Fulham boss Mark Hughes backs Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez to shine for Liverpool

Mark Hughes, Fulham

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Ahead of Monday night’s clash between the two sides, Fulham manager Mark Hughes has praised the work of Kenny Dalglish and believes Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez could go on to join a list of historic strike partnerships at Liverpool.

Despite only playing as a duo sporadically since their January arrival, Carroll and Suarez have each chipped in with goals; a fact which implies Liverpool can be pleased with their business after the sale of Fernando Torres, according to Hughes.

“I think the view is that they’ve done good business in terms of the two players they’ve got in with the money they’ve got for Torres,” said Hughes, according to the Daily Mail.

“Given the way it’s panned out for Fernando Torres, you’d argue at this moment in time it’s the better deal, only because the two guys that have gone in at Liverpool seem to have very quickly struck up a partnership and that seems to be working well for Liverpool.

“Right through the history of football, there’s great partnerships and there’s always examples of where one player triggers off the good, positive parts of another player.

“And there’s signs that there’s the possibility Carroll and Suarez will obviously continue in the same vein and be a very strong partnership for Liverpool for years to come.”

Hughes has guided his side to 10th place in the table and with only one home defeat in ten, has turned Craven Cottage into something of a fortress. 

He is, however, expecting to see the same confident Liverpool side which recently crushed Birmingham and Newcastle and attributes their upturn in fortune under Kenny Dalglish to the impact of the manager’s personality.

“Liverpool are playing exceptionally well,” he added.

“From the outside looking in, I think it seems that they’re a group that are playing with a smile on their faces, they seem to be enjoying their work – for whatever reason.

“It’s probably the personality of the manager, I would suggest, because he always played with a smile on his face.

“At times, he’d moan and groan as a player. But, certainly, when you see him with a big smile, that filters through to the group he’s working with, I’m sure.

“They seem to be enjoying what is presented in front of them and they’re responding to Kenny at the moment and getting good results as a consequence.”

Entering the fixture after two consecutive 3-0 victories over Bolton and Sunderland, Hughes is bullish on his side’s chances of bettering the Reds, especially given the Cottagers’ brave display at Anfield earlier in the season.

“We’re playing well, we’re playing with confidence, so it’s going to be a good match-up,” added the former Manchester United player.

“We went to Anfield early in Kenny’s tenure and played exceptionally well. We were beaten on the day but we were extremely disappointed that we didn’t get anything out of that game.

“If we play as well as we did on that day then we’ll go close. But we would argue that we have the potential to play even better, given that we’re the home side this time.”