LIVERPOOL F.C. 4 – 3 NEW CASTLE UNITED

Here at JumpOff we are fans of the World’s Game.  Not too many Americans give soccer much attention, but if you understood the passion and excitement of the sport in other country’s you will change your tune quicker than Twista spittin on a track.  That’s why it’s my duty to spread the gospel…haha.  My boy B put me on one of his team’s most memorable moments.  This is a clip from the 1996 matchup between Liverpool FC and Newcastle FC and IT FEATURED SEVEN GOALS! [had to allcaps cuz soccer dont be having NOOO goals, right?]  English soccer fanatics call it one  of the greatest games of English Football [which is over 100 years old btw, been readin' up cuz of this World Cup hoopla. Lou-T be "in the know";)] , but this is definitely a classic by anyone’s standards.  The Thriller at Anfield.

Un articol interesant, via gsp.ro

Rivala Unirii Urziceni din Europa League a luat naştere în 1892, din cauza refuzului celor de la Everton de a mai juca pe Anfield

FC Liverpool, adversarul de lux cu care Unirea Urziceni se va întîlni în “16″-imile Ligii Europa pe 18 şi 25 februarie, pare să nu mai aibă nici un secret. Există totuşi şi lucruri mai puţin cunoscute despre clubul din Merseyside sau care, pur şi simplu, au fost uitate de-a lungul istoriei de 117 ani. Una impresionantă, plină de recorduri şi de momente memorabile.

Clubul se înfiinţa pe 15 martie 1892 printr-o conjunctură deosebită. În acel moment, Everton (cealaltă echipă a oraşului) exista din 1878, iar “The Reds” au apărut după ce rivalii n-au mai acceptat să joace pe Anfield! Proprietarul arenei, John Houlding, a încercat să le majoreze considerabil chiria “caramelelor”. Enervat de refuzul lui Everton, care a decis să se mute pe Goodison Park, Houlding şi-a făcut propriul club: Everton Athletic. Dar denumirea nu a fost acceptată de către FA, astfel că lua naştere FC Liverpool. Din 1901, roşiii au devenit “cormorani”, pasăre care e simbolul urbeii.

58 de trofee
Liverpool rămîne cel mai titrat club în Anglia, cu 18 titluri, la egalitate cu Manchester United, deşi n-a mai cîştigat campionatul din 1990! În plus, e formaţia din Insulă cu cele mai multe trofee în vitrină: 58!

Fowler grăbit
Numeroase faze sau performanţe ale “cormoranilor” au rămas în cărţile de statistică şi în memoria fanilor: hat-trickul lui Fowler contra lui Arsenal din 1994, cel mai rapid din istorie (4 minute şi 33 de secunde), golul lui Xabi Alonso de la 64 de metri în poarta lui Newcastle din 2006. Acestea sînt doar cîteva momente mai puţin faimoase decît finala Ligii Campionilor în faţa lui AC Milan, întoarsă de la 0-3, în 2005.

Tribune pline
Cea mai mică asistenţă la un meci de cupă europeană pe Anfield a fost de 12.021, în sezonul 1982-1983. Doar un vis pentru Urziceni (un mic orăşel de circa 17.000 de locuitori), pentru că, de ani buni, media de spectatori ai lui Liverpool pe meci depăşeşte 40.000.

Prima transmisie color
“Cormoranii” se află în centrul unei premiere din domeniul televiziunii britanice. Prima transmisiune color în Anglia a fost cea a unui joc dintre Liverpool şi West Ham, pe BBC, pe 15 noiembrie 1969. Elevii faimosului antrenor Bill Shankly s-au impus cu 2-0 în faţa propriilor spectatori.

Ironicul Shankly
Bill Shankly, unul dintre cei mai carismatici tehnicieni ai “cormoranilor”, a rămas în istorie prin declaraţiile sale. “Unii mă dezamăgesc crezînd că fotbalul este o chestiune de viaţă şi de moarte. Îi asigur că e mult, mult mai important decît atît” sau “Oraşul acesta are două mari echipe: Liverpool şi rezervele lui Liverpool” sînt vorbele întipărite în mintea fanilor.

Adversarii se înclină
Stadionul Anfield este renumit pentru culoarul prin care fotbaliştii ajung de la vestiare pe gazon. Deasupra treptelor care coboară spre culoarul de ieşire se află un poster pe care scrie “This is Anfield”. Se spune că atunci cînd trec pe sub el, adversarii se pleacă în faţa măreţiei clubului gazdă, dar, de fapt, îşi coboară capul pentru a nu se lovi şi bat cu palma în peretele de sus, de siguranţă.

Reperul Owen
Fostul atacant al lui Liverpool, Michael Owen, este singurul fotbalist care a cîştigat Balonul de Aur cît timp se afla la clubul din Merseyside. Se întîmpla în 2001, cînd i-a devansat pe spaniolul Raul şi pe neamţul Oliver Kahn. Tot Owen este şi cel mai tînăr marcator din istoria clubului, reuşind să înscrie cînd avea doar 17 ani şi 144 de zile.

Alonso's departure a severe blow

Finding Liverpool in 6th place in the league, loosing 6 of their 17 games and 13 points adrift of Chelsea is a surreal experience, especially after the great run we had last season and the expectations it brought into this one. Perhaps I should have known better, especially after our indifferent pre-season form which carried into the beginning of the regular season, along with the fact the squad wasn’t strengthened as it should have been.

Being a loyal supporter I naturally want to do nothing but support Rafa and the team and, like Carragher, pray for better times and soon. I tell myself that criticizing the manager and the team won’t make the situation any better but can only make it worse and further fuel the negativity and doubt that has fallen over the club. But I’m a supporter in conflict. There needs to be change.

We’ve all loved Rafa for the great things he’s done for the club. Let’s face it, he brought glory back to Liverpool after years of being in the wilderness. But I’m concerned he’s losing the plot and is running out of ideas on how to turn things around this season. Tactically Rafa has reverted to what he knows best, a cautious approach. We all thought he’d finally figured out how to play in the Premiership in the second half of last season after the Middlesborough loss. He decide to throw caution to one side and let the team play open, attacking, football and it was fantastic to watch. Liverpool not only dominated games but they destroyed the likes of Real Madrid and Man. Utd. and it nearly won us the league title.

