INJURY CRISIS THREATENS TO DE-RAIL LIVERPOOL

After today's bizarre defeat to Fulham which defies description, I have to take a look at the Liverpool's injury list to explain things away.
We were missing Danny Agger, Martin Skrtel, Alberto Aquilani and David Ngog to a virus, not the swine-flu, but a virus nonetheless.
We were also missing Captain Steven Gerrard to a groin injury, Glen Johnson to a calf injury and Fernando Torres wasn't fully fit.
That is a massive amount of injured players for any club to cope with.
Sadly, the team that was put out wasn't able to cope with Roy Hodson's Fulham,
Voronin has a poor first touch and never got into the game.
Lucas had a goodish first half but faded in the second as Fulham scented victory.
Babel came on as a sub for Torres but again failed to impress.
Rafa even resorted to bringing on young reserve Nathan Ecclestone, but it was a game too soon for the youngster.
If Kristian Nemeth wasn't out on loan in Greece then he would be the ideal young man to bring on, he scores goals for fun.
So there you go, a massive injury-list, meant a depleted team and a poor defeat.
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CALAMATOUS DEFEAT AT FULHAM

Liverpool suffered a disastrous defeat to Roy Hodgson's Fulham at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
Without Skrtel and Agger due to a virus, Rafa chose to field an emergency line-up with Deggen and Kyrgiakos in defence and Voronin upfront alongside Torres.
Liverpool started brightly attacking Fulham in waves.
However, it was the Cottagers who took the lead on 24mins through Bobby Zamora on the break and against the run of play.
Liverpool huffed and puffed without making any clear cut chances until Torres pounced on a loose clearance to fire home the equaliser and his 10th league goal of the season.
The second half was a very turgid affair without any neat passing or flowing football from either side and it was a mistake by Dirk Kuyt on 73mins who kept the ball infield only to gift the ball to Fulham who duly scored through Nevland to make it 2-1.
Torres got hauled off on 60mins, with Rafa later claiming he was still not fully fit.
Things got worse when Deggen, on his full League debut, was harshly sent off for a foul on 79mins.
Then the inevitable happened, Jamie Carragher, who has been struggling for pace all season, pulled down Zamora and got sent off for his troubles.
Benayoun was also called ashore inexplicably when he was our most creative player on the pitch.
Down to nine men, Liverpool let in a 3rd on 87mins when Clint Dempsey scored the clincher on another rare Fulham attack.
So, our 5th defeat in the League already, however we have a serious injury crisis at the club right now so we can point to that as the problem.
But it was a bad day at the office for Rafa and the Reds, again.

LIVERPOOL TEAM AGAINST FULHAM

Andriy Voronin partners Fernando Torres in attack, While Degen and Kyrgiakos start in defence.

Team:

Reina, Insua, Degen, Carragher, Kyrgiakos, Kuyt, Benayoun, Mascherano, Lucas, Voronin, Torres.

HOPING FOR A WIN AGAINST FULHAM

Liverpool face Roy Hodgson's Fulham at Craven Cottage today needing all three points to push for a place at the top of the table.
This will be no easy task as Fulham are very difficult to beat home or away.
Liverpool will again have to do without Steven Gerrard, still suffering from a groin strain he picked up on duty with England.
Glen Johnson is also out with a calf injury which he must have picked up in our great win against Man Utd and new recruit Alberto Aquilani, who did well in his 20mins against Arsenal, has a virus so he too may be out off the squad.
That leaves Rafa Benitez with a straight forward team selection.
Carra, Agger, Insua, Deggen at the back.
Mascherano, Lucas, Benayoun and Aurelio in midfield and Torres and Dirk Kuyt named upfront and working on the right side of the attack.
I am expecting a tough game with Duff and Dempsey the ones to watch in attack and hopefully Benayoun the man to get us the winner like he did in the corresponding match last season where his ate goal was enough to give us a 1-0 win.
Lets hope for more of the same this afternoon. I predict a 2-1 win by us, hopefully!

