Thompson: Defense Must Be Tightened

AS encouraging as the victory over Blackburn was, Bolton are going to be a tough nut to crack at The Reebok Stadium on Sunday. Though we have had some good results there down the years, in the main you never get anything without a fight and they have a couple of dangerous options up front. Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander have struck up a good rapport and Davies is certainly a player who will let Liverpool 's defenders know that they have been in a battle. Davies has had his critics down the years but I bet if you ask Jamie Carragher, he 'd tell you that the new England international is one of the toughest players he has faced during his career as he is so strong. People say that Bolton have changed their style of play under Owen Coyle but that is not necessarily true because they still have the option of launching that 'out ball' to Davies, just as was the case when Sam Allardyce was there. They also have Gary Cahill and, in a couple of years, he and Everton 's Phil Jagielka might just be the men to succeed Rio Ferdinand and John Terry as England 's central defenders. Cahill is also an aerial threat so, with him and Davies prowling at every set play, Liverpool are going to have to be extra vigilant when defending corners and free-kicks. Fortunately, we have Sotirios Kyrgiakos right at the top of his form and in the past few weeks, he has become a rock in our side. Aside from Steven Gerrard, he was probably our best performer at Everton but surpassed that against Blackburn – he is making a difference at both ends of the pitch.