Benitez is an enigma. He maintains faith in players that should have been shown the door a long time ago and persists with players that and not good enough, especially to fill the gap left by the likes of Alonso. Xabi’s departure was a severe blow to the team, more than perhaps we realize. It was demoralizing to the rest of the players, not only because he was a great player but because he was such a positive influence. He was class. It set the tone for this season and affected ambitious players like Gerrard who were looking for Liverpool to add quality players not loose them and it possibly influenced Mascherano to consider his future at the club.

Maybe I would feel better if I accepted this season is now one of transition. Barring a miracle, we won’t win the league this year (although miracles do happen) and we could have a good run in the Europa Cup, maybe even win it. So perhaps I should give Rafa the benefit of the doubt for the rest of season and judge him and the team in May.

But if we don’t improve our league form, find ourselves out of the top four and the trophy cabinet bare once again even the most forgiving supporter will also be in conflict and be hard pressed not to demand there be a new of manager in charge at Anfield.

Let’s hope Rafa finds a way.

Technorati Tags: Anfield, English Premier League, LFC, Liverpool Football Club, Rafa Benitez, Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso

What are your memories of our matches with Liverpool? Hopefully these pictures will remind of the good, the bad and the ugly. Here are the pictures that sum up our last 5 league encounters at Anfield.

Fatboy Mellor was the slim shady in November 2004 with his last minute winner. His goal largely overshadowed an equally stunning strike from Alonso and a superb team goal signed off by Vieira.

Jens Lehmann had an outstanding game and even saved this penalty from Gerrard. But Luis Garcia had the last laugh as he broke many Arsenal hearts on Valentines Day 2006.

Peter Crouch was head and shoulders above everyone in March 2007. His hatrick ensured we came away with a rare beating from Anfield.

Our slick football outplayed Liverpool for large parts of the game but Gerrard’s early free-kick meant we were still losing the game. Cesc’s late equalizer gave us a deserved draw in October 2007.

Four goals from Arshavin almost gave us the win scarcely deserved. Liverpool scored a last minute equalizer and it  finished 4-4 in April 2009.

After their mid week victory in the champions’ league, the red devils will be all ready for Saturday’s match against Aston Villa who are currently at surprise fifth position in the premier league. Everton will be up against leaders Chelsea and the mercey side club will be hoping to win their first win at Stamford bridge in nearly a decade. Also in the offering is the classic Sunday showdown at Anfield featuring Arsenal andLiverpool, a defeat for any of them can lead to serious trouble.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be a worried man as his key defenders are out with their respective injuries which includes Gary Neville who picked up a groin injury in the match against West Ham United, Rio Ferdinand with a calf injury, there is no certainty over Owen Hargreaves. The previous two matches were relatively easy where Sir Alex could play his mid fielders in defensive role but this is an important and tricky fixture especially when Aston Villa is in the top flight. Their manager Martin O’Neill is already eying the champions’ league place for next year. Darron Gibson will be starting for United and would be seen as the key figure to score along with the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes etc.
As both the clubs lost their respective matches last week, Chelsea would be a bit confident against Everton as two records goes in their favour, the first one being explained above and the second one that they still maintain the 100% win record at home this season.
Once the title contenders and fierce rivals both Arsenal and Liverpool are playing with nothing to loose as a defeat for Liverpool will further push them down to the mid table position and a defeat for the gunners will relegate them to 7th position specially their closest rivals Tottenham Hotspurs, Manchester City are having an easy fixture on paper.
Kick-off at Old Trafford is scheduled to start at 1730 Hours GMT (2200 Hours IST)
Other matches over the next two days are…

Saturday
Stoke City v Wigan 1245 Hours GMT
Birmingham vs West Ham 1500 Hours GMT
Bolton vs Manchester City 1500 Hours GMT
Burnley vs Fulham 1500 Hours GMT
Hull City vs Blackburn Rovers 1500 Hours GMT
Sunderland vs Portsmouth 1500 Hours GMT
Tottenham vs Wolverhampton 1500 Hours GMT

Sunday
Liverpool vs Arsenal 1600 Hours GMT

As the Champions League drama unfolded these past two days, I found myself unable, or perhaps merely unwilling to muster up the energy and write up the results match by match. However, with yesterday’s matches the teams who qualify for the round of 16 have been decided, and there were some quite interesting results, so I suppose I’d better rouse myself. In the group lists, bold teams make it into the next round, italic teams join Roma in Europa:

Group A: Bordeaux (16), Bayern Münich (10), Juventus (8), Maccabi Haifa (0).

Butt scored a crucial PK.

Decisive Match: Bayern Münich 4-1 Juventus – Bordeaux had qualified long before this week’s ties with back-to-back wins over Bayern and a victory over Juventus on French soil. The only real race left in the group was that for second; going into Tuesday’s match Juventus needed only a tie to advance, while Bayern required a win. It was immediately evident which team was playing to win; although Juventus took the lead via David Trezeguet on 19′, Bayern had controlled much of the match up to that point, with 91% of possession in the preceding 5 minutes. The away side were able to equalize on the half-hour mark, when Martín Cácares brought down Ivica Olic in the penalty area. Bayern keeper Hans-Jörg Butt stepped up and buried past Buffon from the spot to restore parity. Juventus would hold onto that scoreline for the remainder of the half, but with Butt’s penalty the floodgates were opened; Juve were crumbling visibly and it was only a matter of time. On 52′, Ivica Olic was on hand to tap in from close range after Daniel van Buyten forced an initial save from Buffon. Forced to chase the game, Juventus began to pour men forward searching for the equalizer that would send them through. However, on 83′ Mario Gomez seemingly put the game out of Juventus’ reach by executing his own close-range tap in. Anatoliy Tymoshchuk would finish Juventus’ hopes once and for all by scoring in added time to complete a rout of La Vecchia Signora and send them to crash humiliatingly into the Europa League.

Group B: Manchester Utd (13), CSKA (10), VfL Wolfsburg (7), Besiktas (4)

Decisive Match: CSKA 2-1 Besiktas – Going into this week’s ties, Russian side CSKA and German champions Wolfsburg were tied for the second qualification spot in Group B. Wolfsburg played their final match against a second-string United, nevertheless falling all too easily as Michael Owen scored a hattrick against them. It was up to CSKA to pick up points in Istanbul and make the most of die Wolfe’s misery. Milos Krasic put the visitors ahead on 41′, netting after switching flanks to facilitate a swift counterattacking move. The Russians held that lead for much of the match, but on 86′ Bobo found the net for the home side, a potentially disastrous event as the Russians would not have known the outcome of the Wolfsburg game yet. The Muscovites sealed their passage into the Round of 16 in the 95th minute of play when Evgeni Aldonin shrugged off his marker in the box and blasted home.