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL, PARTS 1,2 AND 3

After Sunday's great victory over Man Utd and a very good performance in the Carling Cup defeat to Arsenal on Wednesday, Rafa Benitez must be starting to believe that Liverpool have turned a corner this season and that his side are now prepared to fight again for the Premiership title.
Lets face it, we played United of the park last week and we put in a very good display against Arsenal the other night and were very unlucky to lose that match.
The appearance and performance of Aquilani was very pleasing. The lad showed he can pick out a good pass, he can shoot and he has the touch of class we have been lacking since the departure of Alonso last season.
We play Fulham on Saturday which will be a tough match, but one I think we can win provided we display the same attitude and level of performance that we have shown in our last two games .

STEVEN GERRARD MAY NEED SURGERY

News tonight that Steven Gerrard may need surgery on his troublesome groin injury will be meet with dismay by Liverpool football club and its fans.

Gerrard, after all, got injured playing for England against the Ukraine when England had already qualified for next year's World Cup so what was he doing playing in that match in the first place?

Its a big blow for the club who face Fulham on Saturday in the League and then a vital match against Lyon in the Champion's League next week in a game we have to win if we hope to get past the group stages.

Looking back on Wednesday's match against Arsenal in the Carling Cup, I thought the side Rafa put out did very well, we played at a high tempo, attacked at will and deserved to take the game into extra-time.

The welcome appearance of Aquilani in the second half was pleasing. He showed a lot of nice touches, passed the ball well, had two shots on goal and in 20 minutes showed that he is a the quality player we have been crying out for since Xabi Alonso's departure.

If Stevie G is going to be missing for a few weeks then Aquilani will get his chance to impress.

ARSENAL KNOCK US OUT OF CARLING CUP

Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1 at The Emirates to knock us out of The Carling Cup tonight.
A goal by youngster Merida on 19mins was cancelled out by Emeliano Insua's stunning volley on 26mins.
This left the sides level on half-time in an open and lively encounter.
Nicolas Bendtner scored a Torres-style goal on 50mins to give Arsenal the lead again and even though Liverpool came at them in waves, they could not find the breakthrough they deserved.
At least on a positive note, Alberto Aquilani made his full debut on 75mins and showed glimpses of his talent with some quality passing and a shot on goal.
So a good display by the Reds but a very disappointing outcome.
Comment or vote in the poll if you feel up to it after that result.

ITS ARSENAL NEXT IN THE CARLING CUP

After the euphoria of Sunday's win over Man Utd, Liverpool face a trip to London to face Arsenal's youngsters at the Emirates in the 3rd round of the League Cup.

This is a trophy that Liverpool have won seven times, a record.

However, in the Champions League era, the competition is used by the top clubs to give young players and fringe members of squads a run out.

With this in mind, Rafa will probably bring in Greek signing Kyrgiakos, Andre Dossena and local youngster Jay Spearing to see how they are progressing.

Much is expected of Alberto Aquilani, the £20 million buy from Roma finally made his debut for the reserves as a 75th minute sub last week and Rafa Benitez said today that he is likely to bring him on again as a sub in the second half.

Arsene Wenger always uses this competition to bring on his excellent youth set-up so we can expect more of the same tomorrow evening.

Whatever team Rafa picks, I hope we can follow on from our great display against Utd by winning this game.

I would love to see us go all the way in this competition and win it again to add a bit more silverware to the trophy cabinet at Anfield.

LUCAS FINALLY COMES OF AGE

Lucas Leiva had a great game against Man Utd on Sunday.
I have been his biggest critic since he first joined Liverpool a couple of seasons ago.
But I have to say he was very good yesterday in central midfield alongside Mascherano.
He tackled like a man possessed, winning virtually every challenge he went into.
He broke up all of Utd's attacks, which were few and far between, and managed to give the assist pass for David Ngog's goal in injury-time to seal the victory.
Well done young man, you played well.
We play Arsenal in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night and with Mascherano suspended for a rush of blood to the head, we will probably see Lucas in centre midfield alongside either Steve Gerrard or new boy Aquilani so I hope we can see another great performance from Lucas.

RAFA'S REDS BEAT UNITED

Fantastic performance and a great result by Liverpool against Ferguson's United.

2-0, 2-0, 2-0!

Ah Yes!

