Viktoria Plzen at the weekend. That being so, I don't want us to treat this like a pre-season friendly, mainly because our record at Anfield matters to me. While I don't expect us to go all out to grab another bagful of goals, I would hope that our players take it seriously. Some, like Cody, could really do with using this game to try and find some form in front of goal. Others, like Mo and Kostas, could do with some minutes to gain sharpness. I would like our team to be more like our teams at Anfield in the group stage rather than the teams away from Anfield, put it that way. I still demand the maximum in motivation, concentration, attitude and application from first minute to last, as winning begets winning. Let's see ourselves through the tie with the minimum of fuss. A win and a place in the next round please. Get it done!