Group C: Read Madrid (13), AC Milan (9), Marseille (7), FC Zurich (4)

CR9²

Decisive Match: Real Madrid 3-1 Marseille – Regardless of what happened in the AC Milan match, if Didier Deschamps men had beaten Real Madrid they would have surely seen themselves through to the Round of 16. However, Cristiano Ronaldo made it quite clear that this would not be so, netting a brace at the Velodrome, with his first goal coming on only 4′. It was a vicious, unstoppable free kick from 30 yards out which must have surely deflated the home crowd’s hopes. However, the home side did their best to bounce back and on 11′ leveled when Lucho González tapped in a rebound from close range. The sides fought back and forth for much of the half, with Real Madrid nearly scoring on the half-hour mark when Cristiano Ronaldo’s header hit the post, only for Higuaín to pick up the rebound and be denied, only for Sergio Ramos to pick up the rebound and have his shot deflected over. The sides would go into the half on level terms, but Los Blancos began to immediately apply pressure after the restart and were rewarded on 59′ when Gabriel Heinze’s botched clearance allowed Raúl Albiol to smash home into the left side of the net. On 66′ the hosts were given a chance to level with Iker Casillas bringing down a Marseille man in the box; Lucho González stepped up to the spot as Marseille’s fans cheered, only for his effort to crash against the woodwork. After that, the persistent hosts seemed to lose some of their edge and Cristiano Ronaldo was able to make it an easy 3-1 in the 80th minute after keeper Steve Mandanda grossly misread a long ball from Lassana Diarra and left his net wide open. With that, Marseille’s Champions League adventure was over; AC Milan drew FC Zurich to progress and leave Dechamps men wondering what could have been.

Group D: Chelsea FC (14), FC Porto (12), APOEL (3), Atlético Madrid (3)

Decisive Match: None. Not this week, at least. This group was decided long ago and most of these teams were simply going through the motions.

Group E: Fiorentina (15), Olympique Lyonnais (13), Liverpool (7), Debrecen (0)

Aquilani finally got to lose the jacket.

Decisive Match: Fiorentina 2-0 Liverpool – When Fiorentina qualified for the Champions League this year, it seemed unlikely that they would progress beyond the group stages, never mind topping a group which also contained perennial giants Lyon and Liverpool. However, by defeating the Scousers at Anfield yesterday, La Viola did just that. It was Alberto Aquilani’s first start since arriving at Anfield from the Eternal City over the summer, but he couldn’t provide the edge needed to defeat the visitors in what was essentially a dead rubber match for the Reds. Yossi Benayoun gave the home side the lead just before halftime, deflecting in Steven Gerrard’s free kick past the dive of Sebastien Frey. However, Alberto Gilardino was pulling the strings for Fiorentina, and on 63′ he set up Martin Jorgensen to equalize. Aquilani put in a lively performance but was unable to lend any bite to a toothless Liverpool attack, and it would eventually be Fiorentina who went ahead. In the second minute of stoppage time, lacklustre defending from debutant Stephen Darby allowed Juan Manuel Vargas to steal possession in the final third and supply Gilardino with the goal needed to seal victory, in game and in group, for i Gigliati.

Group F: Barcelona (11), Inter (9), Rubin Kazan (6), Dynamo Kiev (5)

Decisive Match: Inter 2-0 Rubin Kazan – You really have to hand it to Rubin and Dynamo. Drawn in arguably the hardest Champions League group and with two of the strongest teams in all of Europe, the two Eastern European squads made a real run for the Round of 16 and if results had gone their way on the final match day, both former Soviet sides could have gone through at the expense of the Western European giants. Internazionale Milan needed a home victory against Rubin Kazan to guarantee their spot in the Round of 16, and finally played as if they wanted to progress to the next round. Mario Balotelli was the star man for i Nerazzurri, making his intentions clear from the very beginning as he nutmegged a Tatarstan defender and took Inter’s first shot at the Russian goal. On 31′ it would be the captain Javier Zanetti with all sorts of fancy footwork on the edge of the box, before slotting in to Balotelli, who no-look-passed the ball into the path of Samuel Eto’o, who duly slotted in to give the home side a 1-0 lead. Later, on 64′, it would be Balotelli himself who doubled the scoreline, thumping in an unstoppable free kick from 30 yards out. When he can keep his attitude under control, he really is an incredible player. And with that, Inter’s qualification debacle comes to an end; now they can move on to disappoint in the Round of 16.

Group G: Sevilla FC (13), VfB Stuttgart (9), Unirea Urziceni (8), Rangers (2)

They're good losers, to boot.

Decisive Match: VfB Stuttgart 3-1 Unirea Urziceni – On one hand, I wanted Unirea to get through; they were underdogs, and as it is the Year of the Underdog (as I have proclaimed ceaselessly), it seemed the time was right. On the other hand, after crashing out in a 3-1 defeat to Stuttgart, I no longer have to struggle to spell their team’s crazy name. Really it’s win-win for me. The Romanians never really had a chance at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena, with the German side scoring all three of their goals within the first 11 minutes of play. Ciprian Marica opened the scoring on 4′ with a powerful header; Christian Träsch made it 2-0 on 8′ by beating the offside trap and racing in alone to fire a laserbeam before he could be cut down; and Pavel Pogrebnyak made it 3-0 on 11′ by faking out the Romanian defense and then slotting home low under the keeper. After that early display of firepower, the match was all but over, though the visitors pulled one back just after halftime after a defensive error allowed Antonio Semedo to easily beat Jens Lehmann. So ends the Romanian Champions league adventure.

Group H: Arsenal FC (13), Olympiakos (10), Standard Liege (5), AZ Alkmaar (4)

Decisive Match: None here either. Although Olympiakos did beat an Arsenal kiddie-squad yesterday by a score of 1-0; the goal came from defender Leonardo.

By Joe, www.Bettingexpert.com

The battle of the best midfielders in England will meet on Sunday at Anfield

One of the big ties this weekend in the Premiership and Liverpool will be hosting Arsenal at Anfield Sunday afternoon.  Liverpool are struggling to live up to their name of being one of the Big 4 this season, on the other hand Arsenal is having some injuries issue after start well in the Premier League. Loser of this match could spell the end to the title spur this season.