What a great result against our biggest rivals, we played like men possessed for 95mins and deservedly beat Manchester's finest.

We bossed the game from start to finish nullifying Utd for most of the game.

Credit must go to Rafa and the team for putting in such a great all-round performance and from defence to attack, we were brilliant all afternoon.

It was a return to the standards of last season with Jamie marshalling the backline, the midfield winning all the important battles and then the class of Fernando Torres in the 65th minute to take on a delightful through ball from Yossi Benayoun to lash the ball past Van Der Saar despite Ferdinand's attention for his ninth goal in the League this season, the man is world class.

A special mention for that man Lucas, I have been his worst critic all along but today he was really good in breaking up play, getting his foot in and thwarting United's attacks at every opportunity, alongside Mascherano these two men nullified Scholes and Carrick for most of the game and Leiva played the killer pass to sub Ngog for a well taken goal to finish the game off.

Other results were good for us today with Arsenal and Man City both drawing their matches to leave us in 5th in the League, six points behind Table-Toppers Chelsea.

So, the rot has stopped, we have rediscovered our form of last season, the vultures have disappeared so lets keep going and push on for Title number nineteen.

MASCH WANTS OUT, TOP PLAYERS TO BE SOLD & RAFA GONE IN THE SUMMER

The News Of The World reports that Xavier Mascherano has turned down a new contract offer at Liverpool.

I guess he wants to go to Barcelona in the Summer, let him go I say.

Other rumours say that Rafa will be sacked if we fail to qualify for the Champion's League for next season, a possibility.

Gerrard and Torres to be sold to balance the books by the Yanks.

If this rumour is true then I will go off the head.

Our two best players sold to pay the Yanks debt, scandalous.

It can't be allowed to happen, there will be a riot at Anfield and I will be there if it happens.

YNWA

CRUNCH GAME AT ANFIELD

Its a game that's as big as it gets for Liverpool afternoon.

Yes its our hated enemy, Man Utd at Anfield in a game which will define our season.

Win and we are right back in contention for the league.

Lose and our season is over, its that big a match.
With six defeats already this season, four in the Premiership, things have not been going well at Liverpool, to say the least.

The loss of Alonso has left a huge void in the team which has yet to be filled.

Lucas has been trying, without success, to take his place and performances and results have suffered.

But its not just Lucas, the whole team has been under-performing, especially in defence, where Carra has been at fault for a number of the goals we have let in this season.

The normally reliable Scouser has admitted himself that he has been way below his best of late, but knowing Jamie, I am sure he will return to his brilliant best very soon.

Without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres through injury, we look a mid-table team.

Rafa over the years has not brought in enough quality players good enough for Liverpool Football Club.

However, we have to play with the hand we are dealt and that means putting out our best possible side and playing like men possessed tomorrow.

Gerrard, Torres and Johnson all face late fitness tests for groin injuries and while Torres and Johnson remain hopeful of playing, Stevie G is a major doubt for the game.

Despite everything, I really believe we can win this game.

The Lancashire derby is game is probably the biggest of the whole season and I expect Benitez to have a game plan to overcome Ferguson's team tomorrow.

We have enough about us to get all three points and to get our season back on track.

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TOUGH TIMES FOR RAFA & HIS REDS

Phew! Who would want to be in Rafa's shoes right now.

Four straight defeats in all competitions, the first time since 1987, an injury list as long as your arm and a tough game against Man Utd this weekend.

Not the ideal scenario, in fact, things couldn't be any worse at Liverpool right now.

Torres, Gerrard, Johnson, Riera and Kelly are all injured leaving us in a position where Rafa will struggle to get a fit team out on Sunday to face our arch rivals.

We are already seven points behind the League-leaders and a defeat would leave us ten points adrift and surely out of the Title race already, so early in the season.

We would then be in a struggle to even finish fourth in the Premiership with Spurs, Arsenal, Man City, Aston Villa and even Sunderland in the race at the top of the table.

The loss of our play maker, Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid has been a huge blow as I have said here many times and we look inept without him there to pull the strings in midfield.

His replacement, Alberto Aquilani is finally getting a run-out for the reserves tonight and I will be watching that game with great interest as is vital we get a player with quality back in the midfield, Lucas just hasn't got what it takes.

The biggest problem all season has been the defence, of all things, Jamie has had a poor campaign, to date, but I do back him to come good again soon.

So its time to stand behind the team and Rafa and to hope and pray that things get better, which I am pretty sure they will.

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TIME TO SUPPORT THE REDS

OK. We have had a poor few results thus far in the League and Champions League.

We face Lyon tonight in an important Champion's League Group game at Anfield.

So, how is it going to pan out?

Well, we have Steven Gerrard back after injury, so that's a big plus for us.

However, Fernando Torres is still out hurt after playing for Spain that's five times in a row he has come back from International duty injured, that's totally unacceptable.

Lyon are no mugs, multiple winners of the French League, they always get out of the group stages and are a good team.

So we will have to be at our best tonight to beat them.

I must admit, I like the idea of three at the back. Rafa tried it against Sunderland, where we were brutal, I think it might work though, long term.

Having Skrtel, Agger and Carra at the back with Johnson and Aurelio/Insua as wing backs to complement a weak midfield might be a solution to our current woes.

Hopefully Rafa will put Gerrard in central midfield along with Mascherano, forget Lucas he is crap.

Then stick Kuyt Benayoun and Ngog upfront and that looks fine to me.

Whatever team Rafa puts out, lets hope we get the win we so badly need.

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THIS IS LIKE 2003 ALL OVER AGAIN

Oh God! I am beginning to get a sense of history repeating itself at Anfield.

Remember back in 2002 when we finished second in the League to Arsenal, they finished on 87 points while we gained 80 points well ahead of the chasing pack, but no title.

We were all expecting the team that time to push on the next season and win the League, having come so close but it didn't happen.

The next season, Gerard Houllier could only get Liverpool up to 4th in the table on 58 points despite buying El Hadj Diouf, Salif Diou and Bruno Cheryo.

We finished in fourth position behind Man Utd on 75 pts, Chelsea third on 79 pts and Arsenal winners again on 90 points.

So near and yet so far, back then.

Does it strike a familiar chord?

Well, we only finished 4 points behind League winners Man Utd last season but we are not doing very well this time around.

We lost our 4th League game already to Bastard Bruces' Sunderland and we look to be totally shell-shocked everytime we play this season.

I hope we don't mess up like Houllier did (at least we didn't sign rubbish players) and that we can sustain a title challenge under Rafa.

I have to admit though, I am seeing a similarity.

However, I do think we have enough quality in Gerrard, Torres and hopefully Aquilani for us to bounce back and win a trophy this year.

If we don't then Benitez should go the same way as Houllier and thats out the door!

BEACH BALL GOAL DEFLATES LIVERPOOL

God! What next? What a bizarre goal to concede against Sunderland which cost us the game at the so-called 'Stadium of Light'.

Rafael Benitez was without Gerrard and Torres so he shuffled his team around selecting young Jay Spearing and that man Lucas in midfield, five at the back with Agger returning and Babel and Kuyt upfront.

So three at the back, two wing-backs in Aurelio and Johnson and two youngsters at the heart of the midfield.

After that freak goal when the ball bounced off a Liverpool Beach ball and into Reina's net, nothing went right for the Reds.

The new formation and personnel just didn't cut it and we were second-best throughout the game.

Rafa must now be wondering where his next win is going to come from and so do I.

We play Lyon in the Champions League on Tuesday and The Scum Utd, at the weekend.

Lets hope for better things to come from the team which finished second in the League last season.

I am so disappointed I found it hard to write this.

Leave a comment if you wish after todays bad result.

YNWA

RAFA: "STEVIE WOULD HAVE BEEN FIT IF HE WAS HERE ALL WEEK"

We are in trouble. We have a bit of an injury-crisis going into tomorrow's game against Sunderland.

As I reported on Wednesday, Steven Gerrard stayed with the England squad even though he had a groin problem and he even tried to play in a practice match and in doing so, he aggravated the injury even further, madness!

Rafa managed to be remarkedly restrained about the incident saying only "he would have been fit had he been with us all week."