Liverpool are desperate for three points and with a squad close to full strength again, manager Rafa Benitez could be in for a chance to get his team back on the Premiership campaign. Benitez gave Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani his full debut in the midweek  2-1 defeated against Fiorentina. He rested Jose Reina and Lucas while Fernando Torres returned from injury by sitting on the bench. It’s no surprise that Liverpool’s main focus will be the Premiership and the match against Arsenal will prove whether they are capable in returning to the top of the Premier League

Arsenal are hanging by the thread with their injury crisis as they prepare their trip to Anfield. The Gunners travelled to Olympiakos and lost 1-0 in the midweek Champions League tie without several of their key players, only Theo Walcott was name as one of the senior members of the 10 teenagers selected. The kids managed to put out a good performance and you might wonder where they will be in a few years time. Manger Arsene Wenger is already suffering from 9 injuries to his first team squad and Tomas Rosicky is the latest name on the list. It will be a taunting task for Arsenal facing one of their main rivals in the League with a depleted team.

As Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League this midweek while Arsenal emerges victory over the rivals in the European campaign this season. Arsenal will also claim victory over Liverpool in the Premiership standing and also in the Carling Cup 2-1 win back in late October. Although, things are set to change, Liverpool have their strongest players back from injuries while Arsenal are losing their players to injuries left and right. Maybe Arsenal have been the strongest lately but Liverpool looks likely to win at all cost on Sunday.

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What happens when you get knocked out of the Champions League group stages? Come third and you get to spend the spring travelling around far-flung places in the Europa League. Last season even the likes of Spurs and Aston Villa decided this was more hassle than it was worth so goodness knows how Liverpool will react when they have a go. Their future adventures forms this week’s Guardian Photoshop theme.

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In the land of submarines, Captain Benítez and his crew sets sail to places unknown. Full speed ahead!

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The rest of this week’s gallery is here.

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T.

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Archive.

Michael Owen - should have been re-signed

It amazes me that after coming so close to winning the Premiership title last season everyone and his dog knew that if we were to go all the way this season we needed to strengthen the midfield, to replace Alonso, and buy a quality, established, striker to partner & support Torres. Everyone except Rafa and the rest of the Anfield management team that is.

Rafa apparently has filled the void in midfield with the signing of Aquilani. I say apparently as no one has seen him play yet beside the 20 minutes he got in the Carling Cup game against Arsenal. Now am I missing something here? If Aquilani was OK to come on for 20 minutes in that game why hasn’t he been used since? Rafa your logic is mystifying. But let’s give Benitez the benefit of the doubt on this one. Perhaps Aquilani’s injuries were more serious than we thought and he does indeed prove to be a class player.

However, there can be no forgiveness on the striker issue.

Michael Owen, Fernando Torres, Liverpool Football Club, Robbie Keane

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This quiz contains various questions about the celebrated EPL club Liverpool. The questions cover the club’s history, present roster, glorious moments, statistics and many other sides. It is a must have for any Liverpool FC fan, and an enjoyable treat for any football enthusiast.

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Lo que no me agrada de la tipografia 'euro' es que no le puedo agregar el "-o"

Apenas hoy por la mañana me llego mi playera blanca del Liverpool, lamentablemente sin poder personalizarla con el Gerrard-o, aún asi, me agrado mucho.

I try to read the news through my iPhone on my bus journey to work, and the news of Liverpool’s dismay as they were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League last 16 spots really made my day. I dont ”hate’ Liverpool, I just dont like certain individuals on their team as well as the way they play. I dont doubt their history, but at the rate they play, their history will soon be broken, and along with that, their hearts. History accounts for nothing in the way they conduct themselves now.

Although they won 1-0 to a lesser known team of Debrecen, the other group results affected their overall standing, and hence their proper elimination from the prestigous competition. Voila! I am glad for I need not suffer their pompous remarks of that Rafa Benitez (Spain) and the arrogance of Jamie C. Oh my, what a dirty player he is. Manning that back line is not what he should be doing. He would be much better off manning the front gates to Ministry of Sound.

Rafa should seriously consider selling their players for what they are worth now. Else their value would most certainly drop like a brick into the ocean. All his talk about not having money to spend is pure bullshit. Its not about the money my dear Spaniard. Its about the scouts you employ, and the brainwashing that you do to them to buy you crappy players and then train them like idiots to play the way you want them to play, which is…..crappy. I see you screaming, directing them like an composer, telling and guiding them at the sidelines. But do you even know that you are not the one on the pitch you son of a bitch? Oh, that rhymes rather nicely dont you think?

I watch your team scuttle around, and knock into each other. Oh my. Its a football match dont you think? What good is Gerrard slamming into that Ngog?  If you want Eggnog then you would have to be in the kitchen.

Maybe its your beard that is  taking all your braincells away. Shave it off you clown.

At the rate you are playing, you should be in the final 8th position of the Barclays Premier League (BPL) for this season. I cross my fingers that you stay that way for the next 5 seasons.

Having said that, I am an Arsenal Fan.

Come on you Gunners!

It’s a fun-filled week after that excruciatingly long (in my mind) and pointless (ditto) International break. I won’t spoil too much (up here) because there are a few matches to take joy from today and I wouldn’t want to steal my own thunder by spilling the beans right away. So I’m just gonna take it slow and leave the best posts to la -

ACF Fiorentina 1-0 Olympique Lyonnais – Well, La Viola have sealed their Group of 16 qualification! Fiorentina will be joining their French compatriots (ha!), having defeated said Frenchmen by a single goal at the Stadio Artemio Franchi this evening. It would be Juan Manuel Vargas who provided the difference for the home side, with a spot kick on 27′ after AC Milan almost-signing Aly Cissokho downed Marco Marchionni in Les Gones’ area. However, I think the true credit for the victory belongs to Sebastien Frey, whose stellar display between the sticks saved Cesare Prandelli’s men’s collective behinds time and time again – their defense simply is not the same without Alessandro Gamberini marshalling the back line. Oh, one other minor detail regarding their match: it eliminated Liverpool  from the Champions League. Humble Fiorentina move on, while the Scousers are sent home to cry in their… scouse. Beating up on a French team and an English team with the same result? Two birds with one stone, I say. All that’s left to do is seal first place with a victory at Anfield – normally a tall order, but hell, I’m feeling good about it right now.

Your clock is ticking, Rafa!