I am sure the Manager must be seething with anger about the whole thing, why did Steven not return to Anfield once he knew he had the problem?

England had already qualified for the World Cup so it wasn't exactly a make or break game, strange goings on I have to say.

Meanwhile, Fernando Torres has returned from International duty for Spain with an injury for the fifth time. this is getting ridiculous.

Again, Spain had already qualified for South Africa so to get injured in a meaningless match is just crazy.

So now we have to do without two of our best players for a very tough match tomorrow against Steve Bruce and his team. He has the knack of upsetting Liverpool as he did when managing Birmingham and Wigan, he seems to know how to get at Rafa's team and cause us plenty of problems.

With Mascherano, Lucas and Insua only arriving back today from International duty, God knows what team the manager will be able to put out.

I would settle for a 1-0 win right now.

What doyou think?

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GERARD OUT FOR SEVEN DAYS!

Steven Gerrard finally returned to Melwood after injuring his groin with England last Saturday and after a scan, it was revealed he has an abductor strain to his groin.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is furious that the player stayed on with the England set-up until as late as Tuesday, even trying to play in a practise game only to aggravate the injury further.

We are now desperately short of cover in midfield for the game against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon as Mascherano and Lucas won't be back at Anfield until Friday.

Rafa will now have few options in midfield for this important match and may have to draft in Plessis and Jay Spearing into the squad as cover.

Everytime there is an International break there is an injury to Gerrard or Torres and the fact that these games were meaningless makes it all the more galling.

RAFA'S WOES

Rafael Benitez, Liverpool Manager with the weight of the World upon him.

Losing playmaker Xabi Alonso in the summer was bad enough but having to replace him with Lucas Leiva was the kick in the goolies I even felt myself, Owwhh!

Half his team not playing well so far including Skrtel, Jamie, Masch and Stevie G.

Losing three games in the League to Spurs (Rednapp is a bore), Villa (O'Neill is a twat) and Chelsea (Pretentious prats), the man must be going mad seeing as how we only lost two games all last season.

Then he has to send his players away on a pointless International break where Torres, Gerrard and Kuyt get injured!

Meanwhile, that billionaire(penniless git) George Gillett decides to have a go at him for having a bad start to the season, claiming he had given Benitez millions, which he did not by the way.

And tonight, Steven Gerrard , despite being injured, wants to stay with the England camp?

That is sending out all the wrong signals and Torres is crocked as well but he will play for Spain in a meaningless match tonight unless his leg falls off!

So what is a public dressing down by the F.A. going to do?

Will it change the fact that referees in the Premier League are idiots?

No. The F.A. just blame team managers instead.

Rafa, you have my sympathies.

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RAFA'S REDS GET INJURED IN MEANINGLESS MATCHES

Rafa Benitez must be blowing a gasket this week with the news that three of his players have picked up injuries playing for their countries when they had already qualified for the World Cup.

Key striker for the reds, Fernando Torres had to be taken off at the weekend on 54mins with a leg strain with his International manager Del Bosques saying he will only play this Wednesday in another meaningless match, 'if he is 100% fit.'

Meanwhile, Captain Steven Gerrard picked up a groin strain against The Ukraine on Saturday
and instead of being allowed return back to Liverpool to get treatment, he is staying on with the England set-up and he may even play on Wednesday!

As if that wasn't bad enough, Dirk Kuyt picked up an ankle injury in a friendly 0-0 draw in Australia, of all places and he faces a 24 hour flight home which will aggravate the injury as anybody who has ever flown knows all about.

To add to all that, Danny Agger played the full 90mins in Denmark's match to qualify for the World Cup despite Rafa asking the Danish not to rush him back.

Like every Liverpool fan, I hate the International breaks when they come around but I reckon Rafa must hate them even more because his key players always pick up injuries when away.

Lets just hope that our key men are not risked again on Wednesday to play in nothing games and that we have a full squad to choose from for the all-important game against Sunderland on Saturday.

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GILLETTE TO SELL HIS SHARE IN LIVERPOOL

Reports in the press say that George Gillette is flying to the Middle-East this week in an effort to sell his 50% share in Liverpool Fc.

Great news I am sure you will all agree, that man and his partner Tom Hicks have been a disaster for Liverpool since they stole the club from us over two years ago.

Instead of investing in the club like they promised, they took out huge loans to pay for the original takeover, as we all know. This has left the club owing the banks over£3o0 million with interest payments costing £30 million a year, scandalous behaviour.

So it with delight that I heard one of the penniless con men is trying to sell up and Tom Hicks is prepared to go along with the idea thankfully. The Texan blocked DIC from getting involved before but now has no choice as the banks have told them in no uncertain terms that they must repay the outstanding debt or they will take possession of the club from the devious Yanks.

Lets hope this Prince Faisal is the real deal, that he genuinely wants whats best for Liverpool football club and that he can put up the much-needed finance for the new stadium and that we can compete finally in the transfer market for top class players.

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BRAVE IRELAND DRAW WITH ITALY

The Republic of Ireland almost won against World Champions Italy at Croke Park tonight.

The Irish took the lead twice, first from a great goal by Glenn Whelan from a Liam Lawrence corner only to be pegged back by a goal from Camoranesi from an Andre Pirlo corner.

The Irish matched the Italians throughout the game and it looked like it was heading for a 1-1 draw until Sean St Ledger nodded a free-kick past Buffon in the 87th minute and it looked like Trappatoni's team were going to beat Italy for a famous victory.

However, Lippi's men caught Ireland on the break for Gilardino to grab the equaliser on 90 mins to spoil Ireland's party.

Italy have now qualified for next year's World Cup while Ireland face the play-offs with a game to spare.

CARRA: ''I HAVE NOT PLAYED WELL''

Jamie Carragher this evening stated on LFC TV that ''We have not been playing well, I have not been playing well so far this season.''

An honest and welcome admission by Jamie that he has not been performing to his usually high standards to date.

Liverpool have lost three and won five of their League matches thus far, this season, leaving us in sixth place and six points behind leaders Chelsea.

While it has been a mixed season so far, it is far too early to write us off. We are top scorers with 22 goals already and have five good wins so far.

Obviously, the much-anticipated arrival on the pitch of Alberto Aquilani show the huge need for a new creative midfielder to replace the badly missed Alonso, so lets hope this boy can do it.

''At the end of the season, its points that matter, nothing else'' said Carra, too right Jamie.

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LETS BE POSITIVE

OK. Better performance, bad result yesterday.

Played 8 :won 5 lost 3 in the league, already when we only lost two games in an exceptional season last year.

So, not a good start to the season, but then Liverpool has always been slow starters even going back to the times of Shanks and Paisley yet they won us bucket loads of trophies so that's a crumb of comfort.

Also we are still adjusting to the loss sadly of our play maker of five years in Alonso, so there were bound to be some readjustment's and getting the team to gel again without him.

The imminent arrival on the pitch of Aquilani is going to be a big plus-point for us, hopefully, I believe he will make a big difference to the team in terms of setting up attacking moves and scoring goals from midfield, can't wait to see him in action.

We have a two-week break now to re-group and to get our season back on track and get us up to the top of the table where we belong!

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WATCH THIS IS ANFIELD TONIGHT ON LFC TV

Depressing at work wasn't it today?

Having to explain to the lads that we didn't deserve to lose and that we do still have a chance to win the League.

I am going to give a free plug to LFC TV now and say to watch 'This is Anfield' at 9pm.

Its a good discussion show with John Aldridge in the studio to mull over yesterday's match and to give us reasons to be cheerful for the rest of the season.

Its on Sky 434 and Freeview and its well worth watching.

O.K. End of plug, we have got the dreaded International break upon us so its a time to lick our wounds and regroup.

When the players return, they face a 'Massive week' as Jamie Carragher said today playing Steve Bruce's Sunderland who should have beat Utd on Saturday, then its Lyon in the Champions League followed by a run-in with the dreaded Mancs that weekend, tough times ahead!

However, in Rafa and his team we trust and we should do fine.

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DISAPPOINTING RESULT AT THE BRIDGE

That was hard to take.

Matching Chelsea stride for stride all throughout the match, never second best in the game. Yet we end up losing 2-0.