Liverpool 1-0 Debrecen – Need I even bother? Does it matter? Liverpool have been knocked out of the Champions League as a result of La Viola’s win over Lyon (for those of you who may have skipped the above paragraph) David Ngog put the Reds ahead early in a game which they started confidently – the Frenchmen was first to the ball within the box on 4′ to poke home and give his side an early 1-0 lead. Rafa Benitez’s men put in a spirited performance in the first half, but by the second they were well away what the score was in Firenze and, with their destiny out of their hands, seemed content to simply boot the ball around. Now completely out of Champions League running despite tonight’s victory, the only heart that the Merseysiders can take is in the fact that they can get their revenge on Fiorentina by spoiling their 1st place hopes at Anfield in 2 weeks time. It seems strange after a victory, but Rafa Benitez unemployment watch, anyone?

Rubin Kazan 0-0 Dynamo Kiev – Rubin Kazan were crowned Russian champions earlier this week, but were unable to work any magic in snowy Tatarstan tonight to bolster their European hopes. Both the Russians and Ukrainians seemed aware of the importance of the match, which could have seen either rise to within grasping distance of Round of 16 qualification, and both sides started the match with tense and tentative play, unwilling to give ground but unwilling to push too far forward as well. The visitors actually dominated the play for much of the match, carrying possession and keeping the Rubinovye on their heels. However, it would be the Russians who came closest to scoring in the 90 minutes, with Oleksander Shovkovski being forced to swat away an acrobatic attempt from Alejandro Dominguez just before the halftime interval. In the end, neither side would get ahead, but both still have a chance of qualification thanks to the result that Barcelona and Inter achieved at the Camp Nou this evening.

Xavi will haunt Jose's nightmares for weeks.

Barcelona 2-0 Inter – Ah, the European Inter we know and hate – and the European Barcelona that we know and (some people) love. Italy’s most dominant team domestically once again failed to show up on the European stage, and were beaten black and blue (get it?) all over the pitch by a dominant Blaugrana side in Catalonia. It was all Barcelona from the very start, as the home side started early and didn’t really slow it down until the match was more than won. I Nerazzurri were reminded of their own glaring deficiencies as they found themselves unable to deal with Barca’s more technically proficient midfield (Xavi, anyone?) and perhaps the more forward-thinking tactics of Pep Guardiola. Barcelona struck twice early in the match, with Gerard Piqué side-footing in a corner on 10′ and Pedro volleying into the top corner after some beautiful team build-up on 27′. To illustrate the point of Catalan dominance, Inter didn’t even get their first shot off until 35′, and Victor Valdés wasn’t called into action until almost halftime to make a routine save on Il Principe, Diego Milito, who wasn’t looking very princely tonight. The scoreline could have been a lot higher if not for the world-class netminding of Julio Cesar, who proved a strong last line of defense against Barcelona’s constant onslaught. Though not exactly a blowout, Inter’s match has shown once again that Jose Mourinho’s men simply do not have the quality or the mentality to succeed in European football. Mourinho himself spoke of the large gap in quality after the match, citing individual talent as a key area in which La Beneamata simply could not compete. I tend to agree, and with creative genius Wesley Sneijder sidelined that gap becomes even more apparent, but I also think it comes down to tactics. Barcelona always play football on their own terms, with brilliant passing and constant movement, while Mourinho’s men play a more tentative game, content to simply grind out wins while expressing only momentary flashes of genius. Regardless of this result, it seems that both these sides will be advancing to the next round (unless Inter lose at home to Rubin Kazan in a fortnight), but to be swatted out of the Camp Nou so easily is surely a blow to i Nerazzurri and especially their loudmouthed tecnico.

Arsenal 2-0 Standard Liege – A run of the mill match for Arsenal – a Beer and Waffles speedbump, if you will. The Londoners cruised past their visitors at the Emirates Stadium on the strength of 2 first-half goals from Samir Nasri and Denilson on 35′ and 45′ respectively. Manuel Almunia was saved his blushes once by the grace of the woodwork, but other than that it was mostly smooth sailing for the Gunners, who have apparently bounced back nicely after a half-arsed defeat to Sunderland on the weekend. As predicted/warned waaay back when, Arsene Wenger’s men have topped Group H with ease.

Unirea Urziceni 1-0 Sevilla – This one’s just up here for its comic value. Sevilla have looked strong all season, both domestically and in European competition, but have fallen for the first time in these group stages after the Romanians were gifted a win through an Ivica Dragutinovic own-goal and the help of the woodwork. The match’s only goal came just before the interval, with the Serbian defender heading an incoming long ball directly into the back of his own net. Comic gold, that (when it’s not happening to you, anyways). Though the Andalusians continued to dominate much of the play throughout the second half, they were unable to overcome that deficit and ultimately fell to the home side in Bucharest. Dragutinovic’s own-goal may have helped the Romanian side to qualify, as they now sit second in the group behind Los Rojiblancos with 8 points. Interestingly, Urziceni have only score 6 goals in this competition, and 3 of those have been own-goals gifted to them by their opponents! If these guys make it through, they’ve definitely earned it.

These are th- Well, you get the point.

I thought I underestimated how sick I was on Sunday and that my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw the score of the Tottenham/Wigan match in the bus on my way to camp this morning.

“9-1?! No way! Holy Shit!”

I want to be part of the crowd.
Anfield. Emirates. Wimbledon. British Grand Prix.
Next year. Can’t wait. Hell yeah.

Why do I always type a little blurb here? It never really says anything; I just feel weird diving straight into the match results themselves without any preamble. It’s too… impersonal that way. So hello, hi, here we are, so let’s get down to it:

Calcio:

AS Roma Totti 3-1 Bari – Romanisti always repeat one thing when Er Pupone is sidelined: No Totti, no Party. But sometimes we get so caught up in our own negativity that we forget the flip-side of that equation: Totti = party. Er Capitano made his return today against Bari, back from over a month out after going into knee surgery earlier in the season. And just to remind us why we miss him when he’s gone, he scored a hattrick. In the first half hour. The first came on 7′ – a spot kick after Jean-François Gillet downed Mirko Vucinic in the area. Then, only 7 minutes later, Totti launched a searing free-kick into the back of the net to make it 2-0. On 28′, he scored a world-class – and seemingly impossible – goal, beating Bari’s defense, Gillet and firing an acute-angle shot into the far corner. Beauty. Roma did their usual thing in the second half, sitting comfortably back on their large lead and letting i Galletti tire themselves out. However, the visitors finally pulled one back when youngster Marco Andreolli nodded the ball into his own net on 73′. A bit of a blemish, but a pretty good party nonetheless. To Gillet’s credit, he was outstanding for most of the match (those stretches when Totti was not destroying his self esteem), as was Julio Sergio, who was very solid behind the Roman back four. Mirko Vucinic was phenomenal, back to his old self again, while the only real black spot for Roma was Nicolas Burdisso, who was an absolute horrorshow at right-back. Also, the own goal was unfortunate. But all in all, a very good party with Er Capitano back at the helm. I can’t wait until we get Danielino back – then we can really party.

Inter 3-1  Bologna – The Inter Offside webpage referred to this match as a ‘Mortadella Speedbump’ — that pretty much sums it up for me. The reigning champions probably felt as if they could simply stroll into the Stadio Dall’Ara and come back out with three easy points, and their hosts failed to prove them wrong. There was a bit of tension early in the match; Diego Milito put Inter ahead on 22′ off of a corner from Maicon, only for Marcelo Zalayeta to equalize within 60 seconds, smashing the ball past Julio Cesar and into the top corner. The next 20 minutes saw both teams get really into the game, but Mario Balotelli should have put his side ahead when he beat the Bologna backline and dummied ‘keeper Emiliano Viviano – only to waste enough time that Viviano was able to get up and rob him of his much belated shot. One could see Jose Mourinho rise from his bench, flailing in anger. However, Supermario was able to atone for his sins just before the half; another Maicon corner saw the young striker rise powerfully in the air and head home to make it 2-1 for the Nerazzurri. He picked up a knock in the process, however, and was subbed off for Samuel Eto’o, who made a rare start on the bench. The visitors would make their lead more comfortable midway through the second half, with Esteban Cambiasso, who was in excellent form, burying a left-foot strike on 72′. To be honest, the hosts never looked like they were going to get back into the game, and Inter cruised to a comfortable win over the Emiliani.

AC Milan 4-3 Cagliari – It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the San Siro this afternoon, but i Rossoneri came out on top. Clarence Seedorf gave the home side an early lead on 5′, but gli Isolani weren’t interested in falling behind and Alessandro Matri equalized just 3 minutes later. The visitors would take the lead on 30′ when Andrea Lazzari found himself completely unmarked at Milan’s back post and gave his side a 2-1 lead. This time though, it was Milan’s turn to come from behind, as Marco Borriello and Alexandre Pato bagged a pair of goals in quick succession to put their side up 3-2 by the 39th minute. Pato’s goal was particularly nice, a rocket-powered blast into the top shelf which sent the San Siro crowd into an uproar. Milan would further consolidate their lead after the break, with Ronaldinho stepping up to the spot after Borriello had been felled in the area and burying it, sending Federico Marchetti the wrong way. He seems to score all of his goals that way, doesn’t he? More on him later. Cagliari was able to reduce Milan’s lead to a single goal when Nenê beat Dida on 68′, but Milan would hold onto their rather precarious lead and edge their visitors 4-3 in what turned out to be an exciting goalfest. Now, Ronaldinho. He was quite possibly – I’d almost say easily – the man of the match; back to his Barcelona form and full of tricks and flicks. That he only got onto the scoresheet via PK is misleading, as he was the creative force behind Milan’s devastating offense all night. That being said, their defending was quite shoddy, and against a better team (no offense, Cagliari, I like you guys) they might have come away with a rather different result. That being said, an excellent high-scoring match to put il Diavolo into 3rd place. Who says Serie A is boring?

Juventus 1-0 Udinese – Oh that’s right, Juventini say Serie A is boring. Because Juve is boring. I Bianconeri edged, well, i Bianconeri in Turin to keep their Scudetto hopes alive tonight. After the kickoff, it was all Juventus; Diego and Mauro Camoranesi both came close in the first quarter of an hour. After that though, the game went into a bit of a lull, and neither side looked dangerous (or did anything important) before the halftime break – unless you count a Udinese goal rightly disallowed for offside. After the restart, it was once again Juventus who set the pace, and this time it paid off. Summer signing Martin Cácares set up summer signing Fabio Grosso, who beat Samir Handanovic with ease to put the home side up 1-0 on 51′. Udinese fought hard throughout the remainder of the half, and both Handanovic and Gigi Buffon were called upon to make class saves, but ultimately the most exciting thing to happen before the fulltime whistle was Alessandro Del Piero’s appearance as a substitute. Juventino or not, you gotta love that guy.

Football:

A hattrick? No, that was just a warm-up.

Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic – Stop the press! What in God’s name do they put in the water in Tottenham? The Spurs recorded the second-biggest Premiership blowout in history at White Hart Lane over a hapless Wigan Athletic, with Jermain Defoe grabbing 5 himself in the second half. Peter Crouch opened the scoring for the home side on 9′, and believe it or not, that was it for the first half. Defoe got started right away after the break though, netting on 51′ and 54′, before Paul Scharner (who may have also pulled a Thierry Henry) pulled one back for the Latics to make it 3-1 on 57′. Defoe wasn’t done yet though, and to complete his hattrick restored the Spurs 3-goal margin just seconds later. Aaron Lennon got in on the action with a goal of his own on 64′, and then Jermain Defoe topped off his hattrick with a brace on 69′ and 87′. Chris Kirkland put the ball into his own net on 88′ to make it 8-1, and then Niko Kranjcar scored in the 4th minute of stoppage time to make the scoreline a whopping 9-1. To put this into perspective, didn’t table-toppers Chelsea lose to Wigan this season? Holy shit, dude.

Chelsea 4-0 Wolverhampton – Speaking of Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti’s men took part in a rout of their own this weekend, though it seems rather paltry in comparison with their London neighbours’ rather excessive beatdown. The Wolves simply had no chance at Stamford Bridge, and with Florent Malouda opening the scoring with a 25-yard strike on 5′, it seemed a cricket score was imminent. Michael Essien furthered that notion, bagging a brace within a 10 minute span by finding the back of the Wolves’ net on 12′ and 22′. The visitors simply had no response to the dominant Chelsea play, and their ill-advised 2-5-3 formation left plenty of gaps for the Blues to exploit. The teams went into the half with the score 3-0, but not before Sylvain Ebanks-Blake forced a class save from Petr Cech. As the game progressed, Wolverhampton reverted to a more solid 4-4-2, it was not enough to stop Joe Cole from scoring his first Premiership goal in over a year, making the score 4-0. Another quite impressive blowout/shutout from Ancelotti’s men, but until they score 9 goals I think they’ll feel that their crosstown rivals have the upper hand. Then again, they’re leading the league, so who cares about the Spurs?