We looked comfortable all the way through this game until Didier Drogba whipped in a ball for Anelka to score and it was 1-0.

Still we never panicked, kept our shape and composure, without really threatening a strong Chelsea defence.

The second goal set up by 'cheat' Drogba, who skinned Jamie Carragher on the left, was turned in by sub Malouda to give the scoreline a flattering look about it.

We lost but we played fairly well, so eight games in we have lost three and won five.

What does this mean in terms of winning the League?

While today's defeat is hard to take, it is not fatal, we are six points behind the now League-leaders Chelsea, but if we beat them back at Anfield, that gap is back down to three.

Man Utd(scum) lost five times last year and still won the Premier League ahead of us.

(I am trying to look at the positives here)

I am looking forward to the appearance of Alberto Aquilani who should be ready tor action soon after the upcoming international matches.

He might add the missing ingredient to our team since Alonso's departure to Madrid, who lost to Sevilla tonight.

So an undeserved defeat but lets hope it doesn't happen too often this season, we are better than that, we are Liverpool!

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GREAT NEWS! UTD & SPURS BOTH DROP POINTS

Manchester United got another late goal at Old Trafford to snatch a point they didn't deserve against Sunderland., it finished 2-2.
However, it is two dropped points by them which is good news for us Liverpool fans.

Tottenham Hotspur also dropped points away at Bolton, a similar scoreline of 2-2 was the result.

So, while Utd (scum) now top the table on 19 points, one ahead of Chelsea who we play tomorrow, they have slipped up.
If we beat Chelsea we will move to joint second with the Blues on 18 points.
So it's a vital match for us and I feel confident that we can win it with Mascherano hopefully back in the side to bolster the midfield.
Come on ye Reds!

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WHAT DOES RAFA SEE IN LUCAS?

Lucas Leiva, does he really come from Brazil?

A nation which has always produced footballers of skill, class and finesse with the ability to score amazing goals from nowhere.

Yes, that's where our little man comes from. But would you ever have guessed it? I doubt it very much.

The lad joined Liverpool two years ago and has completely failed to perform for the first team.

This has been the case anytime he has played for the Reds but it was against Fiorentina on Tuesday that he was shown to be out of his depth.

We were completely out-classed in the first half that night mainly due to the partnership of Lucas and a fit-again Aurelio.

I don't wish to attack the lad every time he puts on a red shirt but I do feel that he is not good enough to play in our first team if we want to win the League.

I really think Rafa needs to buy a quality midfielder in the January transfer window if we want to win the Premiership.

Second best just isn't good enough.

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CAN WE BEAT CHELSEA?

Ok, we face Chelski at the bridge on Sunday after Tuesday's poor performance against Fiorentina midweek, so how are we gonna do?
First of all we need a good effort in midfield from the likes of Mascherano who I hope will be fit enough to play following his hamstring problem, we also need Steven Gerrard playing there to strengthen a midfield which was so poor midweek.
If we get that right then we have a chance but the next concern is defence. We need Jamie Carragher and Skrtel and company to keep things tight at the back which they have not done so far this season.
Get that right then we can depend on Fernando Torres, Benayoun and Kuyt to score the goals we will need to beat one of our main rivals for the League again this season.
Can we do it? Yes we can, we are Liverpool and if all the team play to their best then we can do it!

IS AQUILANI THE ANSWER ?

As all Red supporters know, we are struggling in midfield this season. The departure of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid has left a huge hole in the team which we have not yet filled.

All of us fans hope that the emergence of Roma signing Alberto Aquilani will solve that problem.

But will he?

Rafael Benitez has already said that he is a different type of player to Alonso in that he likes to get forward more, play a clinical pass to a forward and to score himself.

A welcome addition to any team then and I can't wait to see him play for us.

However, we have problems in midfield this season which will have to be addressed in the January transfer window. We have lost our anchor-man, the link between defence and attack, the man who breaks up the play in the middle of the park and sets up the attack.

Alonso did all of those things, but he is gone now and I wish him all the best, however we need to properly replace him with someone in the same mould.

I honestly don't know who we could bring in but we do need someone and soon.

Let me know what you think and scroll down to my poll, thanks.