Liverpool 2-2- Manchester City – Every time a Koppite cries, and angel get its wings. Or so I’ve been led to believe. Either way, both the Reds and the Blues (no, no, other Reds. Other Blues too.) dropped points and further away from the top 4 with a 4-goal draw at Anfield on Saturday. Martin Skrtel gave the home side the lead on 50′, only for Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland to respond on 69′ and 76′ respectively to give the Citizens a 2-1 lead. A loss at this stage in the competition would have meant disaster for the Scousers, but luckily Yossi Benayoun cut any Mancunian celebrations short by responding with a goal of his own on 77′ to equalize and make it 2-2. And 2-2 the score would remain. This result is neither a complete disaster for Mark Hughes or Rafa Benitez, but you gotta think that the two of them, and their grossly underperforming squads, have gotta be feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

Manchester Utd 3-0 Everton – As for the other Reds and Blues of Manchester and Liverpool, a draw was not in the cards. The Red Devils trounced the Toffeemakers at Old Trafford to stay within five points of Chelsea in the table. Darren Fletcher opened the scoring for the homeside on 35′ with a beautiful goal that has been compared (somewhat hyperbolically) to the work of Zinedine Zidane. After the half Michael Carrick and Luis Antonio Valencia would add a goal each, while David Moyes’ men could do little but keep the scoreline respectable. I gotta say, the Merseyside derby is going to be downright depressing this year…

Pictured: Arsenal player not fit for today's match.

Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal – Oh, Arsenal. The Gooners had gone over a dozen games without a loss, but as usual Arsene Wenger’s men got a little too close to the sun and their wings simply burned up. Also, they had a lot of injuries. The Londoners put in an unfocused and ramshackle performance against a determined Sunderland side who clearly wanted the result more. And they got it. Sunderland simply rode out wave after wave of potent Arsenal attacking play, though admittedly, it didn’t seem like the Gunners wanted to do much other than controlling the ball in midfield. On 71′, the home side finally got their chance and Darren Bent buried it to make the score 1-0 for the Black Cats. Wenger’s men had simply no will to get back into the game (perhaps their minds were occupied with thoughts of next week’s clash against Chelsea) and ultimately fell to a steely Sunderland side. This is the second time this year that the Black Cats have beaten a top 4 side – and this time it can’t even be blamed on a beach ball.

Futbol:

Real Madrid 1-0 Racing Santander – Well, Los Galacticos are still without their biggest star – Cristiano Ronaldo – and they’re still not playing as ‘Galacticos’ perhaps should, but they’re finally where Galacticos should be: on top. Gonzalo Higuaín provided the difference that Manuel Pellegrini’s men needed to take down mid-table residents Racing Santander, with a strike from close range on 22′. Both sides had second-half goals disallowed for offsides, with both Karim Benzema and Sergio Canales putting the ball into the back of the net only to be notified by the referee that they need not celebrate. As has been the norm this year, Madrid did not completely convince, but their narrow victory was nevertheless enough to see them go top of the table for the first time this season after Barcelona picked up a similarly unconvincing result in Bilbao.

Because Bear Country is more frightening than Basque Country.

Barcelona 1-1 Athletic Bilbao – Treble Champions they may be, but at times this season Barcelona have failed to look the part. They faltered again in their title race during this weekend’s trip to Basque Country. Though many of their starting 11, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, were out with knocks, one could still expect Barcelona to produce a result against midtable opponents such as Bilbao. Early in the match, Los Leones put pressure on their visitors, peppering them with corners and free kicks, while Barca looked simply content to play on the counter. Soon however, Barca wrested control of possession from their hosts, and began to look like the side to score, though when it came to finishing they came up empty – at least in the first half. However, after the restart the Blaugrana got off on the right foot, with Daniel Alves running on to the end of a perfect throughball from Xavi and finding the back of Bilbao’s net. Athletic immediately responded by bringing Toquero into the game; a move that would prove very effective as the substitute would equalize for the home side within 10 minutes of coming onto the pitch, running onto a long ball and smashing it home. All that was left to do for Bilbao was to park the bus and ride out the waves of Barcelona attacks – which they did – in order to gain a point and drop the reigning champions down to second place. What has happened to Pep Guardiola’s men?

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen – Well, Die Roten haven’t sunk any further into their slump, but they haven’t de-slumped either, achieving a draw against league-leading Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz-Arena this weekend. Mario Gomez and Stephan Kießling each netted for their respective sides early on in the match; both goals came within the first 15 minutes of play. Bayern started off energetically, with their aggressive attack leading to Mario Gomez’s opener on 8′, which he sidefooted in on an advantage play after Miroslav Klose was fouled. However, their visitors soon caught up to them in pace and were able to exploit the home side’s defensive weaknesses; Kießling easily beat the offside trap and slotted the ball coolly past Hans-Jörg Butt to make it all square on 14′. Each team had spells of pacy and bright looking attack, but neither could capitalize during those stretches; Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler saved his side time and time again with world class saves to prevent Bayern from getting out in front. Even Thomas Müller, who has so often been Bayern’s ace-in-the-hole this season proved ineffectual, and was subbed in the second half for Ivica Olic, returning from a lengthy injury layoff. The chances petered out towards the end of the game, and a 1-1 draw it would remain – a result that sees Bayer reclaim 1st and Bayern languish in 7th.

Werder Bremen 6-0 SC Freiburg – Poor Freiburg. On more than a few occasions this season they have found themselvesin situations where they are simply out of their depth. The home side suffered a humbling defeat to Die Grün-Weißen in their own Badenova-Stadion, falling 6-0 in an all-out slaughter. Hugo Almeida opened the scoring for the visitors on 33′, Marko Marin added a second on 55′, Almeida doubled his money on 57′, Mesut Özil netted on 67′, Naldo on 73′ and substitute Markus Rosenberg made it 6-0 with 8 minutes left to play. Freiburg once again made a case for having the worst defense in the Bundesliga (they have the highest number of goals against; 30) and sit 13th in the league table, while this victory propels Werder Bremen to second, just a point behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. I guess the English aren’t the only ones who know how to have a good blowout!

Liverpool will face the rich Man City at Anfield tonight. Liverpool expect Gerrard, Johnson and Agger to be fit for today’s game. Aquiliani and Torres will be sitting out on the bench-Ngog might replace Torres. Liverpool wont have to worry because Robinho, Bellamy, Barry and Petrov wont be playing. Tevez, Santa Cruz and Wright Phillips might feature. Mark Hughes is looking for a win after 3 straight draws. Benitez is looking for a win after 2 straight losses. The top is Liverpool formation an the bottom is the Man City formation. This is the stats for the game tonight:

Liverpool v Manchester City
Anfield
Saturday 21st November 2009

If under-fire Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez thought that the international break might hand him a reprieve from the flood of negative headlines swamping the Merseyside club, he was sadly mistaken. With news emerging that the Reds are in debt to the tune of nearly $500 million, speculation has grown that star striker Fernando Torres may be sold during the January transfer window in a bid to ease the club’s financial plight. A dismissive Benitez responded by claiming that he would resign if his fellow-Spaniard were indeed to be shipped out, but his immediate concern involves trying to get his leading scorer back on the field. Torres is still battling a sportsman’s hernia and it remains unclear whether he will be passed fit for Saturday’s Anfield clash.

On a brighter note for the home side, talismanic midfielder Steven Gerrard has declared that he will be ready to take on City despite missing England’s friendly defeat at the hands of Brazil with a groin injury. Big-money capture Alberto Aquilani may also be in contention to make his first start for the club after two substitute appearances in recent weeks, but Swiss defender Philipp Degen is ruled out by suspension.

Benitez’s opposite number Mark Hughes also endured a less than relaxing international break, losing the services of midfielder Martin Petrov after he picked up a knee injury while playing for Bulgaria and having his patience tested by Robinho who made a late return to City’s Abu Dhabi training camp after joining up with the Brazilian squad in nearby Qatar. The former Real Madrid man is carrying an injury and is not expected to feature at Anfield. City continue to be linked with a string of mega-money January transfer swoops, but despite having spent over $400 million in the summer, Hughes has insisted that their season should not be judged a failure if they finish outside the top four.

Three points on Saturday would undoubtedly serve as a warning that City are indeed becoming a major Premiership force, but with just one victory from their last 20 trips to Anfield, history is very much against them.
With both sides coming into the game under something of a cloud and struggling for confidence there could be errors aplenty on Saturday and it may be a case of the team that makes the fewest prevailing. It’s a tricky one to call and a draw looks a decent bet here.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City

By Joe, www.Bettingexpert.com

Torres could set to return to face Manchester City in Anfield. The Spaniard would not mind scoring against City again.

Liverpool could not have asked a better time for the International break to intervene as their squad is struggling to knock off injuries and a string of disappointing results. They were the last Premiership team to play a game a fortnight ago and now they will have the honor to start the Premiership fixture as they face Manchester City at Anfield in a Saturday early afternoon kickoff. Both teams are in search for the three points to keep up with Chelsea at the top of the table.

Manager Rafa Benitez must be pinching himself just to make sure whether the injuries crisis situation with his squad is real. He lost Yossi Benayoun and Albert Riera for there to four week after getting injured in the 2-2 draw against Birmingham. Steven Gerrard made a comeback that night and he is expected to return against Manchester City. There is some doubts over Glen Johnsen, Daniel Agger and Fernando Torres as all of them have withdrew from national duties to nurse their injury. Jamie Carragher will return from his suspension and Fabio Aurelio is still out injured. Every game for Liverpool will be a FA cup feel to it as they trail league leaders, Chelsea, by 10 points. Benitez will have to come up with the good against Manchester City or else the next year’s Champions League spot could also be in danger.

Manchester City have drawn four of their last premiership matches and they could continue this streak at Anfield Road this Saturday. Manager Mark Hughes will look to change this trend City have embarked on. Their last match against Burnley revealed their defense loses concentration and marginal defensive errors which cost hem the victory. Hughes is hoping that star player Robinho could return to first team action and if not, there will be many others prepared to take his place. Martin Petrov, Craig Bellamy, Robinho, Nedum Onuoha and Benjani are all ruled out.

Liverpool looks more and more desperate each time they go on the field. Hopefully the Reds will be able to put out their strongest team to regain their last season’s good form. Manchester City will not worry too much of the issue Liverpool is dealing with, they will focus on their play and try to continue their quest in breaking into the big 4 domination in the Premiership. A win for either team could get their season on the way. Liverpool looks likely to fight for their lives to keep their hopes up.

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I had rather hoped that I would be updating this blog more regularly but alas this has not been the case so I apologise to my many readers (all five of them!) and promise only that I wil try to do better.

It’s been pretty quiet of late. I’ve been getting the head down, trying to get on top of this dissertation although last night I got a welcome reprieve from an evening with the books when I was offered the chance to be part of Click Liverpool’s live coverage of Liverpool’s hosting of Birmingham, a game that disappointingly finished 2-2.

It was my first foray into the press box at Anfield and indeed into the inner bowels of the stadium. The plush carpets and the warm and welcoming press room where soup, sandwiches, tea and coffee were aplenty. Unfortunately I’d been the chippy beforehand.

As the journos were busy tapping away on their laptops and Mark Lawrenson was shooting the breeze with the BBC folk, joking about Andriy Voronin’s nickname being Bon Jovi I took it all in and learned a bit about how Click is covering each Liverpool home game with exclusive minute by minute reports.

I was charged with the task of collating the stats as the game progressed, not as easy as you would think especially when temperatures felt like they were below zero and every so often I had to wiggle my toes just to ensure they weren’t frozen.

Fortunately I had gloves for my hands, my colleague Richard Buxton wasn’t so lucky as he rubbed his hands together for heat whilst incessantly and impressively typing out the game’s action.

In some ways the atmosphere was so much better in the press box as you could take it all in, the view was fantastic and you could hear Alex McLeish go mental on the touchline as well as witness at close hand Birmingham’s new owner, Carson Yeung, sit comfortably in his ridiculous dead animal coat.

But then again there are draw backs like not being able to jump for joy when David Ngog opened the scoring or swear continually when Cameron Jerome put the visitors in front.

Afterwards I took in the press conferences of McLeish and Rafael Benitez, both good football men, both disappointed. The former by David Ngog’s dive for the penalty and the latter by the result which makes it one win in nine games for the Reds.

These are dark times at Anfield but yet there is a togetherness about the place and you can sense it just as much in the press room and the inner depths of the great stadium as you can in its famous stands.

Alberto Aquilani could make his home debut tomorrow.

The Italian midfielder won’t start against Birmingham, but is likely to be on the bench and could make his Anfield debut as a subsitute.

“His [Aquilani's] match fitness is still a problem,” said Rafael Benitez.

“We are hopeful of having some players fit and available so maybe he can wait and change the game if it’s necessary.

“We were controlling the game in Lyon and Lucas and Javier Mascherano were doing a very good job. When we scored we didn’t want to change the shape. Aquilani was better after his virus and could have played some part but hopefully now he will be better for Monday.”

Source: LFC Online